Bedazzled: Seven wishes for a soul

Anyone would love it if they were granted the opportunity to make all their dreams come true just by wishing them into reality. The catch is what has to be sacrificed in order to receive those wishes or to make them come true. One of the concepts of alchemy states that nothing can be created out of thin air but anything important can be converted into something else that may or may not be more useful. You have to lose something of equal or greater importance to be able to gain something else that you wish for. All that taken into consideration, would you accept losing something very dear to you to make your dreams come true?

Elliot Richards works at a dead-end job in an IT company where he answers calls and helps customers as part of the tech support team. He is enthusiastic about making friends but doesn’t manage to fit in with anyone and is ignored by his co-workers every time he attempts to meet them socially. He is also a secret admirer of Alison Gardner, a pretty co-worker who is too far out of his league but who he has been in love with for over four years. Despite their efforts to leave him out of their plan, Elliot manages to meet his co-workers at a pub they frequent and is dared to strike up a conversation with Alison. Petrified by the request, Elliot musters up some courage but is shot down within seconds. Standing alone and ruing his luck, Elliot confesses to himself that he would give anything to have Alison in his life. Fortuitously Elliot meets a hot young woman who tells him she has the power to give him anything he can imagine. She proposes a deal where Elliot will receive seven wishes in exchange for his soul as she confesses to being the Devil. Elliot agrees reluctantly but soon curses his choice.

Bedazzled was released in the year 2000 and was directed by Harold Ramis. It is the remake of a 1967 film of the same name which was in turn adapted from an old folklore. The film is a simple comedy with play on situation and dialogue bringing up a few laughs every now and then. The plot isn’t particularly extensive and comes across as a set of vignettes put together clumsily to make a feature film. The casting is good but the direction seems a little lacking. The characters aren’t particularly believable with the protagonist starting off with a lack of confidence and ending the film with immense self belief which stems from nowhere during the story. The protagonist is put through situations that are humorous. The anti-hero Devil is amusing with a light-hearted approach to good versus evil and a naturally fun loving nature.

The film has a part melancholy ending which is reached over the course of an entertaining story. It falls short in many areas and isn’t particularly good for a film that is intended to have comedy as one of its strong features. All the same, it is a fun movie to watch when no inhibitions are attached.

Hansel & Gretel - Witch Hunters: The continuation of a classic fairy tale

Fairy tales and fables have always been told with great aplomb around the world. They have been passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth but have also been written down in text by many people who aimed to capture their essence and preserve it for many more generations to come. It is very rare that anyone would attempt to change the story of a classic fairy tale but it is attempted every once in a while. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is a 2013 film by Tommy Wirkola which has a new take on the story of the siblings Hansel and Gretel.

In a small German tow called Augsburg, the disappearances of children has caused a major panic as it is revealed that witches have been kidnapping them. Every woman is now under scrutiny of the ignorant sheriff while the mayor has resorted to hire a sibling duo known for hunting witches; Hansel and Gretel. The brother and sister were themselves victims of a kidnapping by a witch in their youth but managed to escape by burning her alive. Now, as adults, they travel from one village to another with a vow to kill every witch they can. They are somehow impervious to the black magic of witches which makes them the ideal bounty hunters for the town of Augsburg as they attempt to find and foil the witches who are wrecking havoc in the small town.

While it is laudable that writer and director Tommy Wirkola has attempted to take on a classic fairy tale and continue it with his own plotline, the film has many shortcomings that leave it less credible than would have been hoped for when making the movie. The back-story that Wirkola creates to establish his characters and their abilities has never been written of before in the classic fairy tale. The addition of his own ideas in the existent plotline is questionable and at the most can be reasoned with artistic license. On the other hand, the show of technology in Hansel and Gretel’s weaponry cannot be reasoned in a period film of the medieval times. Hansel’s diabetes in the film as a result of eating too much candy in the classic fairy tale is a nice touch, however the inconsistency of his diabetic attacks and need for insulin on cue during a battle begs for reason as to why the need did not arise in a previous scene when it was established that he was hanging unconscious from a tree for a whole night without administering any insulin then.

There are far too many shortcomings in the film to be ignored. It is filled with action sequences at regular intervals but the story that takes off from the classic Hansel and Gretel tale adds no particular value to it nor does it standout by itself as a film.

Man of Steel: A Superman for a new generation

Everyone looks up to a superhero. Since the time that one is able to walk and talk, the obsession with superheroes begins. We try to emulate them and do what they do so we can be better people, or just because we like their style and want to be as cool as them. Regardless of our intentions, superhero movies are a craze that can inspire generations and live in the hearts of millions forever.

