robin_dhanju-1

Shootout at Wadala is just another run-of-the-mill money grab that uses a historic event in the Mumbai crime scene, translating it into an underwhelming "film" or lack there of.

John Abraham is cast as Manya Surve, a well-to-do college student who goes by the books and according to him, does nothing wrong. Cast alongside Abraham as his love interest is Kangana Ranaut as Vidya Joshi.

The tempo is set early with Abraham being the last hope of his mother to establish himself as an honest man earning an honest living. However, Surve's brother, a gangster, is attacked by local thugs and as Surve pulls one of them off, the brother stabs the bandit and thus Surve is held accountable alongside his brother.

After what seems like a brief stay in prison, Surve escapes and begins his life as a new member of the Mumbai underground. Along the way, the story sees Surve undergo a very abrupt and unrealistic development as a character. The so-called nice guy becomes a complete power hungry alpha-male-mentality driven gangster that gets it all and manages to lose it as well.

Now, a Bollywood Action-Thriller would not be complete without some songs and a lot of slow-mo. The Item songs are okay, but they add nothing to the plot of the story. In years past, the songs would at least provide some sort of connection to the overall story. But in today's day and age, it's all about having item songs that showcase gorgeous women in skimpy outfits. Not only that, but this film had a lot of awkward sex scenes. Bollywood has long been known as a very conservative film medium and the various innuendo and straight forward sex scenes in this film just made the viewing very awkward, especially the make supposed lust-filled make-out session between Abraham and Renaut. It also seems as though Indian cinema has become very accustomed to using slow motion and bullet time. It would be bearable if it occurred here and there to emphasize intricate fighting scenes. Unfortunately, a large portion of the minutes in this film are used to show John Abraham running shirtless in slow motion, or to showcase every single hit no matter how weak in really slow motion.

Overall, Shootout at Wadala is a film that could have been done much better, yet falls way too short in terms of plot and character development and fails to really get anything across beyond fighting, cigarettes, sex and lots and LOTS of unnecessary slow motion.

I am not a big horror buff, but I absolutely loved this movie.

My friends had seen it the week before and were still willing to watch it again and had hyped this movie up quite a bit before we even got to the theatres. I was expecting A LOT and it exceeded my expectations.

I like to sit there and try to predict the outcome of movies, it's an annoying habit... but one that was not able to be exercised. The film has a good plot line, and there are so many twists, turns, cranny's, valleys etc. that you're mind just doesn't have enough time to process what the hell is happening.

I don't want to give the story away, and if you are a fan of Hollywood and good cinema, I urge you not to read a synopsis. Watch the movie and you will thank yourself for going in with a complete sleight!

First and foremost, I want everyone to know that I love baseball and I do understand the intricacies associated with the game, and the fact that the A's were competing with a payroll of 1/3rd of the Yankees is very significant. However, I found the story line to be extremely slow, and boring.

I came into this movie totally hyped up and excited about a baseball movie after way too long of a wait. I went to a matinée with only about 20 other people there to watch the movie on opening day (I know it was early but 20 is very low). Most of them seemed like avid fans as well, judging by their giggles at some of the jokes (very few) in the movie. The first thirty minutes were O.K., as it was meant to build the story line and introduce the characters. That was understandable, what was not, was the fact that the story didn't capture my attention any more throughout the the next one hour or so. I believe that the movie touched upon three players, mostly the first basemen and their transition to becoming an Athletic. I also felt that the movie focused way to much on Brad Pitt and Billy Beane, and I understand that he is the GM that revolutionized the game, but the character development really didn't reach a climax. Billy Beane had the same attitude towards baseball, and his life in general, as he did in the start. And the two hours that it took to get to that point really didn't accomplish much. I also felt that the climax of the movie was VERY rushed, it was condensed into 15 minutes that really didn't have me very interested, rather had me thinking to myself "what the hell just happened".

Overall, I believe the movie was a total let down, and even Brad Pitt's and Jonah Hill's presence isn't enough to keep baseball fans (let alone casual viewers) interested. I am going to be generous and give this film 5 stars out of 10, although I hope I could get those wasted two hours back of my life, to do something meaningful, like watching "Major League".