The film is enjoyable, but forgettable; amusing, but not profound. In a scene where Gru and Dru arrive outside Bratt’s island tower, Gru takes charge while ordering Dru to sit and wait for him. The latter objects to being a silent spectator to all the fun and defies his brother’s orders. But this is exactly what is expected of the audience – sit through the film and enjoy the madness of these cartoons.

For all the visual gleam and action and blinding city lights that are on offer, stripped of Japanese identity, Jamie Moss and Ehren Kruger’s screenplay could very well have been set in New York City or Moscow, and it would not have made any difference to the final product.

The twist, when it comes, does not do much to alleviate the film. When nearly one hundred minutes of the film are spent on old wine in a new, CGI bottle, this last minute shocker ends up underlining the sluggish and stale nature of the plot, which is more assembled than inspired.

A remake that’s not a happily ever after…

There are a few digressions in the film that, though dispensable, seem to exist to dwell on the quasi-familial setup.

The Great Wall is unable to offer a coherent system within which the monsters should exist.

Despite its best efforts at raising questions about the nature of grief and absolute good and evil, this coming-of-age gothic fantasy suffers from a debilitating inertia that renders it pallid, the stunning visuals notwithstanding.

The absurd, logic-defying, and frankly unnecessary plot-twist cracks the thin ice this film was already treading on. Watching this film is akin to hearing the sound of nails on a chalkboard. One can only wish for it to stop.

Rogue One serves as a political allegory and is significant in our contemporary times. The world is polarised between left and right-thinking factions — not merely the powers that be, but the ordinary public refuses, or at least finds it difficult to traverse a middle path as well. Social media is flooded with opinions on every issue, and an apolitical approach is anathema.

Unlike most Christmas-themed films which are meant for family viewing, Will Speck and Josh Gordon’s Office Christmas Party tries very hard to aim at adult audiences. They have succeeded in getting an “A” certificate, but the content remains as immature and inane as one can imagine, wherein vulgarity becomes a substitute for wit.