YouTubeblack Reviews

Kantara (2022)

Masterpiece? Hell no.

[6/10 · 17 October 2022]

There is a trend now in India to hype up all the south films irrespective of how good or bad they are. The same has happened with this film too. By no means this is a bad film but to be honest, it's neither a masterpiece.

The film has a strong start, you feel like you are watching old school legends about the supernatural but it does not last long. The first 20 mins and the last 10 mins has the UNIQUE factor in the film which is mostly making people go crazy but to keep things in perspective is that enough given the fact that it's a 2hr 30min long film? The performances by the main cast are good and especially great in the climax but everything in the middle is just fluff.

You can see shades of pushpa and even Asuran in terms of setting, conflicts between the authorities and the common villegers. At the core it's just another the oppressed vs the oppresor theme which has been seen multiple times in South cinema, and Asuran is a great example of how it's done. Kantara feels flat in the middle with the same tropes of South Indian cinema and offers nothing new except the first and the Last act.

Brahmastra Part One: Shiva (2022)

Agniastra but on low flame.

[6/10 · 10 September 2022]

Brahmastra part 1 had so much potential but the infamous Bollywood trope of Love storiya really dumbs it down to Lazy writing. Why is Bollywood still obsessed with love stories being the core of the film which sells as a Mythological Epic is beyond logic.

The Good:

1. The main premise and Lore of the Astras are interesting. All the power sets shown in the film aren't necessarily new but they work well in this universe.

2. VFX for most of the part are impressive, especially in 3D. Generally, lighting isn't taken into consideration when it comes to VFX in Bollywood but in this film, it was handled pretty well.

3. The BGM elevates the action scenes and I think should be given more credit. There are some unreleased Devine one-liner tracks in the voice of Arijit which are integrated with the BGM so well that you'll surely have goosebumps all over. This happens predominantly in the climax of the film.

The Mediocre:

1. Screenplay: The Film head starts with so much adrenaline that it hypes up your expectations just to disappoint you later. It would have been great if the film stuck with the Brahmastra premise rather than jumping in and out of it just to address Shiva and Isha's unrealistic relationship. The first and last act of the film is the only thing which is holding it up. Everything else is a hit or a miss.

2. wardrobe: This might be a nitpick but the costume designs could have been way better than what we got in here. When it comes to Mythical Epics, having a distinct look is very important for world-building which I think was missing from this movie. For an instance, Shiva is bursting out fire and also taking a lot of damage in a regular shirt and jeans which are indestructible, in that case, I need a pair too!

3. Songs: Bollywood just loves to insert songs in the middle of an act just because that's how they roll since the beginning. In films like YJHD it worked well, but here it did feel out of place because the world is at stake and the characters are.... singing. The problem is not with the songs & they are beautiful on their own but they drag down the pace of the film and do not feel compatible with its genre.

The Bad:

1. Dialogues: Very.. very.. bad. When the film is marketed by saying it's around a decade in the making, people will expect it to be well written or at least passable when it comes to writing. The dialogues In this film sounded like a typical cringe Hindi dub of a C-tier Hollywood film. Except for Big B, everyone else had immature dialogues.

2. The Love story: The very last thing which this movie needed was a 1000 times used love story trope as a central piece of the story. Protagonists having a love interest in Mythic/superhero movies is not a new thing, but it shouldn't put that aspect of the film on a pedestal. Sam Raimi's original Spiderman trilogy also had a decent chunk of a love story but it was so subtle that it didn't overpower the cool stuff that the audiences had signed up for. Just like that, Isha could have been MJ to Shiva's Peter or Pepper to Tony stark. It had to be Subtle.

Conclusion: You might get disappointed with some tropes of the film but as an experience, you'll enjoy it for what it is.

The Sandman (2022– )

Good first episode but went down hill.

[4/10 · 6 August 2022]

The guy playing The sandman is fantastic. Rest is just below average. Before you can invest yourself in any character, another characters are introduced in the next episode and it's just so annoying that you just wanna skip it. The story is very weak and there is nothing at steak. I don't even know what the target audience is, this is way too boring and dumb for an adult and at the same time it's graphic for kids. The show has no progression it's just a 90% filler. Lucifer was hilarious, the way they battle was awful, it literally felt like 10 year olds fighting a stone paper and scissor match.