Clark Kent is an unseemly young man jumping from one odd job to another. What is most astonishing about him is the fact that his superhuman abilities are revealed slowly as he helps people he meets in his search to find his true identity. He discovers that he is an alien from a planet called Krypton which was destroyed long before he arrived on Earth. As his search continues, he realises the purpose of his existence on Earth at the same time that a group of rebels from his home planet discover him. The rebels come to Earth in the hope that they can continue their villainous rein by restarting their own race of Kryptonians on planet Earth. Now under the identity of Superman, Clark must take sides as he decides whether to trust his own race or the humans.

A complete restart of the Superman series, Man of Steel has a charm that has not been witnessed in any Superman film prior to this one. This can be attributed to the directorial work of Zack Snyder and the production inputs from Christopher Nolan. A certain amount of credit also goes to the editorial work put in by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer who worked on the screenplay for the film. Both Snyder and Nolan have a penchant for creating exquisite action sequences and brilliant films which shows in this movie as well. Snyder’s directorial influence also shows in his use of decolourised scenes which he is well known for.

While the previous Superman film franchise was known for being loved out-and-out for being relatable and humanistic, this Superman also endures a far bit of soul-searching in his quest to find himself. The character was always well-known for being a ruggedly handsome powerful being who was shaken more by his inner demons than actual physical combat with his foes, which is also seen in this film to a certain degree. It also shows Superman’s vulnerability when the people he loves are affected, particularly his family and love interest. His weakness is also exposed when he is faced up with people as powerful as himself; in overcoming that weakness he is forced to perform an action he almost never does which produces a scene of amazing impact towards the end of the film.

While certain apprehensions persist over whether it was a true-to-the-style Superman film, it is nevertheless a great action film in its own rite. In fact, apart from just being a great action film, as an epic about a superhero that happens only once in a few generations, it fares quite well too.

Pan's Labyrinth: In the world of a little girl’s imagination

Imagination is one of the greatest gift human beings ever received. It is through imagination that we dare to dream, to create ideas that did not exist before, to think beyond ourselves and actually make things happen. Imagination can also be a brilliant defence mechanism or a way of escaping from our mundane lives when it becomes too much for us to handle. Especially for children, imagination is a great boon of keeping yourself entertained and possibly having an alternate world to go to when the difficulties of the current one seem overwhelming.

Ofelia is a young girl living with her pregnant mother in the fascist Spain of 1944. Her mother has remarried a tyrannical army officer and Ofelia must accompany her mother to her stepfather’s post in the middle of the forest where Ofelia’s mother will give birth to his son. Ofelia was always obsessed with fairy tales and when she comes across a fairy at the encampment, Ofelia is ever willing to follow her into the forest and through a labyrinth. After reaching the centre of the maze, she meets an old faun who tells her that she is the lost princess of a faraway land who has escaped into the human world and must complete three tasks to prove her royalty and return to her father, the king. Ofelia agrees to complete the tasks unaware of her mother’s troubled pregnancy and the impending war between the army commanded by her ruthless stepfather and the rebels who oppose him.

Pan’s Labyrinth was directed by Guillermo del Toro and released in the year 2006. Crafted with a style that brings about a balance between the real and the imagined, this drama-fantasy film has plenty of positive points and a livid script which can be quite confusing. The film lies in a grey patch between the realistic human world with the ongoing Second World War and the imagined world of the protagonist, Ofelia. Because of the dates and actual human timeline added to the plot, it becomes difficult to figure out if the magic and fairy tales told in the story are meant to be real or imagined by the protagonist. At the same time, with the magical events in the film that cannot be explained by rational thinking the audience can’t help but believe that the magical events are actually meant to be real and not just a figment of Ofelia’s imagination; an example of this would be Ofelia escaping from a locked room using a magic chalk given to her by the faun.

The film’s plot was intended by the director to be up to the explanation of the audience. By that definition, it gives the viewer plenty of opportunity to use their own imagination and rational thinking to decide their own understanding of the film.

It's A Wonderful Life: A true embodiment of the spirit of Christmas

Everyone witnesses a time when they feel absolutely helpless and dejected because of some or the other situation. Quite often, at times such as these, we imagine how easy it would have been if we were incredibly rich, or if we just fell off the face of the Earth and had no troubles. In absolutely dire situations you also here of people wishing they had never been born so as to have not come across any trouble at all. A similar premise forms the beginning of the story of It’s A Wonderful Life, the 1946 classic Christmas themed film directed by Frank Capra.

