(For Dr.Logu)
Tamil cinema’s ace thief Vikram Kennedy is a desperate man.
The schlockmeister of Kollywood has not had a decent hit in a million years.
His recent movies like Bheema, Rajapattai and Deiva Thirumagal were either plain awful or outright theft.
The audience is giving him the cold shoulder.
He’s seething with rage seeing podiyans (kids) like Simbhu, Vishal, Arya etc getting ahead of him.
The bozo must be losing its mind.
Now there’s speculation that Vikram’s upcoming movie Thandavam is also a ripoff of a Hollywood film – Daredevil.
SI blog readers will recall that Vikram’s previous movie Deiva Thirumagal was an instance of outright stealing from the Sean Penn, Dakota Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer film I an Sam.
Daredevil – Junk
At the behest of one of my readers, I watched Daredevil (2003) the other day (Netflix has the DVD in the U.S.).
In my not-so-humble opinion, the underlying theme of Daredevil is not merely fanciful but utter drivel – A blind Batmanesque figure.
Ben Affleck, the hero of Daredevil, plays a blind super-hero who ‘zooms’ and ‘flies’ over the city bringing the bad guys to book.
Yes, Daredevil too wears a mask and a costume. 😉
Like Batman, Daredevil is also a comic book character (Marvel Comics).
But Daredevil’s is a smaller operation confined to the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City.
Another difference – Batman wears black, our Daredevil wears a metallic red costume.
In the movie, our hero Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck) is a blind lawyer taking up cases of the indigent innocent.
Although his law firm is not in great shape, he’s willing to take payment from his clients in kind.
In one instance, the payment comes in the form of fish.
Matt became blind as a young boy in an accident involving hazardous waste.
However, the accident heightened his other senses and still allows him to ‘see,’ albeit in a different way.
Jennifer Garner (who later became Ben Affleck’s real-life wife) plays his love interest Elektra Natchios in the film.
Two Bad Guys
Colin Farrell and Michael Clarke Duncan are the two bad guys.
Of the two, Farrell’s character Bullseye is the more interesting villain.
With his Irish brogue and a bullseye etched on the face, Colin Farrell delivers a superb performance as the weird, cocky assassin
I had no issues with the acting of the other key players as well or with the photography.
Jennifer Garner is a pretty lady, with more than a bit of class, and adds up to the sex quotient of the movie.
And I must also acknowledge that the overall execution of the film was slick.
Silly Premise
My main grouse was that the foundation of the film was so bizarrely silly.
Plus, I’m sick and tired of all these super-hero films.
There’s very little difference in any of these movies.
People jumping off tall buildings and pummeling the bad guys.
Ad nauseum, ad infinitum.
If Vikram’s Thandavam is indeed a lift of Daredevil, it’d be an asinine move.
I remain skeptical that Thandavam will fly with Tamil moviegoers if it involves the bozo Vikram playing a blind superhero ‘flying’ about and killing the bad guys.
In a million years, the Kollywood buffoons cannot make a slick superhero film.
Audiences are sure to make comparisons with Hollywood super-hero productions like Batman, Ironman etc and in such a contest the Tamil imitation will surely be found wanting.
But experience has taught me to never underestimate the stupidity of the average Tamil moviegoer!
Related Stories:
Thandavam Review – And Then They Laughed
Thandavam Profile on Wiki
Daredevil – Is Vikram Stealing this Junk? added by SearchIndia.com on
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_(film)
Even though shankar and vikram not delivered a decent after anniyan, but now they are coming with “I” movie, can they repeat the success of anniyan or they continue to fail???
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Wow, the South Indian Film industry is going places.
Look at the names of their movies – Ee, I…Can’t wait for Pee. 😉
Thanks for the post.
Though the trailer doesn’t show any signs of vikram as a superhero but the scary prospect of watching him do such acts in a story weaved or stolen by a juvenile director like vijay makes us shudder..