Ms. Marvel: Time and Again (2022) Season 1, Episode 5

Way too below avarage episode

[4/10 · 6 July 2022]

The show clearly doesn't know where it's going. The antagonists look so dumb and caricaturish i just can't stand them. Kamala and Bruno are likeable but that's it, they don't have much to do.

Why are the characters speaking in English with eachother when they are in pre indipendent India? This feels so unnatural lol.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part III (2022) Season 1, Episode 3

Lack of style

[4/10 · 1 June 2022]

Have to say that this show is dull as F.

We are in the mid season so far and nothing exciting is happening. You have the OG characters Obi wan and Darth Vader, still you can't make a good episode. We don't care about the 3rd sister, she is a 1D cardboard character. Just show us what we signed up for. Everyone is soo sooo dumb in the way they talk and act. The direction is wonky and immature, it feels like it's made by some teenage Youtuber. I guess we have better fan films on obi wan than this show.

If moff gideon is more menacing than Vader, it shows how unbothered the show writers are for this series. Mandalorian almost had all new characters, still it made you care for them. Here I'm surprised I feel like I'm watching clones of my beloved characters, they just don't feel the same.

Love, Death & Robots: Bad Travelling (2022) Season 3, Episode 2

Film grade!

[9/10 · 21 May 2022]

I love when A list directors work on short projects as well besides big budget blockbusters. The story was simple but a bit disturbing. It had an element of horror and mystic, the uncertainty and unpredictability of what's going to happen next. The art direction choices were great, even though the rendering was hyper realistic, it still had STYLE to it. When I was watching this episode i somehow missed who directed it but there was a constant feeling of familiarity regarding the direction style and the gritty noir nature of the film. Then i realised it's a Fincher film and I was like ahh ofcourse! Haha. What a great watch.

The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020)

Wtf just happened lol.

[6/10 · 10 September 2020]

This movie is fun until the very end. I don't like the way they ended it. But anyway, this movie doesn't work on logic but it's a popcorn flick which doesn't take itself seriously and is self aware. It became a bit repetitive in the middel if you've watched the first part, but overall it's just a guilty pleasure to watch.

Tenet (2020)

A great brain teaser!

[8/10 · 5 September 2020]

This a very fast pased action movie which also uses sci-fi elements. The events which take place in the film are in forward direction in time as well as in backwards direction in time simultaneously.

I can see a lot of people comparing it with previous Nolan films about how it lacks depth when it comes to the characters and the overall message of the film, the underlying theme etc. But don't see it like that. This film is made specifically to show how the scenario would be if we perceive time in a different way. It's like a thought experiment, but on film, Don't dig too much into it (as a character says in the first half of the film, feel it.) and just enjoy the cause and effect of the events which turn into great action sequences.

Instead of comparing this movie with inception, see it more like Keanu Reeves speed/ mission impossible. It's a fast pased action film with a very generic plot which is, 'save the world before the bad guy blows it.' A generic story but with a Nolan twist. This movie atleast needs 2-3 rewatches because it is presented like a puzzle, some of you might get it in the first viewing some of you wouldn't and thats fine. (In fact it's based on worlds oldest puzzle, the stator square) After watching this second time, I was really fascinated about how they came with such complex concept and actually put it in action.

Again, not a perfect film but quite an experimental one. If this wasn't made by Nolan it would have been called underrated. But the fact that Nolan made it, people are now critial. So we can say Nolan is actually competing with himself by now just like what happens in the film, because the bar he set for himself is pretty high.

I really wished instead of a film they should have turned this into a series, Nolan's brother already has experience with shows like Westworld. Anyway for now I'll make it work with the movie.

Gulabo Sitabo (2020)

Very dull.

[4/10 · 13 June 2020]

It feels like the writer was writing one scene and then going out to do some other work and coming back to the script and going in some other direction. It's like a mess. The only thing good about this movie is the casting but there also they gave this obnoxious makeup to BigB for no reason. It didn't helped the movie in anyway, we were not able to see his expressions at all. Now a days OTT platforms are a dumping ground for this big film industries.

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior (2020)

Great!