A consortium of angels in Heaven is discussing a situation on Earth which needs their attention. They decide to send a second-class angel down to Earth to deal with the problem. Before they send him down, they brief him on the person in question who is George Bailey. George was a good man throughout his life. He sacrificed many of his personal hopes and dreams for the happiness of others. At a young age he showed great courage when he saved his brother from drowning and lost partial hearing in one ear. He also helped a man he worked for when he stopped him from carelessly mixing poison into his packaged bottles. Later on, he had plans of travelling around Europe. But these were cut short when the passing away of his father required him to take over the family business to stop it from falling in the hands of a snobbish old man who wanted nothing but profits for himself. As a young man he helped out many people by sanctioning loans which would help them build houses and start new businesses. He even handed money to his brother that was saved up for his own education in lieu of his brother getting a good education. When his brother completed his studies, George allowed him to follow his dreams and continued taking care of the business in the same old town instead of forcing his brother to do so. George eventually settled down to marry and have children with his childhood sweetheart. On Christmas Eve, when a tax examination is eminent, George realises that his uncle misplaced 8,000 dollars of the business funds. Realising that this will mean certain imprisonment, George decides to take the blame on himself and feels downtrodden. He finds himself standing on a bridge and contemplating suicide so his family can receive the money from his insurance policy when his guardian angel Clarence Odbody is sent down to help him.

The film is a classic inspirational tale. The final outcome and how George finds his way out of his troubles is what makes the entire film come together perfectly. The beauty in the film is the course which it takes from a boy being ready to sacrifice life and limb who grows into a young man ready to give up on his dreams, eventually maturing into an adult who looks out for people around him and is somehow afflicted by financial troubles and is helped out in the most miraculous way by the people who love him.

Although the style of dramatised acting and melodramatic situations does seem to be out on a limb, it works perfectly well for the film since the sordid sweetness in the end becomes the highlight of the film. The dialogues are of an archaic and colloquial form of English which employs slang at times but fits well into the nature of the film. The background scoring also does seem to dramatise but isn’t overtly misused.

The film and its story are a perfect sample of living a simple but honest life. The film is also an embodiment of the spirit of Christmas which is why the film is synonymous with the holiday season. As a film, it has its flaws and may not appeal to those who are slow to forgive the overly dramatic but it is still quite an extraordinary film nevertheless.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy: A benchmark of the best that fantasy has to offer

Great films come by only once in a while. And great trilogies, or great film series, are even rarer to find. So when a great trilogy does come by, it should definitely be watched and enjoyed by everyone who loves films. Great film trilogies, or series, also become benchmarks for future productions, and that shows the true value of their quality. One such series is The Lord of the Rings trilogy which is an epic story with roots in high fantasy novels.

The Fellowship of the Ring: Frodo Baggins is a hobbit who lives with his fellow beings in their peaceful region called The Shire. Around the time that his uncle is to celebrate his 111^th birthday, a trusted wizard called Gandalf returns to their peaceful town and discovers that the ring gifted to Frodo by his uncle is the One Ring, a powerful magical ring which was created over 2,500 years earlier by a dark lord named Sauron. Gandalf tells Frodo to leave the protection of The Shire as Sauron’s servants, the Nazguls, would be pursuing him to retrieve the ring. Gandalf decides to consult head wizard Saruman the White and entrusts Samwise, a fellow hobbit, to travel with Frodo and keep him safe. Gandalf discovers that Saruman has pledged allegiance to Sauron by helping him build an army of a new breed of warrior Orcs called Uruk-hai. During this time, Frodo and Sam are joined by two happy-go-lucky hobbits, Merry and Pippin, as they continue their journey and encounter the Nazguls. In the fight, they are assisted by a mysterious ranger named Aragorn who promises to escort them to Rivendell where they are reunited with Gandalf. In a counsel of the races, it is decided that the One Ring has to be taken to the fires at Mount Doom to be destroyed. Frodo takes it upon himself to complete the task and is joined by his hobbit friends; Sam, Merry and Pippin – along with the wizard Gandalf, the ranger Aragorn, Legolas the Elf, Gimli the Dwarf and Boromir, a man from the lands of Gondor. This group forms the Fellowship of the Ring which sets off on their journey as they battle Sauron’s Orcs in the Mines of Moria and Saruman’s Uruk-hai leading to their numbers being depleted and the Fellowship being scattered across the lands of Middle Earth.

