Special 26 - an excellent heist thriller

Remember the tamil film Guru Shishyan released in late 80s? In that film, there comes a funny scene in which Rajini and Prabu pose as bogus CBI officers and conduct raid in another police officer’s house. At that period of time, there actually happened ‘real’ bogus raid in a Mumbai jewellery shop by a group of persons posing as CBI officers. It is reported that they were never caught by the police. I don’t know whether that scene in Guru Shishyan was inspired by this event or accidental. But Special 26 is not accidental. It is made entirely based on those events.

Kollywood and Bollywood have a great similarity in getting plagued by masala flicks. There is a two way communication between these woods in remaking films. One need to forget that there is a word called ‘logic’ and should not even think of what the story is while watching those films. But there used to happen rare occurrences of good films then and there. Here comes Special 26 as the above mentioned the occurrence.

Special 26 is special because it deviates from many stereotypic elements of a usual bollywood masala flick. The mass hero turns into a thief and the most wanted villain turns into a honest government official. There is no song-dance (except only one), no songs set in foreign locations, no forced comedies, and no 1:10 fight scenes. Also, an Akshay Kumar film without any item number is very unusual. It’s about well dressed professional conmen who carry out raids by posing themselves as CBI officers. Their targets are the big hands having loads of unaccounted cash and jewels so that the crime could not be reported. They are perfectly professional and vanish without any trace.

  

The plot-driven approach by Neeraj Pandey (remember A Wednesday) works very well here, accompanied by the well acted cast and fantastic production design. Being a film based on real events, thankfully it didn’t turn out as a docu-drama. The script is well written and executed, making the story to go on in a gripping fashion. The narration spans across different places – Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Rajasthan and Chandigarh. There are many funny and comic moments which are not induced and rather subtle. 

The production design deserves a special mention here as it brought out the mid-1980s look very exquisitely. Old model dialing phones, type writers, the Rs.100 note, rickshaw-men, taxis, hand-drawn posters, costume design and hairstyles and other aspects are well researched. The 80s lifestyle is reflected realistically in a finespun way – buying imported goods from Bombay, lack of awareness about family planning (Anupam Kher has more than 6 children and one more is on the way), lovers communicating through letters, using money order service to send a sum of Rs. 100, etc. The photography is very proficient with long shots and color tone reflecting the period of the film. The background music is good but it reminded me of Billa and Don theme music at many places in the film. 

Special 26 bears a fantastic casting and amazing performances. In fact the performances by the trio – Akshay Kumar, Manoj Bajpai and Anupam Kher – is the biggest + of the film. Akshay Kumar as Ajay is the mastermind behind the fake raids. What an amazing performance Akshay ji! – as a silent, well-planned and determined in the job. This is the first time I liked him on screen. 

 

Manoj Bajpai who is very famous for notoriety in his works, takes up the role of real CBI officer Waseem. About his acting, he is no different from Akshay – an equally amazing performance. Special 26 will give a special place in the career of Akshay and Manoj and they will be remembered for their respective roles. Anupam Kher as Mr. Sharma j is Ajay’s accomplice. I don’t need to elaborate about his perfection here, as the versatile actor delivers an as usual excellent performance. Overall, the trio delivers A-one performance and adds more charm to the film overall. 

 

Jimmy Shergil has quality acting but unfortunately not given much part, as much of the focus is on Akshay and Manoj Bajpai. Divya Dutta makes presence in a few scenes as lady constable. Rajesh Sharma and Kishore Kadam as Joginder and Iqbal, are the other two accomplices of the team. They have no big part except raid scenes. I feel the romantic subplot between Kajal and Akshay is inappropriate here. Kajal has nothing to do except passing letters to Akshay, and weeping down tears. One difference from other films is that she already knows Akshay is a thief. The romance part gives a sense of boredom and is the only barrier in the gripping script. Either she could’ve given a more important role or ruled out from the film simply. Other than this aspect, everything is fine.

A movie without any conventional entertainment factors doesn’t mean it will fail to entertain the audience. Special 26, as a whole, is a very well entertaining heist thriller – with its well drafted script and charming acting that won't let down the audience.. Enough said. Enjoy the heist..

Haywire - classy action

Haywire (2011)

Cast: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Antonio Bendares, Mathieu Kassovitz

Direction: Steven Soderberg

Genre: Action, Thriller

Haywire is an action crime thriller directed by Steven Soderberg. The plot is very simple and ordinary as we have seen in couple of high rated action films. Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) is a freelance operative for a firm that handles “special covet operations” off the grid, headed by Kenneth (McGregor). Considered as very skillful, she is the most wanted for these kinds of operations to be successful. After a supposedly easy mission turns awry, she is forced to run from cops and the people associated with the mission.

Let’s not get into too much detail about the plot. Haywire is a simple and straight action movie. There are a few movies with similar plot as this one. What makes it good and different from the rest of similar films is its realistic stunts. Thanks to Gina Carano’s professional martial arts background, the action sequences are quite natural, realistic. Comparing to Angelina Jolie starrer Salt which has a similar female centered storyline, Haywire is far better and really cool in action part. For the realistic action alone, you can watch it, well atleast once.

Carano is the perfect choice for Mallory and suits well as the tough girl, stamped as rogue, convicted and on the run. You need not wonder when she biffs the bad guys and jumps off rooftops, as she is a mixed martial artist. She is the stunt-woman for herself. The fight scene with Aaron (Tatum) at the movie beginning looks raw and more like wrestling inside ring. It is like, people shown fighting actually fights.

