If superb performances, a winning script, and beautiful visuals are your thing, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t see this film in theatres.

Taken 3 is an exact copy of Taken 1 and 2. Nobody in the movie makes an effort to differentiate this one from its predecessors. In fact this movie is actually less than the sum of the first two parts. Perhaps, an easier way to watch it is by watching the first Taken three times.

Even under the garb of ‘commercial masala’, the fight scenes are dull, the stunts look clumsy and the comedy is so awful that it makes you want to suddenly get off your seat, run towards the cinema screen and smash your face against it.

The most interesting aspect of the film is the psychological war between Zamperini and the brutal Japanese camp head ‘The Bird’ played by the Japanese singer Miyavi. Some of the exchanges between them are so over-the-top they seem manufactured for drama, so it’s quite unsettling to know that Zamperini actually went through all that torture and lived to tell the tale. This is a fairly decent movie, but Zamperini deserved a much better one.

The only silver lining in this snoozefest is newcomer Phoebe Fox who is not only too pretty but is also a really good performer as she holds her ground in a rather silly film. If only she weren’t offset by the character of Helen McCrory, who spends three fourths of the film denying the existence of ghosts with heavy handed philosophical ramblings and then hilariously apologises for the same when the woman in black shows up in her face.

You’ll probably be confused as to whom to root for by the end of the film, but the answer really is nobody. Kashyap never tries to make you sympathise with any of the characters, thereby making them more real. Human beings are terrible by default, and they would only do more terrible things to others to have their own way. So there’s no point of rendering a contrived ‘goodness’ to the central character, and Kashyap remains quite non-judgemental. The vast space between helplessness and desperation is morbidity, and Ugly lives in that world.

PK might not be the repeat value juggernaut like 3 Idiots, but it does have better content, execution and a more socially relevant topic. Props to Hirani and team for saving one of the most enjoyable movies of the year for the last.

The cheap, crummy style of the scares is also exactly what has ruined the essence of modern horror cinema. When you know what is going to happen in the next scene, there is little you can do but wait for the groan-inducing scare to pass by.

‘The Battle of the Five Armies’ is the most interesting movie of this trilogy, in that it is the least disappointing movie of this trilogy. So if you walk into the theater expecting something as mediocre as the previous movies, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised. The 3D is still terrible though.

The problem is the characters are either idiots or unlikable snobs — and the actors don’t really do anything to make them likable despite their apparent lousiness. The film also makes the mistake of trying to make you sympathise with the characters despite their overall horribleness. And when you have a movie filled with unlikable people in a rather boring setup, it becomes rather problematic to keep your interest levels up.