The Two Towers: Frodo and Sam continue their journey towards Mordor where Mount Doom is located. They are attacked by Gollum, a previous possessor of the ring who is consumed by his desire for it and wants it back. Eventually, Sam and Frodo overpower Gollum and have him guide them to the Black Gate of Mordor. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli continue their search for Merry and Pippin and arrive at Rohan where the King Theoden is under a trance put on him by Saruman and his accomplice, Grima. The king’s nephew, Eomer, accuses Grima of being a spy and Grima has him banished from the kingdom. Eomer leaves Rohan but travels and collects an army of loyal men. Eomer and his men kill the Uruk-hais who had taken Merry and Pippin as prisoners. During the battle, Merry and Pippin flee and enter into Fangorn forest where they meet Treebeard, the oldest of the Ents. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli continue their search for Merry and Pippin and confront Eomer who informs them of the battle with the Uruk-hais. The trio find the trail of Merry and Pippin which leads them into Fangorn forest where they are reunited with Gandalf. They return to Rohan where Gandlaf frees king Theoden from the spell he is under. Theoden decides it would be safer to move his people into their stronghold, Helm’s Deep. Saruman dispatches his army to Helm’s Deep to kill the people of Rohan. The battle at Helm’s Deep lasts for many hours as citizens of Rohan and an Elven army try to hold off Saruman’s forces before they are assisted by Eomer’s army in finally banishing the Urak-hai army. Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin try and eventually convince Treebeard and the other Ents to attack Saruman’s base at Isengard. Frodo and Sam continue their journey with Gollum as they are met by Boromir’s brother, Faramir, and his army of rangers. The army is attacked by Orcs and a Nazgul which leaves Frodo, Sam and Gollum alone to continue their journey.

The Return of the King: Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Theoden and his army meet Merry, Pippin and Treebeard at the flooded Isengard. They travel to Edoras where they split once again and Gandalf and Pippin set out to seek Denethor, the steward of Gondor. Against Denethor’s wishes, Pippin lights a beacon which signals for ally armies to be sent to Gondor as they fall under siege. Aragorn receives the sword Anduril which helps him prove that he is the heir of the king Isildur as he recruits the Army of the Dead who owe their allegiance to Isildur’s bloodline. Sauron’s armies lay siege to Minas Tirith. Theoden and his Rohirrim army arrive midway to provide support to the falling army of Gondor. They manage to hold off the might of Sauron’s army which is led by a Witch-king until Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli arrive with the Army of the Dead and help win the battle. Frodo, Sam and Gollum continue their journey into Mordor via Minas Morgul. Sam overhears Gollum’s plan to kill Frodo and steal the ring. He tells Frodo of this but Frodo banishes him after being convinced by Gollum that Sam only wants the ring for himself. Sam is heartbroken and leaves but returns to find that Gollum has led Frodo to a giant spider and left him paralysed. Sam defends Frodo from the spider but can do nothing as an Orc patrol captures Frodo and takes him to Sauron’s fortress. Sam rescues Frodo and they continue towards Mount Doom. At this time, Aragorn takes the remaining army from the war and lays siege to the Black Gate of Mordor to divert Sauron’s attention as Frodo and Sam continue their final surge to destroy the One Ring.

The film trilogy is an adaptation of a three volume novel which was written by J. R. R. Tolkien. Each volume of the novel corresponds to one of the three films which they are adapted and draw their name from. Although the novel is one whole piece with a continuous storyline from start to finish, the films are only complete as a trilogy with each individual film being only a part of the whole and standing as an incomplete story by itself. The trilogy is an approximate 12 hours in its extended edition (approximately 9 hours in its original theatrical edition) which is made up of 3 films of roughly 4 hours each, but in fact, the trilogy is actually like a 12 hour long film since the storyline is continuous.

The trilogy falls under the fantasy genre. In the literary form, it is an epic from the high fantasy genre; a fantasy story which creates a world of its own which is beside the real world. The trilogy itself is epic in the realm of epic fantasies. It also falls under the genres of action and adventure. It sets a bar in the world of fantasy which is not easy to accomplish for other films. It probably stands by itself as one of the greatest productions and film adaptations of a fantasy series ever made. It also has amazing elements of adventure with characters making long journeys with new discoveries and new additions to the plot. Even the action is brilliant with its amazing battle sequences.

The trilogy tells the tale of a long arduous journey from the point of view of the protagonist and also has subordinate stories running along which are about camaraderie and loyalty to one’s own friend or country, courage in the face of adversity, pride and honour in doing what you love and are required to do, the triumph of good over evil, and many more. The storyline has taken a great load of work and it shows. The characters in the trilogy come out splendidly, with complete sketches being visible at the end, after a gradual revealing of each character’s traits during the course of the plot.

The action sequences which include fight scenes, battles, chases, and more, are really well done. The battle scenes which are shot in the trilogy may be among the best ever produced in a film. The special effects and CGI work is extremely well done which can be seen in the battle sequences and with the coming to life of the character of Gollum. The performances put in by the actors have passion which brings the story to life beautifully. The score in the trilogy also creates a great feel to it and is used repeatedly during the course of the three films.

The trilogy is awesome. It should be watched by anyone and everyone just to understand and acknowledge how epic it really is. Without watching the trilogy from start to finish, it is impossible to really understand, praise or criticise it. Hence, watching it is a must.