With its thrilling action sequences and endearing characters, Kung Fu Panda 4 enthrals viewers and provides an incredible cinematic experience.

Po must train a new warrior when he’s chosen to become the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace. However, when a formidable shape-shifting sorceress sets her eyes on his Staff of Wisdom, he suddenly realises he’s going to need some help to confront the threat.

While the film maintains its signature humour and heart-warming messages of friendship and self-discovery along the way, it struggles with a recycled plot that feels less innovative than its predecessors. Jack Black and the voice cast deliver solid performances, infusing all the characters with charm and energy.

Overall, Kung Fu Panda 4 may not reach the heights of the earlier films, but it still delivers enough excitement and laughs to satisfy both fans of the series and new viewers.

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There are many winds blowing about us; there are many forces and many attractions. If our purposes and resolutions are feather­weight, like scraps of paper they will fly away. We must put the weight of our wills on them if they must remain in place.

“The great difference existing between individuals in regard to will-power,” says J. F. Donceel, “seems to derive mainly from the availability, the degrees of consciousness, of their motives.”

Most people want to succeed, to forge ahead in their careers, to accumulate wealth, power or knowledge, to have a happy family life, to improve their personalities, and so on. But only those who want these things badly enough are going to get anywhere, because they will make the necessary efforts to achieve them.

Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States, was headstrong and quarrelsome in his boyhood. He grew up to be a man of determined and strong will. Many years after his death in 1845, a visitor to Jackson’s home met an old man who knew the President quite intimately. When the visitor asked if Jackson had gone to heaven, the old man answered, “If he set his mind that way, he did”.

The same is the case with all of us. We go the way we set our minds. To want things badly enough, to want them intensely seems to be the essential condition of success.

This is precisely the point where great differences exist between individuals.

Some people are haunted by the desire to succeed, to make money, to help others and so on. They are, in the good sense of the word, ambitious. Whenever they are inclined to slacken their efforts, a powerful motivation, the idea of whatever they want to achieve, rises before their mind and gives them no rest until they are again hard at work. These are the strong-willed individuals. They get what they want.

Paderewski was above eighty when he decided to become a pianist. Till then he never thought of playing piano: he was only a composer.
Once his editor told him his compositions were not up to the mark as no one could play them on the piano. “Only an excellent pianist can play your music,” he remarked.

“Why can’t I be that pianist?” said the composer.

So he went to Vienna to meet Leschetizky who was the best piano instructor of the time. The maestro’s reaction was, “To begin at your age! It is a waste of time.” But the student insisted, and the teacher gave him a few lessons.

The studious old man kept practising. Before long he gave a public concert. People liked it and cheered him enthusiastically. This impressed the maestro and he gave him some more lessons. In his old age, by sheer will-power, Paderewski became one of the best pianists.

There are many people who want the same things which the strong-willed people want, but in a theoretical detached way, which allows them to forget their purpose for long stretches of time during which no endeavour is made to reach it. Some people are unable to want anything badly enough. They may be very intelligent, but they are really wanting in the domain of the will. They delay an unpleasant task over much, weakening their will and forming the habit of laziness.

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EROS INTERNATIONAL, Rs 299

Cast: John Abraham, Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Akshaye Khanna, Nargis Fakhri, Akshay Kumar, Saqib Saleem
Director: Rohit Dhawan

A good action flick packed with lavish locations, fantastic production values and high-octane action sequences, including a stunning car helicopter-car chase. While the thrills pack a punch all over, sadly the storytelling is kept low and doesn’t really entertain much.

It is the year 2015, a cricket series is being played in the Middle East and India has just beaten Sri Lanka in the semi-finals in a nail-biting finish, all credit going to Viraj Sharma (Saqib Saleem). India now meets Pakistan in the finals in two days. Suddenly Viraj’s coach finds him missing from the hotel and his phone switched off too. He informs the cricket board and the minister for external affairs who says the team should return and the final be called off. Just then, she receives an email video of a man saying he’s a Pakistani fan and has captured Viraj. The fan says if the match is called off, he will kill Viraj.