[8/10 · 11 January 2020]

People you have to watch this in 3D, the visuals suck in 2D. I had really low expectations after watching the trailer but in 3D it's really immersive. The story is simple and straight forward with some creative liberties taken when it comes to the History but it's handeld quite well. All that matters is, it moves you to the core and makes you feel something about this great sacrifice made by these selfless people regardlesss of what your ethnic background is, you'll connect with these characters. This has the best battel sequences choreographed in any historical Bollywood film seriously,I was blown! Ajay as tanhaji was good but saif shines more to be honest. The greatest casting choice is Sharad kelkar as shivaji Maharaj, my theater went nutts whenever he spoke, he was unreal. The pacing is nice, songs were kinda unnecessary, it takes you out from the main story but again it's Bollywood, some fans wait for the musicals. The movie starts on a high note and ends on a high note. If you are looking forward to kill some time or even go out with family I'll recommend this movie to everyone. As far as I know Ajay devgan is planing to make an unsung warriors Frenchies, looking forward for more such movies from Ajay devgan productions.

Ghost Stories (2020)

A Decent attempt, and it doesn't deserve the hate.

[6/10 · 4 January 2020]

Story 1 by Zoya was unsettling, I wasn't expecting such good acting from janhvi Kapoor, she showed her true potential, no overacting at all. The payoff at the end, that the character to which our protagonist is interacting is already dead, is not a new story, we have seen this premise in multiple films over the time. Overall it was a good watch.

Story 2 by anuragh kashyap is my favorite in this anthology. He has successfully achieved to make his film creepy and ambiguous with time jumps or questioning the reality. The events looks supernatural but also can be psychological, at all depends on how you look at it and that's what makes you watch his story again to come up with theories. The muted colors, the creepy visuals and the kid, were just great in this story.

Story 3 by dibakar Banerjee was hilarious, I don't know weather it's a good thing or not. I've noticed a lot of audience liked his story the most but everyone has their own opinion. But for me it was too much on your face. More like a mixture of typical zombie apocalypse and the big foot story with a twist at the end. I enjoyed watching it but the tone was going against the grain after some time and only Gore was left, not fear.

Story 4 by Karan johar is just not worth writing the review. You can just skip it, it has bad acting, a script which looks like a rip-off of any 80s horror film with all the stereotypical things characters do in a horror film. I would have rated this movie a star extra but this story by Karan stops me from doing so. It's great that it comes last so you don't have to take the efforts of skipping it to the next one.

Endnote: i think Indian audience is not yet ready for such a take on this genre because we as an audience have only got "bhoot pret with a haveli" kinda horror film and that's what have become the definition for horror or ghost stories. This anthology tries to break it. An unsettling fear of something unknown can be a ghost intself. Even in real life, a ghost is just a manifestation of something which is created by your mind.

You (2018–2024)

Why so woke in season 2

[8/10 · 2 January 2020]

I loved season 1 and trying to enjoy season 2, it's good. But every now and then I hear toxic masculinity, white privilege, mansplaning and all that political nonsense, it's really annoying and takes you out. I still like the new story but it would have been great without the political agenda.

K.G.F: Chapter 1 (2018)

Cringe fest!

[5/10 · 29 December 2019]

The movie has a typical Bollywood story with an outdated character, something like Amitabh from diwar or zanjir. Over the top acting or I should say overacting from most of the supporting cast. All the dialogues and reactions from the characters are cringe Worthy and laughable. Only good thing about this movie is the cinematography, the score and the lead protagonist played by Yash. But sadly it's not enough, the story and screenplay is stale and looks very sketchy. I would not recommend this movie to people who like to watch "films" this is something like Salman Khan fans would like.

The Witcher (2019– )

Not that great, a meh story with a big budget.

[5/10 · 21 December 2019]

The first episode was quite solid and I was looking forward to how it escalates. But later on too many characters are just popping up and multiple side stories make the screenplay a mess. The show looks like a compilation of fillers which is poorly edited. I remember myself checking time again and again after few episodes. This show had a great potential but the script is still uncooked. Henry C is amazing as the Witcher but the supporting cast is a hit or a miss. The costume design also looks contemporary sometimes and takes you out from the mediaeval era. The main plot is too far stretched and can be converted into a four episode mini series to be honest. The action was good, also effects on the creatures were great sometimes except the dragon, it looks fake as frick. Overall it's a show you can skip and society would still accept you. And people comparing it with game of thrones should chill. It's not even 10% near it, inspite of having a bad season finale, GOT is not comparable to this show.