If indeed vikram acts a superhero then it would be a another superzero in his falling career…
Talking of superhero, tamil moviegoers can expect a funny outing with this
http://tamil.way2movies.com/newssingle_tamil.html?id=157968&cat=3&tit=Jeeva-says,-%91Miss-my-superhero-suit%92
http://wallpanda.blogspot.in/2012/06/mugamoodi-movie-latest-unseen.html
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. There does appear to be some similarity between Thandavam (trailer) and Daredevil film.
If you watch the trailer that you posted a few days back, Vikram is shown to be blind and engaging in chases and heavy fighting. Not unlike what I saw the hero do in Daredevil.
But I don’t see Vikram wearing the mask. Thank God, for small mercies!
Of course, we’ll have to wait for Thandavam’s release to determine if and to what extent it’s been stolen from Daredevil.
It’s possible that Vikram and his accomplices might have modified the script to some degree to counter charges of thievery.
But one thing’s certain – Having watched both the Thandavam trailer and the full Daredevil film, I must say that Vikram is not even in the Ben Affleck league of actors.
Vikram is one of the most overrated Tamil actors.
2. Mugamoodi sounds like a Mulagapodi kind of movie. Most likely, it won’t make it here.
I’ve always believed that if Jiva were not film producer R.B.Chowdhry’s son he’d be going door to door selling LIC policies. 😉
Didn’t Vikram already satisfy his superhero fetish as cockman Kandasamy?
A couple of my wiser than me cousins have given up Tamil movies with the exception of Kamal and Rajini’s for they have concluded that rest are certified junk.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Kanthasamy was a nightmare of epic proportions.
The only good cinema these days comes from Europe.
That costume jeeva wearing is as silly as a child’s cosplay of anime characters.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Silly?
Great news, that’s just what Indian producers want to hear.
The sillier the better for Indian audiences.
After all, a nation of moviegoers that turned trash like Dabaang, Bodyguard, Ready etc into hits has no notion of class.
Have any of you guys seen Vazhakku Enn 18/9 tamil film?
Reviews were very positive, but I have n’t watched it yet. I’m allergic to a sick-feeling that is carried along with movies from Bala, etc. But not sure if it was one of them.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
No, haven’t seen it.
@boops – I watched it because of the good reviews.
It was like a below average law and order episode.
Not bad for a Tamil movie.. with a title like that I expected some suspense – there was none.
A few people I know highly recommended this movie but I am skeptical so havne’t watched.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
I found the acting decent but the movie left me cold.
Will watch Your Office Space recommendation in a few minutes.
Is Naveen talking about Vazhakku Enn 18/9 or Daredevil?
Vazhakku Enn 18/9.
//I found the acting decent but the movie left me cold.//
SI – Which movie are you talking about?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
I was referring to Daredevil.
But Boopalan is confused as to what you’re referring to.
Human beings are not supposed to all day in small cubicles staring at computer screens!
One of these days I might just do something like that.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
…filling out useless forms…..
Noted down the full quote while watching the film earlier today.
Will use it in the review.
@Boops: I watched the movie and certainly as you mentioned it carried the tag of a bala kind of film which gives us a sick-feel. Though its certainly not a run-of-the-mill tamil movie, sad part is it falls on to its self-imposed stereotypical trap that city-bred are dishonest,evil and village people personify qualities like honesty modesty,humility…However I feel it can be watched once for its plot but overall the praise and adulation heaped upon the movie are way too much i suppose..
Here’s review of Vazhakku Enn by Barathwaj Rangan(Hindu), this is probably the best review i have read in times..
http://baradwajrangan.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/vazhakku-enn-189-241312444/
Why no SI post on India’s historic Olympics?
You should write about the medalists who won despite the Indian infrastructure and bureaucracy.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Pitiful performance.
To see Mera Bharat Mahaan fare worse than godforsaken countries like Ethiopia, Croatia, Jamaica, North Korea etc is beyond distressing. http://london2012.nytimes.com/results
I can’t believe Ethiopia or Kenya has better infrastructure than India. They’re probably still living on trees or in bushes out there.