The Indian government is thrown into a tizzy as they fly out their tough-as-nails cop Kabir (John Abraham) to rescue Viraj. Aiding him is Junaid (Varun Dhawan). The duo has barely a few hours to trace the missing cricketer. Their suspects include the mysterious Sam (Nargis Fakhri) whom Viraj was last seen talking to and a bar dancer-pickpocket-druggist Ishika (Jacqueline Fernandez), who later joins the duo to find Viraj, playboy Sameer Gazi (Akshay Kumar) and cricket bookie Wagah (Akshaye Khanna) and his assistant Altaf (Rahul Dev).

The countdown to the final match is only a few hours away. Amidst high drama on the seas, a rescue operation by Kabir and Junaid is the only way Viraj can reach the stadium and keep India’s hopes alive. Will Kabir and Junaid find out where Viraj is?

Good performances by the young and talented Varun keep you in splits with his humour, while the beefy Abraham sticks to a stoic expression right through the two hour flick. Jacqueline doesn’t have really much to do, but her antics add to the rescue scenes.

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SONY DADC, Rs 599

Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot
Director: Zack Snyder

Batman and Superman fans have something to talk about. For the first time ever we have a clash between two mighty fighters as they take on each other fighting for justice in the world.  In simple terms, it’s the jealousy of Batman over the Man of Steel Superman’s supreme godlike powers and inventor Luthor’s intricately facile efforts to manipulate them against one another.

The film opens with a brief introduction of Batman / Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) who sees the destruction of buildings, innocents being killed and the damage created by Superman / Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) and General Zod’s (Michael Shannon) battle. Our initial battle is going up against Superman, a case of Gotham versus Metropolis. Both heavyweights vie to finish each other in a battle for supremacy. Superman is not the favourite in Metropolis, Batman rules the roost all over.

Eighteen months later, many look up to Superman, but many also consider him a “false god”. Senator Finch (Holly Hunter) leads a campaign against Superman, while Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) tries to persuade the senator to allow him to import kryptonite recovered from the Indian Ocean so he can create a defensive weapon against Superman. Things start getting bad for Superman and more so he is blamed for casualties during a desert raid involving his lover Lois Lane (Amy Adams).

Lex takes sides with Batman and both launch a crusade against the Man of Steel. Luthor has also created a CGI-rendered monster on demand that he sends to kill both heroes. Batman soon realizes his evil ploy, but getting out of Lex’s net is not going to be easy.

Israeli actress Gal Gadot who plays Wonder Woman, also stars in DC Comics forthcoming action flick Wonder Woman playing the title role in the film which is to be released in June 2017.

The fiery explosions and the fistfights are well executed with good camera angles capturing the action well. Even on an LCD screen, the images are razor sharp with the special effects impressive. The Might and the Power of a Punch, a bonus feature on the DVD, adds to the fun. Your favourite comic heroes can be singled out on your DVD rack as this DVD comes in a colourful red case, unlike the very stereotyped dark covers.

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SONY DADC, Rs 599

Cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley
Directed by: J. J. Abrams

By now you might have already watched the film on the big screen with all its bonuses of 5.1 surround and crisp picture quality. The DVD has all the excitement intact and that’s if you watch it on a big screen at home. You get all the booms, gunshots and sound effects coming to your living room. But sadly we don’t get extra features with the DVD.

The film, the first under the Walt Disney Co. umbrella, received five Oscar nominations for Film Editing, Original Score, Visual Effect, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing, but failed to win a single award.

Thirty years after the destruction of the second Death Star, the last remaining Jedi Luke Skywalker has disappeared. With the defeat of the Galactic Empire, the galaxy faces a new threat from the evil Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and the sinister First Order who want full control to rule the galaxy. When a defector, Finn (John Boyega), crash-lands on a desert planet, he meets Rey (Daisy Ridley), a tough scavenger. Rey is alone gathering and polishing space junk for dehydrated ‘food’ waiting for her family to return.

Rey is burdened when a droid carrying a top secret map to Luke Skywalker winds up in her care. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is still missing at a time when the galaxy needs him the most. The young duo joins forces with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to make sure the Resistance receives the intelligence concerning the whereabouts of Luke Skywalker the last of the Jedi Knights. Finn, Rey, Solo and Chewbacca have to fight back the forces that attack and bring peace to the galaxy.

