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The Dovers a religious family meet up for thanksgiving lunch over at the Birches, their friendly neighbor. Both families have two children, a teen and a kid. By evening the two kids go missing. A creepy looking young man who had his RV parked outside is the main suspect. Detective Loki(Gyllenhaal), an efficient investigator with cent percent solve rate is assigned to the case. However there is nothing that ties the suspect to the missing girls...or is there? Did Dover(Jackman) pick up something the police couldn't? Could this father with anger issues be right after all? Morality is put to test when strong suspicions become motive for vigilante investigation. Soon Winter approaches and the case is tuning cold with dead-end leads.

Thriller lovers rejoice, the dry spell for suspense masterpieces ends with prisoners. With stellar performances from the entire cast topped off with a compelling portrayal of Keller Dover by Hugh Jackman, Prisoners is 150 minutes well spent.Make no mistake this is NOT a fast paced thriller with action sequences and multiple twists. Prisoners is a slow burner that tightens the tension steadily and by climax the pressure hits the roof. The aha moment when Dover puts all the pieces in place and the consequences that follow is simply a stroke of genius from writer Aaron Guzikowski.

A good suspenseful plot can be occasionally seen in an episode of a procedural TV show. Terrific acting from an ensemble cast is usually a part of an award bait drama and then rarely comes the amalgamation of both resulting in an "Argo" or a "Silence of the lambs". Prisoners definitely belongs among these classics and hopefully will be duly awarded not only for the performances but for the direction and writing that transforms a decent story into a terrific movie.

Neill Blomkamp's Elysium starts off with a moderately interesting yet not completely original premise. Its 2154 and earth is in a nearly dilapidated state. The rich have moved on to a Utopian space station called Elysium where exists a nearly magical device that can cure any disease while the poor remain on earth still struggling to make ends meet and dying of various illnesses. One such orphan Max(Damon)a dreams of visiting Elysium before he dies. Events at the factory he works for, force him to take drastic measures to make his dream come true.

Jodie Foster plays the antagonist Delacourt and sadly its one of her worst roles ever. Her character is a caricature villain who exterminates poor sick people while trying to become more powerful and with the corny lines written for her,there is not much of a performance she can muster. Another antagonist in the film who is far more menacing is Kruger, a psychotic mercenary played impressively by Sharlto Copley, who was the protagonist of Blomkamp's fantastic debut district 9.

Although the pacing of the movie is good there is an inherent fatigue in the way the vaguely familiar plot unfolds. Throw in a female lead who is a childhood friend of Max who somehow gets entangled in his messed up life and a child who mouths off kiddish tales that you know will somehow reflect the movie's ending, the film drivels towards the predictable climax.

Although the freshness and trenchant tone of his earlier film is largely missing, the realistic CGI that blends with the somber looking backdrop is back and is quite impressive. However CGI is only a part of sci-fi genre which makes this film only partly worth the time and money. All I can say is if your in a mood for a film that involves trashed out earth and a man made space abode, hey there is the infinitely better WALL-E!

There is a line that protagonist, Captain Kirk says in this movie- "I don't know what I am supposed to do but I know what I need to do". Director J.J Abrams clearly felt the same while helming the sequel to the 2009 reboot hit Star Trek.There is everything in this movie that is 'needed' for it to be successful. The old crew is back, there is meaner villain and the special effects are simply astounding. The post processed 3D is surprisingly complementary to the CGI. In fact it is safe to say this is the best looking sci-fi movie ever and the fact that it is a stark trek film seems fitting. However the endearing element of 'adventure' which is intrinsic for a star trek feature seems grossly deficient.

The USS enterprise crew is tasked to hunt down a terrorist named John Harrison. It initially seems like a simple retribution mission to avenge the death of innocents. However startling events unfold that threatens to wreck the space ship and the crew. There is a constant sense of peril throughout. It works for some time but then resolutions are slapped out so rapidly that by climax, you will probably know how it will end. Chris Pine as James T Kirk takes the best parts from his original character(leaving behind the cringe worthy overacting from his 60's counterpart), Scotty played by Simon peg takes up most of the screen time among the supporting cast. To his credit, he does a fine job and deserves it. Zoe Saldana is brilliant as ever, sportively playing 'Uhura', a side kick and lover to Spock. Karl Urban as the favorite interstellar surgeon Dr. McCoy(Bones) seems to be mostly paying a homage to DeForest Kelly(60's) Bones, complete with 'Dammit! I am a doctor not a torpedo specialist' line and the trademark one eyebrow raise. Alice eve(Dr. Marcus) is quite forgettable while John Cho as Sulu & Yeltin as Chekov all play their roles remarkably well.

But the star of the show is Zachary Quinto as Mr.Spock. Qunito proves in his second outing that he is this generation's finest Vulcan. He balances the role perfectly by playing tribute to Nimoy's spock(60's) and bringing in his own originality in a perfect mix. Cumberbatch as the villain(by now everyone knows which role he actually plays!) initially seems miscast considering the race , accent etc. but all that can be forgotten when he says "I will walk on your cold corpses" in an eerie sociopathic tone.(Reminds one of Alan Rickman's villainous roles).

This is a non-Trekkie review. I have seen a couple of the original episodes and some movies and don't care if a Klingon pronunciation is wrong. But I am a sci-fi junkie and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Spock would probably comment 'This film is going to be a blockbuster, logically'. But we humans would enjoy it a little more if the emotional scenes weren't so forced and there was a bit more of the 'going boldly where no man has gone before' parts.