sankhan99's reviews

Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan (2025) is an utterly disappointing cinematic effort, earning a deserved 1/5. The film offers absolutely nothing new, rehashing a painfully familiar storyline. The single variation-the addition of blindness-feels completely arbitrary and fails to serve any meaningful narrative purpose, existing purely as shallow melodrama. The most tragic element is the unforgivable waste of Vikrant Massey's considerable talent; one wonders why he took on such a poorly conceived project. Avoid this film entirely.

Echo Valley is a slow film built on a small, very familiar premise. While its plot was quite predictable, it is presented on screen with clever execution and is still enjoyable, especially for neo-noir fans. You won't feel bored during the watch, and the acting performances are decent. However, Julianne Moore is quite type-casted in this typical role, and it would be great to see her explore new roles. This is an acceptable watch for one time only.

Having rated Akira Kurosawa's High and Low a 10/10, this new film was sadly too lame and boring. The screenplay and direction were incredibly weak, leaving the entire production feeling disorganized and flat. Denzel Washington tried his absolute best, but he had no script to support the film's failure. It is better to avoid this movie entirely and watch the superior original. A total disappointment.

While I expected a bit more, this adaptation of Frankenstein is a good movie with very high production value. The script is well-written overall and successfully keeps you interested; you won't feel bored at any time. The lead actors deliver strong performances. However, the film critically lacks a genuine thrill and sense of danger, keeping it from being great. It serves as a perfectly acceptable one-time watch.

This true story of an ordinary bus driver is well-written and sharply edited, bringing a sense of what people endured during the fire accident. It's an immersive watch, elevated significantly by a perfect, compelling performance delivered by Matthew McConaughey. While it makes for a good, one-time viewing experience, it is not particularly memorable or groundbreaking. A solid 6/10 for its honest portrayal.

This is, so far, the best movie of 2025. It boasts a tightly knit story, a wonderfully well-written script, and masterfully controlled direction from Paul Thomas Anderson. Although it is a lengthy film, the pacing never drops and it doesn't bore you for a moment during its full runtime. The entire elite cast delivered stellar performances, but Sean Penn absolutely stole the show. This is an essential and unmissable watch for film lovers.

I had high expectations for Coolie due to the presence of Rajinikanth and Nagarjun, making its failure a total disappointment. The story was incoherent and lacked significant depth, while the key characters were not well-defined. Though Rajni was good as usual, Nagarjun was not doing much in the film. This is a fundamentally weak movie that completely wastes its star power and is not recommended.

Param Sundari was disappointing, especially since its core premise was very interesting. The film's major weak point was the writing; with better script and direction, it might have achieved the energy of a film like Chennai Express. The lead actors delivered good performances, but they were hampered by the poor material. Ultimately, it was flat, lacked substantial comedy, and became just another uninspired romantic movie that offers nothing special.

Until Dawn is just another horror film that offers nothing new to the genre. It is certainly watchable for a single viewing, and the beginning held a little promise, but the movie quickly becomes boring. It caters well to die-hard horror fans, providing plenty of gore and jump scares. However, the experience is entirely unmemorable, serving as a decent, one-time watch but nothing more.

There is absolutely nothing compelling in Saiyaara; it was nearly unbearable and unwatchable. The script is extremely weak, and the lead actors delivered notably weak performances, especially the actress, who came across as too naive. Everything felt formulaic and predictable. While the music was genuinely good, the movie is decidedly not for experienced movie buffs. Perhaps it resonates only with a very young audience who haven't seen many films.

The opening minutes of Play Dirty were genuinely interesting and set a promising tone, but everything quickly went haywire thereafter. The film completely loses its direction, failing to deliver on any promised comedy or thrill. With minimal effort put into the core story, the result is a messy, disjointed experience that feels like pure content filler for a streaming network. This is a considerable time-waster that is absolutely not recommended.

The 2025 film The Long Walk is an absolute waste of time, earning a $2/10$ rating. It feels like the filmmakers tried to make a fool of the audience. The movie lacks a compelling story, depth, or genuine thrill. There was nothing of consequence in the film, making it boring and confusing. I highly do not recommend this film.

A House of Dynamite (2025) is a situation room drama with an intriguing start. The filmmakers successfully try to create an entertaining experience through the script and cast, but only to some extent. Earning a $4/10$, the film quickly goes haywire, suffering from a critical lack of depth and clarity. As the narrative progresses, key elements become unclear, leaving the viewer disconnected. It's an acceptable watch for curiosity, but only once.

The 2025 thriller Dangerous Animals was quite boring, earning a $3/10$ rating. While the genre is typically engaging, not much of consequence happens throughout the film. The pace felt slow and the runtime slightly long. Performances were just alright, with nothing outstanding to elevate the material. Ultimately, the writing and direction came across as loose, failing to deliver the necessary tension. I do not recommend this film.

