Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels has Jack Black's signature all over it. Without him, or more precisely without him playing the character Gulliver, there won't be a movie produced.

There are two ways you can interpret what I said. One, I can't think of anyone more suitable to play Gulliver in this movie other than Black himself. I remembered him fondly in 'School of Rock'-he played the teacher, and with his own definition of humour, he delivers this movie well. Second, the movie highlights Gulliver and without his character, obviously, there won't be a movie.

Although there are sub characters carrying minor issues and elements to the movie, it goes back to Gulliver again as he is the root of chaining events. There is a slight twist to the classic story of Gulliver, where in this, his journey to the island of Liliput begins in the mysterious Bermuda triangle at an attempt to win Darcy Silverman's (Amanda Peet) heart on the given assignment. Horatio (Jason Segel, and 'How I Met Your Mother' comes to mind) plays his Liliputian friend when he first arrived on the island of Liliput. Segel's performance in this movie is good, shwoing variety and development. Although boyfriend General Edward (Chris O'Dowd) sees otherwise, Princess Mary (Emily Blunt) likes the presence of Gulliver, what more when he rescued her from being kidnapped. Frankly, Emily didn't work her magic on me this time. Her character seems dull watching her playing princess; I prefer her to play more high-drama, thriller-action roles.

Horatio is in love with Mary but due to their status difference that pulled them apart, Horatio seeks for advice and consults Gulliver. What he doesn't know is that Gulliver's love life isn't that smooth sailing and so following his advices blindly led him to adverse results. The Liliputians also look to him as their idol after his brave act to save the princess and their kingdom, but in the real world, Gulliver is just as timid as a tortoise which eventually backfired. These events display another key meaning to the movie, that what Gulliver was is not the same as what he is. And his lies later force him to be thrown away from the island. After realizing his mistakes, he returns to help the people in Liliput. He now vows to win the love of his life, Darcy, for real.

Talking about big and small, which this movie tags about, it does have some good moments and some bad moments. Some parts were funny and entertaining, and some went 'eeew...' followed by laughters such as when Gulliver falls onto one of the Liliputian, showing part of his back, or when he urinates on the burning palace to rescue the princess, or when the canons fired to his belly got bounced back due to the fat in his tummy!

Promoting peace not war, in short, Gulliver's Travels isn't that entirely bad if you lower your expectations. Have your heart set to laugh, sit back and promise yourself to enjoy what Gulliver's Travels has to show. Not bad for a family movie night out too. Otherwise, this might not be your pick for the weekend.

My rating: 5.5 / 10.

You'll like this if you like: Jack Black, Night At The Museum (I and II), Gulliver's Travels, Toy Story 1.

Genre: Adventure, fantasy, comedy.

TRON: Legacy

To be completely honest, I did not notice the existence of 'TRON: Legacy' in the cinemas until recently as it wasn't my first choice of movie- I was much anticipating Narnia then. When I saw the trailer, with its stunning black, blue and yellow colour contrasts in matrix, I thought "This looks interesting". And it surely was!

The story packs an extraordinary simplicity of quest. It begins with Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) telling his son, Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) about the Grid and he looks forward to taking him there someday. Unfortunately, something goes awry and he gets 'trapped' in the world of programs. Growing up, Sam longs for the return of his father. When his uncle receives a message, Sam slowly finds his own way into the Grid. That's when the real adventure begins, and the most interesting parts of the movie prevail!

The Grid is no longer the safe place he taught of or first imagined. Clu, the ruler of the Grid, plays him into battles of survival, putting him up against challenges with other programs. This is one of the best parts of the movie- the battles. The disc war and the motorbike wipeout, to be exact. The effects generated in these scenes are spectacular, with timely slow motion actions to create suspense and anticipation. The formation of the bike in computer looks stunning and as a teen, we go 'wow' and wish to own it.

His ultimate goal is to search for his father and tries to bring him back into the real world. With the aid of Quorra (Olivia Wilde), she leads him to his father and they have to exit the Grid before the gateway closes. Race to the exit is exhilarating, again with its stunning visuals of the jet fights. No doubt, this movie places its emphasis on graphical effects and it surely is well paid off! The storyline may be common, draggy at the development and rather predictable, but I always believe in the 'how' than the 'what', and the 'how' especially the aforementioned scenes triumphs in this movie.

It has great cast, in that sense a good selling point as it brings back Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner from its original TRON, and Garrett which to me is like how Hayden C did in Jumper.

I look for lessons to learn in movies and in this, I found family love and cooperation to work out best. Without a doubt, Sam and Kevin shares a typical father-son love that drives one another to bring out the best, even going the extra mile. Sacrifices by fathers for sons and courageous acts from sons to their fathers clearly displayed in this movie. And of course, without teamwork, there is no way to survive in the battles.

While this movie has values to learn, in Disney productions and great acting, the best remark I can say goes to its effects and it is the effects alone that will appeal to you and makes you want to watch this movie. Get ready for a ride of its brilliant graphic!

My rating: 7.8 / 10.0.
You'll like this if you like: Avatar, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Star Wars, Jumper.
Genre: Action, adventure, sci-fi.

Introducing the movie enthusiast!

Welcome to 'At the Movies'. This blog serves as a site for my personal movie reviews, from the latest to hit the big screen to the many years back. I believe that we enjoy watching movies, and discussions of movies over our coffee breaks or at the dinner table are a common topic of conversation today. Driven by passion, I decided to transform the much-talked into the much-written and thus, the birth of this blog. I hope my reviews could be of guide to you and are useful enough for you to decide and select which movie to watch without spilling much beans.

Not to forget, i would like to hear your standpoint of the movies too after you have watched them. Movies are subjective and there is no one real judge other than yourself!