This time the action is even more forceful. It all comes down to an assault on a gigantic super weapon, in this instance the Starkiller Base, which differs from preceding Death Stars in a terraformed surface that makes for the galaxy’s first planet destroyer/ski resort. The four have to find a way to save themselves but without Luke Skywalker. Can the resistance stand a chance?

Stars Wars – The Force Within is surely one of the most purely enjoyable cinematic experiences in the last few years. Whether you’re a new Star Wars fan or have been one all your life, this film will surely amaze.

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SONY DADC, Rs 599

Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Hugh Keys Byrne, Nicholas Hoult
Director: George Miller

If you followed the Mad Max series over the years, you would treasure each film like solid gold. This series of films has more than a cult following, with a varied set of viewers who would love the adventure which unfolds before them. The new flick offers loads of action sequences all wonderfully shot, the locales, breathtaking and cinematography, simply out of this world. Miller, the man responsible for the series, gives you an edge of the seat thriller once again.

Former policeman, Max (Tom Hardy), is captured by the War Boys tribe commanded by the Immortan Joe (Hugh Keys Byrne) and assigned to be blood donor for the Nux (Nicholas Hoult) who is sick. Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) is ordered by Joe to head on an excursion into the desert to collect gasoline. Furiosa drives a tank truck out from the Citadel and once out from his clutches, she changes the course of her destination and flees with five slave women hidden in the truck to her homeland Green Place. Immortan Joe commands his army of men, headed by Nux, to hunt down Furiosa. Nux chains Max to his car and leads the way. The army manages to catch up with Furiosa in a nail-biting car chase that ends with the army losing out and Max succeeding in getting off the car. But he is chained to Nux and is forced to drag him along. He sees Furiosa and the five women and decides to flee in their truck. But there is a secret to operate the truck which Max does not know. He finally teams up with Furiosa, and after a fist fight with Nux, Max leaves him in the desert. When Joe’s gang arrives, they retrieve Nux and the chase to find Furiosa begins all over again.

Will Max and Furiosa escape from Joe’s gang? Find out in this high octane flick with its deadly action.

At the 88th Annual Academy Awards this year, it was a night of success for the Australian film, winning six awards from its ten nominations. The film nabbed the Best Costume Design, Production Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, Film Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing awards, but missed out on Best Picture, Best Director, Visual Effects and Cinematography.

Of the 24 categories devised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 10 categories featured Mad Max: Fury Road, making it the film with the highest number of nominations and wins ever achieved by an Australian film.

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RELIANCE HOME VIDEO, Rs 599

Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin
Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Movie franchises seem to be the order of the day. We’ve seen a plethora of movie series each outdoing the other trying to please the audience. This series of action spy thriller films based on a TV series of the same name is now in its fifth sequel and comes close to its earlier productions that have a mix of action and adventure.

Rogue Nation is everything you need in an action film. A smart plot, clever humour, a robust star cast, good special effects and daredevil stunts by Cruise himself that leaves you in awe. If you thought only Bond movies have such action, this flick has plenty of mind-blowing airplane and underwater sequences, including a jaw-dropping car chase that will take your breath away. Ever seen a car being driven in reverse being chased by team of bikers through crowded streets? Take a look.

The cool and charming Tom Cruise takes the lead as producer and actor giving a splendid performance in the main lead.

With the IMF disbanded by the CIA, agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), Benjamin “Benji” Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) have a big problem on their hands. The network of highly skilled special agents headed by Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) as leader of an international group known as “The Syndicate”, vow to create terror and chaos in the world. Janik “The Bone Doctor” Vinter (Jens Hulten) is as imposing as his name suggests. These highly-trained operatives have just one agenda — to execute a series of terrorist attacks. Ethan and his team join forces with beautiful British agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who may or may not be a member of this rogue nation. Ethan has no clue as to who Ilsa works for and he risks everything if Ilsa lets him down and joins the Syndicate. Not only is Ilsa a threat to his team, even on the home front, Ethan and his team are threatened by CIA Director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin), who wants to curtail Hunt’s reckless methods. The group faces their most impossible mission to find the truth and nab the terror attackers. But The Syndicate is after Hunt and is going all out to finish him off. Will his team make it and get the law-breakers caught? Find out in the nail-biting battle of the minds.

Bonus features include a short featurette Cruising Altitude that shows the making of this film from close quarters.