The 2025 revival of The Naked Gun delivers a solid experience that successfully captures the flavor of the original films. The writing is very well done, keeping the pacing tight and ensuring the runtime never drags. Liam Neeson surprises by doing genuine justice to the iconic role, which was a pleasant surprise. My only critique is that Pamela felt like a miscast for her part. Overall, it's a recommended and faithful cinematic return to the beloved spoof franchise.

The 2025 crime thriller Caught Stealing is a triumph. The story is exceptionally well-written, and the casting feels spot-on. Acting performances across the board were superb, but Austin Butler is truly terrific. He is clearly poised to be a future superstar, dominating every scene. Highly recommended for a compelling, one-time watch.

My low expectations were met; newer entries in franchises rarely top the original, with T1 and T2 being exceptions. With the characters already established, the film offered no surprise. The generic story and typical action were uninspired. Even the action stunts were merely average, and the lead's performance was just okay. The movie offers nothing new and is a flat, forgettable sequel. Not recommended at all.

Despite giving Dexter: Resurrection my honest, best effort, I simply could not enjoy this 2025 revival. While I concede that the initial setup was visually appealing and the core acting talent remained solid, the narrative itself failed to coalesce.

Much like the later seasons of its predecessor, the overarching story of this new series didn't make logical sense, presenting a plot that was utterly impossible for me to swallow or accept. The revival felt confusing and ultimately directionless.

Consequently, I had to rate it a low 3/10. However, the high-scoring consensus from critics and audiences indicates that my judgment is an outlier, and it clearly resonated with a much wider fanbase.

The Monkey (2025) is a major directorial disappointment. Despite its short runtime, the movie quickly becomes boring due to poor pacing and weak execution. The core issue is the uninspired horror: the death scenes are shockingly dull and pale in comparison to the creative kills of the Final Destination series. A solid premise was completely ruined by the direction. This film offers absolutely nothing new to the horror-comedy genre. An easy skip-save your time.

Zach Cregger's (director of Barbarian) follow-up, Weapons, is a must-watch horror-thriller that dives into the mysterious disappearance of almost an entire seventh-grade class in the small town of Maybrook.

The film shines due to its excellent narrative style, which unfolds through multiple, time-scrambling chapters focusing on different characters, including the teacher Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) and a grieving parent Archer Graff (Josh Brolin). This technique effectively provides the necessary background and development for the ensemble cast, allowing the audience to focus entirely on the unraveling, eerie mystery without any character ambiguity.

The setup is good and delivers a genuine horror atmosphere, complete with well-placed jump scares. Cregger's direction is the standout, brilliantly weaving together the compelling plot and tonal shifts. It's a tense, delirious, and ultimately satisfying thrill ride that horror fans will definitely enjoy.

Maalik is a familiar gangster drama, offering little narrative surprise as it traces a young man's violent rise to power in 1980s Allahabad. Director Pulkit tells a worn-out story with overly stylized action and dragged-out sequences that bloat the runtime.

The film's strongest asset is its brilliant ensemble cast, who elevate the clichéd material. Anshuman Pushkar (as Badauna) is a standout, proving once again that despite being typecast as the loyal henchman, he delivers exceptional depth in the limited roles he gets. While not groundbreaking, the movie is a passable one-time watch for fans of the genre, provided you can overlook its predictability.

Eddington is a surprisingly uninteresting and frustratingly slow black comedy. At a running time of nearly 2.5 hours, the film feels overly lengthy, and its central conflict could have been much more tightly and effectively wrapped up in under two hours. That kind of tightening is what would have made this satire of 2020 small-town America feel compelling. Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal deliver committed performances, but their combined efforts aren't enough to save the film from its meandering pace and bloated structure. There is nothing special or essential here, making Eddington an easy pass for most viewers.

This Swedish mini-series offers nothing special at all. While the four episodes were relatively short, watching them proved difficult. The content has little to offer a global audience, making it interesting only for local Swedish viewers. There appears to be a real struggle in European filmmaking-especially in the thriller genre-to deliver a compelling story, with Spanish content being a notable exception. Generally, this series is not recommended.

This film is a very weak entry that offers nothing new, relying on a repetitive theme with an even weaker story. While it attempts to create a sense of mystery and thrill at the start, you quickly lose interest. There is virtually no entertainment value here. Gerard Butler's performance was below average, further hampered by his frequent typecasting in such roles. Avoid this one.

"Son of Sardaar 2" is a complete waste of time. It's truly surprising to see an actor like Ajay Devgan attached to such a weak film. It was clearly aimed only at a North Indian Punjabi audience, with some touches for the Pakistani side of Punjabis, but beyond that, it offers nothing. There is no compelling story, no memorable dialogues, no solid punch lines, and the comedy falls flat. This movie must be avoided.