The animation here is just about OK. It’s not comely and though blindingly colourful, lacks a certain class that we’ve come to expect from the major Hollywood studios. There’s not much to laugh at as the narrative goes a little haywire in its redemptive spiral. The action sequences, while quite bombastic doesn’t quite make it stick. There’s nothing inventive or creative in terms of the writing either. The entire run looks contrived and derivative. Even the three-year-olds will find it difficult to cotton on to this miserable escapade.

The poor acting, traditionalist treatment and regulated melodrama also fails to raise the bar in terms of overall affect. Only Mathew (Black Swan) Libatique’s cinematography is worthy of high praise here!

A decidedly flimsy reason to fashion a sequel with nothing but a whiff of long forgotten nostalgia to drive it through, this one is a big fat blunder that’s bound to sink. There’s no great charm to offload, pretentious performances, forced family bonding and a distinct lack of sincerity driving it – so this one is sure to go off the screens even before it can come on, so-to-speak!

The science of it is undoubtedly silly, plot holes and inconsistencies are too many so it’s mainly up to the strong cast and their individual charismas to work out some likeability. Unfortunately it’s not enough to keep you rooted in your seats through the near two-hour flakily eventful runtime.

There’s not much script to propel this wannabe comedic drama. Even so, it’s all quite neatly laid out and tied in to produce a feel-good effect. This movie is meant to be about mothers but most of the narrative revolves around representations of women as wives, ex-wives, lovers, daughters and just peripherally deals with them as mothers. As such, this tribute turns out to be just a little too shallow!

The VFX is magical but the entire treatment lacks vision and fire. As a result the ‘scares’ are never fully realized. This one promises much more than it can deliver!

The Divergent franchise started out with promise a couple of years ago but now it’s merely fumbling around in dystopia for a unique sci-fi footing. ‘The Hunger Games’ experience is probably hard to beat but this series appears to have lost steam after that first salvo. ‘Allegiant’ may still be a popular outing for the young set but I don’t think it will make for a distinctive or memorable one!

It’s quite confusing when there’s no clear cut difference between the good and the bad. Most of the events play out in predictable fashion. The chase is reasonably gripping and the twists that account for the escape and safety from apprehension border on humanitarian and ethical premises. There’s no real tension to draw you in and the suspense is a little too vapid to make a difference in engagement.

You just don’t get the point of this movie even if there’s enough adventure to satisfy the kids. This effort rests largely on marketability and doesn’t appear to have any answers to the moral questions embedded in the run-of-play. The animation design is not exactly eye-pleasing and even the back-drops don’t have the cinematic finish of far more accomplished animation films we’ve seen afore. As a result there’s very little excitement to draw up here.

It’s all tried and tested (‘Die Hard’ series) stuff which any B grader would showcase with far more assured relish. Director Babak Najafi is unable to define clear-cut distinguishing points to raise the level of this undernourished offering. In fact this one is even worse than ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ if that’s anything to go by.