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RELIANCE HOME VIDEO, Rs 599

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Sam Worthington, Jim Sturgess, Ryan Kwanten
Director: Daniel Alfredson

“Two ways a man can be rich in this world; he can be rich or have friends, but not both.” Wise words spoken by beer magnate Alfred Henry ‘Freddy’ Heineken to one of his abductors when he was kidnapped and kept in solitary confinement.

Anthony Hopkins stars as Freddy Heineken in this action feature adaptation of his true life kidnapping. The story is rather simple. The five friends and colleagues Cor Van Hout (Jim Sturgess) and Willem Holleeder (Sam Worthington), along with Jan Cat Boellard (Ryan Quanten), Frans ‘Spikes’ Meijer (Mark Van Eeuwen) and Martin ‘Brakes’ Erkamps (Thomas Cocquerel) after being declined a business loan at a bank, dream up a wild and bizarre way to make easy money.

Between the 9th and 30th of November 1983, the cash-strapped childhood buddies kidnap the owner of Dutch beer brand Heineken and his driver at gunpoint in broad daylight on the streets of Amsterdam.

The five hold him for ransom, making a demand which at that time was regarded as the highest ransom — 35 million Dutch guilders (about 16 million Euros) — ever paid for such a crime. His captors spend hours bickering and whining about what to do next with the billionaire and his driver who is kept in an adjoining room. Days turn into weeks, and with no immediate offer of payment forthcoming, the group is in a predicament as to what next to do.

The story then follows how the police tried to catch the kidnappers, the daring execution of the ransom and the ultimate finale. The crime was reported for weeks in newspapers and around the world, with the kidnappers taking care of their prisoners outside of their regular working hours. The police sadly had no clue that the kidnappers were in fact lurking around in their backyard.

Hopkins is strong in the few scenes where he portrays the angry, confused beer baron. The rest of the cast give good performances keeping with their involvement in the story.

This is a very good suspenseful action thriller. A typical kidnapping movie, unpredictable at times, but very entertaining, too. Sadly there are no Bonus Features to this DVD.

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RELIANCE HOME VIDEO, Rs 599

Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky, Lucas Black
Director: James Wan

The seventh film in the Fast & Furious series has all the ingredients of its predecessor that’s kept this series of films alive. Its two-hour runtime gives full entertainment, from raging engines and smoking tyres, to lots of skin show, loud music, energetic action sequences and unbelievable stunts, while edging in some tender moments for good measure. It is also a fitting final tribute to actor Paul Walker who died in an accident before the film’s completion.

Fast & Furious films have never been high on realism, but Furious 7 pushes the limits of believability well into the unbelievable. The most outstanding moments are those involving the cars, particularly brilliant is the scene of each member exiting an airplane in their cars and parachuting onto a remote highway in the mountains in pursuit of their target. The other crazy scene is the mighty escape from a Dubai skyscraper, edge of the seat fun, but computer animated.

Coming to the plot, Owen (Luke Evans) is in hospital after the events of the last film. His brother Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) seeks revenge on Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and the rest of the crew: Brian (the late Paul Walker), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris). The hunt for Shaw is a “fight to end all fights” kind of venture. It leads the team from the Caucasus Mountains to Abu Dhabi and finally back to Los Angeles. Along the way, they save young computer hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), who possesses the tech they need to track Shaw down.

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker again provide low-key bromance material, but the supporting cast also shines in their own way. We don’t see much of strongman Dwayne Johnson who plays DSS agent Luke Hobbs until the end of the film where he makes a grand finale.

The film has a decent soundtrack packed with EDM, hip-hop and a bit of Latin stuff thrown in. Highlights include Ride Out by Kid Ink, Tyga, Wale, YG, Rich Homie Quan and Go Hard Or Go Home by Wiz Khalifa and Iggy Azalea. There’s also the Wiz Khalifa tribute to the late Paul Walker on See You Again featuring Charlie Puth. Looking for some EDM and DJ Snake and Lil Jon come up with Turn Down For What, while DJ Snake once again gets behind the console for a pumpy Get Low with Dillion Francis, while David Guetta spins a heady Blast Off.

If you’ve followed the series you wouldn’t want to miss this. The DVD includes the Bonus Feature ‘Back to the Starting Line’.

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