pranayjalvi

A 6 part series about a competition amongst the Samurai towards their final days and with a cholera outbreak, to win 1,00,000 yen sounded an interesting concept. And to my surprise, it was, to some extent.

The series seems like a combination of Squid Games, Hunger games and many other movies/shows based on competition. But what hooked me to the show was the clean production and the action choreography with many brutal fights that were very well done.

With respect to characters, their arcs have a small screentime except for Shujiro Saga, the main lead of the show. I wished the narrative and every character's arc was developed a little more. The pacing was sluggish, even with just 6 episodes. I saw either rigorous action or very minimal conversation among the characters, nothing in between.

The last episode veered into unrealistic territory which was jarring. Yet it also set up huge stakes beyond the contest for our intrepid little band of contestants. Surrounded by powerful enemies, it will be interesting to see how or if the writers can bring this to a satisfying conclusion when the second season rolls around.

My Rating : 3.5/5.

A recent run of sequels have been a disappointing affair for Disney, but not in the case of Zootopia 2. The sequel is still fresh, with new characters, silly humour and a fast paced story.

While the original introduced the mismatched friendship between an eternal optimist and a dyed-in-the-fur cynic, the sequel zooms in on what it takes for an odd-couple bond to survive the daily grind. As directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, their evolving dynamic gives the film a beating heart even as the usual computer-animated shenanigans unfold.

The central mystery driving the plot has faint echoes of the first film's conspiracy plot, but there are plenty of fresh, species-specific gags and blink-and-you-miss-it worldbuilding that'll continue to entertain on repeat viewing. The addition of new characters, especially Gray De Snake, was a showstealer.

More importantly, the emotional arc stays front and center. Continuing to explore themes of looking past stereotypes to find our shared, ahem, humanity, "Zootopia 2" ventures into new territory without losing its emotional footing. It shows us how trust and cooperation often hinge on small, brave choices made over and over again.

Overall, Zootopia 2 is a worthy sequel that didn't disappointed unlike other sequels, showing us why we fall in love with this franchise in the first place. Although many scenes may feel rerun of the first Zootopia, new characters, a thoughtful message and more focus on the bond between Judy and Wilde becomes the highlight of the sequel.

My Rating : 4/5.

An Argentinian legal drama based on a true incident, Belen is about a woman who is unfairly put in a jail with the reason of miscarriage.

While the movie had good intention, it didn't have a quality execution. The cast did a decent job to standup to their characters, however was pulled down by weak writing. The direction by Dolores Fonzi, is something, I liked it personally.

The main problem with this critical subject was it's execution. The movie was full of melodrama and spent too much time on the lawyer's side of the incident than the victims'. Had it been a little longer and shown the victim's POV, it would have been more impactful. This makes the actual incident very vauge, with little information about the victim and the incident.

While I did like the execution in parts, but the movie felt more of a rallying cry than a character study, and that was quite underwhelming, given the subject. Overall, Belen is a good attempt to bring an important case to the light, however is pulled down by formulaic traits and melodrama.

My Rating : 6.5/10.