Our people just don’t have it in them to do anything but coolie work. 🙁
but, hey.. Pakistan got no medal.
Portugal got 1 medal for 77 athletes. Brazil (next Olympic host) got 17 for 265 athletes. India got 6 medals for 83.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Well, we got 1,200 million mosquitoes!
So, one medal for 200 million people. Pitiful.
Read the following piece in The Atlantic last week.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/neither-the-will-nor-the-cash-why-india-wins-so-few-olympic-medals/260693/
2. Ha ha ha, Pakistan ain’t no country. It’s a dirty kennel of 180 million rabid curs.
Agreed it isn’t great but this is the best so far and it has been awarded with a bubble with a name in the link you provided.
The Atlantic article seems to be sympathetic to the Indian plight.
But even a China-like program won’t produce China-like results for at least 50 more years, I bet. Years and years of reluctance-to-sports in the genes won’t be easy to get rid of.
Kenya & its neighbors do well in just one category. long distance running..
Indians seem to be finding their niche in shooting, wrestling and boxing. Maybe they should concentrate on those 3 and bunt the track & field category. I guess that’s what they are doing already.
18 of those 83 are from the godforsaken Hockey team. They finished last. UnFcknBelievable! They may have to bunt the field hockey category too.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Years and years of reluctance-to-sports in the genes won’t be easy to get rid of.
I think it’s genetic but in a different sense – the sheer struggle for survival in that Hobbesian nation makes the people jump for the low-hanging fruit everywhere.
Any big victories are aberrations, never the rule.
Right now, India and Indians succeeds (whether in India or outside) only when there’s a cost advantage.
Conceptually speaking, I’d describe the Indian situation as the Coolie Frame of Mind that goes beyond the economy and has taken over the entire social space.
Inevitably, the first casualty of the Coolie Frame of Mind is vision and excellence.
The Coolie Frame of Mind is all encompassing in its embrace of the immediate or the short-term. Look at Bollywood, politics, economy, corruption, pitiful infrastructure, kind of small businesses coming up etc.
The curse of its large population and the relentless breeding by the subaltern classes will make it hard for the nation to easily slough off the Coolie Frame of Mind.
India’s answer to Jurassic Park and Avatar -> http://behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/adhisaya-ulagam/adhisaya-ulagam-box-office-aug-12.html
The next Khan in Bollywood -> http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/aug-12-02/ganja-karuppu-poraali-13-08-12.html
You can count on Indian Cinema to make you laugh even on a busy Monday morning! 😀
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Ha ha ha, a 3D Tamil film. In the picture (your first link), that ‘thing’ in the middle between the kids looks more ET-ish than human.
2. Henceforth, SI will be known as SI Khan.
And I will only respond to larger than life comments. 😉
First, where’s my Land Cruiser?
Result of creative genius – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRUvdT99MXI
SearchIndia.com Responds:
That looks like something I did with my Windpws 95 PC in the mid-1990s.
BTW, what’s a caveman doing in the video?
Few people realize the lives of humans never intersected with that of dinosaurs or their cousins. Humans came tens of million years later.
Looks like its, ahem, “inspired” by Spy Kids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dWir9Q_Vek
SearchIndia.com Responds:
What this English Vinglish and all.
Why they not showing Sridevi’s sole claim to fame – Thunder Thighs.
Here’s the Secret of Her Thighness Sridevi’s
SuccessSexcess:1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WySkf6Ro9K4
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kKdoTTYDaY – Classic Tamil Song from the 1970s
Interested in the review of Expendables 2 on Friday?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
This weekend, desis are unlikely to read anything beyond Ek Tha Tiger.
But if you can watch the Thursday midnight show of Expendables 2, please go ahead.
It’ll release at 12:01AM on Thursday midnight in two theatres near your place – Regal & AMC.
Just sent you an e-mail. Please check.