Carano in action

The cast is ensemble. Apart from Carano, you can see big actors together on screen. There is no other significant female character in the film too. You have Michael Douglas as Coblenz, a government agent, Ewan McGregor as Kenneth, director of the firm that handles covet operations, Antonio Bendares as Coblenz’s Spanish contact Rodrigo, Michael Fassbender as MI6 agent Paul, Channing Tatum as Aaron, Mallory’s team-player, Bill Paxton as Mallory’s father and French actor-director Mathieu Kassovitz as Studer, a wealthy businessman.

The big stars casting is not a new or odd thing in films directed by Soderberg (Oceans 11!). In fact this is the first reason I chose to watch this film. They all have done their part quite well. But I feel this time it didn’t work too well. Given the fact that the run time is only 92 minutes, most of them appear as a sort of extended cameo, especially Fassbender and Kassovitz. I thought Fassbender is the male lead but he appears for hardly 10 minutes. The fact here is, there is no solid male lead in the film. 

Haywire is cut by Soderberg himself. The editing and non linear narrative works well here with the pace of the story. Soundtrack is impressive at a few instants, for example when Mallory chases a guy in Barcelona. Unlike many spy movies, it doesn't rely on special effects and there aren't any inappropriate fight sequences. Soderbeg's direction and script gives an appeal to the viewers that nothing goes out of the track. That invites and engages the audiences without any sense of boredom.

This isn't a perfect made film. There may be some flaws one can observe. Forget that and it will offer more than what you can expect from a normal action thriller film. I wonder why IMDB has lower rating for this film but it deserves a lot more than that.

Overall, with its appealing pace and charisma in Carano’s stunts, Haywire will not let you down. Enjoy yourself!

Stylish Action Entertainer - Mission Impossible 4 : Ghost Protocol

Is there anything Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) cannot do? No. He climbs the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa tower, jumps off the tower, chases the bad guy amidst sandstorm, infiltrates the highly secured Russian archives base Kremlin, etc, etc. He does all this for one sole purpose - to save the world from a nuclear attack in Mission Impossible 4 - Ghost Protocol.

The plot is very plain. Launch codes of a Russian nuclear device falls in the hands of nuclear extremist Cobalt. IMF must stop him at all cost to avoid a nuclear war between two superpowers. Not very difficult to understand right?! In fact you will be immersed into the mind-blowing action scenes that you won’t even think of whether the story is complicated or not. M.I.4 has not even a single dull moment, not deviating from the plot in any instant. The film blasts off as a jet with full speed throughout, with as much action sequences and gadgets to please and entertain anyone who likes action-spy films.

Tom Cruise is back, reprising his role as super cool, charming, ultra superspy Ethan Hunt. This time he has to lead a team that he didn’t choose, and without any official support from the agency. His team comprises of computer geek Benji (Simon Pegg) and Agent Jane (Paula Patton), and later joined by Chief Analyst William Brandt (Jeremy Renner).

The action sequences are mind-blowing and spectacular right from the beginning till the end. The Burj Khalifa tower sequence in Dubai is breathtaking and stylishly executed both by Cruise and the crew. It must be one of the outstanding stunts of all the times. Other notable stunts being the foot-chase between Ethan and the bad guy, Renner’s jumping into a narrow vent with a magnetic suit. There are other fast and quick action scenes too - like the initial letter drop scene, the standoff between the team members at one point of time. Renner is awesome in that standoff. 

Ethan climbing Burj Khalifa tower

 

 

The casting is very strong. Except Tom Cruise and Simon Pegg who reprise their respective roles, all others are newly cast. The acting is convincing and very impressive, especially Renner and Paula Patton. It sounds like Renner’s role of Brandt could be a possible replacement to Ethan Hunt in future sequels if at all Tom chooses to retire from the franchise. Paula Patton is good in stunts – the one with female assassin Sabine Moreau (Lea Seydoux). Simon Pegg is cool and funny as computer expert Benji. Michael Nyqvist as Cobalt has nothing much to do. I felt like he is wasted. This time the villain role is not much effective as in the previous installments like Davien in M.I 3.  There is a female assassin Sabina Moreau (Lea Seydoux). Her eyes are simply terrifying, and she is more terrifying than the main villain. Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor has a minor role as a Mumbai based telecom industrialist Brij Nath.

Though an end-to-end action film, it’s not completely rigid. It has enough funny and comical moments - friendly interactions between Brandt and Benji, Benji making silly mistakes despite highly tense situation inside Kremlin, and Ethan’s prison friend Bogdan.  Most action films fail to impress because of not having this aspect and occupied by prolonged noise of stunts. M.I 4 in that way is very well balanced.

Sabine Moreau, the contract killer

The film has all the typical trademarks of the franchise – M.I original theme, masks, hacking satellite and high security systems, new car, foot-chase, jumping off buildings, self destructing messages, etc. Believe me, these guys have more gadgets than Bond. Some of them seem to be unbelievable but how the team uses them is interesting and appropriately. For example, the hand gloves used by Ethan to climb the tower, the way they get into Kremlin, switching suites in Burj Khalifa tower, Renner wearing a magnetic suite to jump into a narrow went – all are quite good with these gadgets. They tactically play the game with the very less time span remaining. In fact, the whole plot is set within 48 hours of time only.

Jeremy Renner in Action

The locations are very catchy and include Russia, Budapest, Dubai and India. The photography is very rich giving an overall stylish appeal to the film.

It’d be unfair if I don’t mention about the director of the film. The director of the film, Brad Bird is a newbie to live action films. He has earlier directed academy winning animation ventures Ratatoulie and The Incredibles. But this doesn’t have any impression of a live action debutant. Pretty neat.

I don’t find anything that lets the film down. There is no second thought that this is absolutely one of the best action films of all the time that action movie freaks love to watch, a thrill ride to enjoy. If anyone feels it’s not entertaining or boring or lets you down or something like that, then it is a mission impossible to entertain the person through any other means.