Speed
wogma rating: Switch channels if it's on cable (?)
When something is sold to me as a thriller, the least I expect is some style from the "action" heroes, a few smart one-liners, and an engaging plot. But, oh well, that's not to be. The songs are bad and the picturization worse. The only saving grace is a couple of action sequences.
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There are a few ingredients in thrillers that are pretty much indispensable. And "Speed" is missing those crucial elements. You need a main hero who oozes style. Sorry, two who don't ooze style won't do. Same goes for the villain. Then you need the one-liners - you might roll your eyes when they are said, but you have to agree a thriller is incomplete without them. And most importantly - an engaging plot! See, we know it’s an average thriller, so we know the earth won't shatter into a zillion pieces. But, at least make a teeny-weeny attempt to engross us in your narrative.
Again, out-of-this-world performances are not expected. Just enough to move the story along. And that, the not-so-stellar cast accomplishes. We could have done with a little less excited Zayed Khan, though. And why on earth was Aftab Shivdasani sporting the Mahendra Dhoni look? It is amazing how Aftab can wear the same expression, no matter who he is made to look like. I am not sure whether I can completely blame the actors for the lack of style. The lamest dialogues ever were fit into those two hours. How stylistically can you deliver lousy lines after all?
The plot tries to strike a balance between two main threads, at least two mini-threads, 4 actors, and their ladies. That's a whole lot, and thus the loss of focus and mismanagement of pace is not really a surprise. I really didn't like the way the motivation of the villains unfolds for us. Too little, too late.
What I did like though, are the action sequences saved for Zayed Khan. They are very-well choreographed and executed.
The songs are dull too - lyrics, music, picturization, choreography, etc. Particularly bad is the one which is supposedly a love scene. People, decide - either be bold enough to show a couple actually making love, or skip it! You are fooling no one by using silly editing techniques to imply that the twosome is actually doing anything.
Another director going from bad to worse. Another movie with actors continuing to do what they do in every other movie. Another story that needed at least another year's worth of work. Another few songs that the cine-goer could have survived without. Another wannabe entertainer released this Friday.
- meeta, a part of the audience
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This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.
Warning: this section has some details that could distort your experience while watching the movie. I strongly recommend reading this only after you have seen the movie or if you have decided not to see it.
Plot Summary
Siddharth Verma (Sanjay Suri), a chef, and his wife Richa (Urmila Matondkar) are living happily with their son. But, there is a secret which is going to turn their lives topsy-turvy.
What did not
- I didn't realize "Speed" meant "low speed". Because that is how the movie starts: a song that sounds slow compared to its visuals. Why was the movie named "Speed" again?
- Was the fuzzy look in the long shots intentional? If so, I wonder why. Because, it looked shabby.
- I know there is this trend of having foreigners dance in the background for songs, it's supposedly cool. But, can't we find some who can dance well?
- There is this scene where Richa is on a cordless phone talking to someone and the villain cuts off a wire. The phone sounds an “engaged” tone. Now if that was a phone wire cut, how come there is an “engaged” tone? And if it was an electricity wire, the cordless phone wouldn't give out an engaged tone either.
- The career choices that women have to make! Richa looks like an electrical engineer, what with all the phone lines she can rework and people she can electrocute. But poor thing is a science teacher in an elementary school.
- Monica (Sophie Chaudhary) is looking at Siddharth (Sanjay Suri) on a monitor. Actual Siddarth is moving normally, but Siddharth on camera is moving in slow motion!
- Why were the villains scaring Richa? It's not like they were having her do anything for them.
- Aftab Shivdasani's dubbing was seriously off in some of the scenes.
- Can an Indian Prime Minister really give a British police officer an order contrary to instructions from his own officer-in-charge?
- Why does a vamp (Sophie) have to deliver every dialogue as if she is trying to seduce somebody?
- It is highly annoying to see characters go all emotional on each other bang in the middle of a situation where time is of the utmost importance and lives are supposedly at stake.
- Why did Kabir Khan (Aftab Shivdasani) not react when Sandeep (Zayed Khan) pulled the rope?
Nitty-Gritty
- It was really hilarious how the Prime Minister's group of assistants had the exact same number of women as there were bouquets to hold.
- Where did the car that Sanjana (Tanushree Dutta) arrived in at the stable vanish off?
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Comments (6)
Review - Speed...
When something is sold to me as a thriller, the least I expect is some style from the "action" heroes, a few smart one-liners, and an engaging plot. But, oh well, that's not to be. The songs are bad and the picturization worse. The only saving grace...
Thank you, nadeem!
OMG, Meetu! My younger brother brought this as a Netflix DVD, assuring us it was 100% Keanu Reeves-Free! I was the only one who thought that maybe it didn't sound very good and maybe we should see what was on Eros Online instead - and boy, was I right to object! Every main character in the movie, hero and villain alike, Carries The Idiot Ball, usually more than once; all the bad guys appear to be honor grads of The Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy.
When the sometimes-resourceful, usually-useless heroine stopped her car in the face of the villain pointing a gun at her, we all erupted in laughter, given we hadn't seen a single bad guy who could hit the broad side of a barn up until that point! What I would have liked to see was her seeing him standing there with his gun drawn, bellowing "GET DOWN!", then ducking and running him over - which, given the kind of stupid filmi move he was making, would have been No Less Than He Deserved.
So - about Zayed Khan, Goofy Computer Manchild Turned Kung-Fu Master.... Was there anything in the story earlier on that explained where the Hell he suddenly got the Mad Skillz to go all Jet Li on the bad guys' asses? Is he a known Martial Arts/Action Star in India, so it's no surprise when he suddenly mops the floor with an army of goons? My brother kept going, "But - but, nobody said if he was actually CBI, or Interpol, or an ex-Shaolin Monk...."
On balance? I wish we'd watched Don instead....
@TimELiebe so, we actually agree for once? :D
@Meetu - pfft!
Actually, when it comes to movies that aren't straight entertainers we tend to agree rather often. It's just I and my friends (some of whom you know from Facebook) have more affection for trashy action and romance than you do - especially when accompanied by elaborate dance numbers.
We all finally watched DON last weekend (the SRK version), and enjoyed it thoroughly for what it was - a big dumb glitzy twisty action movie with some great songs in it. We'll probably watch DON 2 this weekend since we have the DVD from Netflix - then the weekend after that, once we're all back together (there's been a lot of traveling lately), we'll sit down to HAIDER since we've enjoyed Vishal Bhardwaj's other Shakespeare adaptations.
Rejoice! We're finally balancing our Indian Movie diet a bit with better movies! :)
@TimELiebe Thank you very much :P
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