Ready or Not (I) (2019)

Don't get the low rating.

[8/10 · 13 December 2019]

This movie doesn't take itself seriously, the pace is very great, and a perfect Saturday night R rated movie which you can enjoy with your friends or even alone. The dark comedy is good, the Gore is great and the lead actress should get some recognition after this movie, she was great. There are some sketchy and over the top characters too, but In a film like this, it's totally acceptable. For me this was a fun movie and didn't bore me for even a second. I'd recommend it to everyone.

The Irishman (2019)

Feels like fast and furious runway, it never ends.

[5/10 · 30 November 2019]

After sitting there for 3½ hours, the payoff wasn't that great. When it comes to History, they were just playing around the bush. It was great to see such a star cast together on a screen, the de-aging didn't bother me as it Did to some people, but I would have preferred other young actors portraying them. The story is very linear and one dimensional. This was a great opportunity to make another lifetime classic, but I don't see it in that list up there. With this story, it could have ended with 2½ hour run easily! I don't mind lengthy movies, but if the story isn't that compelling, then it's just a bit of a stretch.

Parasite (2019)

Noir at it's best!

[10/10 · 4 November 2019]

I generally never watch foreign language movies because I'm annoyed by the subtitles. But this movie hooks you up to the screen with its visuals, the acting, the premise the shifts in the tone, you never know what's going to happen next. I don't understand Korean but still I could connect and realte to the characters. After watching Joker, I wasn't expecting any other film this year to even come near it. But this came out like an underdog! Both are 10 on 10 for me. I wish such movies are made more. I hope it gets a dub so that more people could watch it if they are not into foreign films. This is just gold and a must watch if you like shows like Fargo or even breaking bad, it has a similar aura to it.

I literally don't have any major critic for the film but if I have to nitpick, I wish the death of Kim's son was real. Because when it was implied at the beginning that he's dead, but the later on revealed that he survived, takes away the horror of that scene.

Overall, It's dark, funny, horror and sometimes feels like it's real, what if you have characters like these in your life too and you just don't know it, how many mask they wear.

The King (I) (2019)

Unexpectedly good. (8.5/10)

[8/10 · 2 November 2019]

After watching 7.4 average review, I wasn't expecting much from this film, may be that's the main reason I ended up liking it more.

The casting is great, specially the young king, loved him in the role. The cinematography looks beautiful, some of you might get annoyed by the tint they used, but for me it worked, fits well for a period drama. I had no idea about this story and regardless about how accurate it is or not, I was invested.

It's nothing game of thrones or Vikings but as a film it works fine. The twist which they add at the end that, France never really attacked Hal can be predicted when the assassin just surrenders in the beginning of the movie and tell Hal that he has been sent to kill him. This idea doesn't sell you, But inspite of this suspicion, the movie catches up with Pattinson's character and you kinda forget it for a while and then it's officially revealed at the end that the attack from France never really happened and the "Good" king, was corrupted by his own people for their own benefit.

The movie has a lot of scenes where the emotions are portrayed with actions over dialogue which I love. Again, my ratings may fall down a notch after some time passes but for now I loved this one. I'd recommend this film to everyone who love period dramas.

Joker (I) (2019)

This is not just a movie, it's an experience!

[10/10 · 10 October 2019]

I went in the movie expecting a basic/ straight forward origin story of the joker and how he would fit in the Gotham of this Universe. But I got something else, an experience like never before from a comic book film. After the first watch I couldn't grasp everything, but after watching it for the third time, there are so many things happening that you would not even think of are happening, or ask yourself are they even real? The more you watch this film the more it grows on you, makes you think about the reality. The movie doesn't end on a straight forward conclusion, but keeps the mystery intact, and is open to interpretation. My take on this one is that, this movie is not about the joker which we know from the comics and live action movies, but it's about a man who impregnated this chaos in Gotham which led to hundreds of followers from which the real joker was born who became the arch nemesis of the batman. Joker is not about who is behind the mask but about the chaos which still passes down and is beyond his death.

