The Big Broad Bombastic Super-hero franchise seems to be the only hope to save the movie-theatre business in India, at least for now.
The Hollywood studios have unleashed three super-hero flicks into theatres this week, hoping that the fugitive viewership would return to theatres lured by the larger-than-life designs of the spectacular stratosphere.
Be warned: only one of these three blockbuster-styled products is new. Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings which opens in four languages (English,Hindi Tamil, Telugu) is the brand new ‘Marvel’ of production design, more remarkable for its visual spectacle than an emotional density, Shag-Chi is like a dip in icy cold waters. Once you get into it, it feels pleasant enough.
After two consecutive back-to-back Bollywood fiascos Bell Bottom and Chehre, movie theatres are hopeful about the Hollywood spectacles.
“We are praying that Shang-Chi and F9 would do what Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar couldn’t. Shang-Chi specially is our big hope. F9 has been around since July and illegally available on the internet,” says a personnel in Mumbai from a multiplex.
Shang Chi… is the first film from Marvel’s super-hero world to be helmed by an Asian director and with an Asian actor in the lead. Will it bring back the audiences?
The 9 instalment in Fast & Furious franchise has nothing new to offer. For the fans of the frenetic franchise it doesn’t matter what the plot is. So here‘s dope on the plot of F9: The Fast Saga, there is no plot. F9 is like a prolonged football match where the two sides are unable to identify one another and the spectators are just as confused. The referee has gone out for some fresh air and never came back. It being chaotic would be an understatement about what transpires for 2 ½ hours in F9. I did gather that Vin Diesel and John Cena are blood brothers after each other’s blood for their father’s death. The narrative gives them no time to settle down to a bro-to-bro chat. It’s all about racing cars rather than gracing emotions.
As for Black Widow, Disney-Hotstar, in all its wisdom, kept the film on hold in India for two months. It is now streaming in India. But fans of the Marvel universe have already seen it. Too little, too late.
Image source: IMDb