Baal Veer (2012–2016)

Awsmome show!

[22 September 2019]

I think this show is Very unique and better than MCU and DC movies!! I'm glad kid of this generation are growing up watching this show. The scripts are just flawless.

Sacred Games (2018– )

Season 2

[8/10 · 15 August 2019]

Well I can see, season 2 is divisive. Maybe the reason is what season 1 left for us, on a high note and season 2 starts with yet another back story of gaitonde and his downfall as a gangster. For me that was a great way to start the show beacuase it gives us more context to the actions taken by gaitonde in season 1. Same is with the other characters and some new ones. Season 2 focuses on how religion is used as a tool for distruction. It questions, what is morel or immoral, what's good or bad to do in a civilization. All the missing links, characters, side plots comes full circle in this season. The finale is not something you would like in the first watch, but as you go back and listent to the characters carefully, it fits very well. So please acknowledge the writers who tried their best to connect both the seasons so well. This might be light on action but the storyline, the dialogues and such a great cast together sharing the screen is what we rarely get nowadays.

Kota Factory (2019–2021)

Kota factory is good!

[8/10 · 18 May 2019]

The first episode is awesome, it sets the tone and episode 2 dwells on it and build up the characters. But episode 4 and 5 lost the bulid up adding the generic teenage love drama which took me off. I was expecting a moment where jeetu bhaiya goes out of his way, and he would be an underdog teaching avanger students and making them crack IIT. But nothing like that happens, he tells his student to move on, which wasn't a bad advice, but it didn't turned out that satisfying when we compare their chemistry in first 2 episodes. Overall it was an enjoyable series, solid dialogues, and in such small budget they pulled this off. So Kudos to everyone who worked on this show. The last 2 episodes could have been way better.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

A beautiful conclusion!

[9/10 · 28 April 2019]

Well this movie is an experience, like for a moment you like it and for a moment you think, am i just fanboying? The reason is the plot holes created due to the time travel plot device. Overall the stakes are high, but are they really? Too many plot conveniences, contradictions with the early established facts and all that stuff in the storyline. If you go in to enjoy the final battel, you'll get all yours hungry ass needs. And Tony's character arc with other original avangers was full circle, i just loved it. But more i think about the movie as a whole, it makes lesser sense.

I might be wrong, but here is one of the many examples.

The ancient one says that removing even 1 infinity stone can disturb the timeline coz we all know that these stones are basically binding the existence of the universe, they were even before the existence of the universe or singularity.

And hence Captain America goes back in time to keep the stones from where they were taken. But it doesn't change the fact that in the main MCU timeline, thanos distroyed all of the infinity stones and the world is just fine. Nothing happens for 5 years so far. And yes Dr. Strange doesn't have his time stone now.

And Captain America has to keep the stones back at the exact same time in the past where they were taken, but it's not possible because when cap will go back at the exact same time to return the stone, the ancient one will already have a time stone. It will create a paradox anyway in the main timeline irrespective of other immerging alternate timelines.

I think they should have completely omited the time travel as a plot device beacuase then nothing is on stakes and it results in a lot of plot holes which makes a movie with a ton of potential, dumb. They could have used the Adam werlock storyline or something els but time travel, coz it's just cliché. Everything setup in infinity war becomes less impactful.

And for that reason it's a 7.5/10 as a whole for me. But for the conclusion, it's a 10/10.

Infinity war > Endgame.

Criminal Justice (2019– )

Started great but went downhill.

[7/10 · 19 April 2019]

The show is gripping till episode 6th, but later on the show drags, multiple storylines which doesn't focus on the main plot. The suspense element was handled good, but the payoff wasnt shocking, plus they don't even show how the crime actually happened. That's the most disappointing thing from a season finale. If they would have subtracted that jail rivalry plot line and focused more on the payoff for the main murderer, it would have been atleast a 8/10

Game of Thrones: Winterfell (2019) Season 8, Episode 1

Well, a great first episode.

[7/10 · 15 April 2019]

1. Reunion of the Starks 2. Bitch drama between sansa and Danny 3. Danny Ruining horses for Jon snow 4. Sam's reaction after he knows his family is dead 5. Jon snow gets to know about his true identity. 6. I always had blue eyes. 7. The sweet jump scare horror at the end.