'Old Dogs' definitely not best of show

If you take the kids to only one Disney movie this holiday season, make it "A Christmas Carol" and avoid "Old Dogs."

The ploy of pairing John Travolta and Robin Williams, whose salaries probably represented most of the budget, is the only pedigree "Old Dogs" has going for it.

Unfortunately, the forced nature of all their mugging and slapstick is just as bad as the cheap sentimentality that "Old Dogs" milks with saccharine excess in its exploitation of emotion and glamour.

The 50-something movie stars play best friends and business partners of a boutique sports-marketing agency in New York. Charlie (Travolta) has never married and remains a dedicated skirt chaser; Dan (Williams) is twice-divorced and still mooning over the sudden gain and loss of No. 2 seven years ago.

As the Disney publicity synopsis states so succinctly, "the pair have their lives turned upside down when they're unexpectedly charged with the care of 7-year-old twins while on the verge of the biggest business deal of their lives."

Since Disney has made such a lazy movie, I'll follow the cue and continue the quote: "The not-so-savvy bachelors stumble in their efforts to take care of the twins (newcomers Ella Bleu Travolta and Conner Rayburn), leading to one debacle after another, and perhaps to a newfound understanding of what's really important in life." Couldn't have said it better myself. The only thing I'll add is the twins belong to Dan, from his one-night second marriage, and they need their daddy because mommy's going to jail for two weeks.

She's still a good mommy, though, because her crime was environmental civil disobedience. The debacles pile on top of one another with a string of celebrity cameos popping up (including the late Bernie Mac in an inauspicious final performance). It's all in service to a script, constructed almost entirely out of implausibilities and leaps of acceptance, just begging to be put out of its misery.

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Disney Studios drama might alter the industry

If you thought President Obama moved quickly, that's nothing compared with the first 50 days of the Ross administration. In less than eight weeks, Rich Ross has swiftly stamped his imprimatur on Walt Disney Studios. The novice movie chairman and his boss, Walt Disney Co.

Chief Executive Bob Iger, want to create a new business model for Hollywood to address the sweeping changes that are roiling the entertainment industry, including slumping DVD sales and the growing role the Internet plays in movie marketing.

Seeking to recast the studio for the digital era, Ross and Iger have set in motion a plan to dramatically challenge entrenched practices, potentially pitting Disney against theater owners, retailers and other business partners. The gambit, if it works, could be emulated by other studios.

If it backfires, it could undermine what has historically been the creative heart of Disney.

In meetings with producers, filmmakers and agents, Ross attacked the industry custom of spending $40 million on a TV advertising blitz two weeks before a film's opening, rather than enlisting more targeted campaigns that harness social networks and the broader Web. And he's raised again the touchy subject advanced by Iger that consumers are demanding that movies become available for home viewing sooner after release in theaters than has traditionally been the case.

Hollywood might finally be absorbing the message.

"Any of us that are sitting around protecting old business models unfortunately are destined to have a hard time succeeding in the coming years," said Sam Gores, chairman of talent agency Paradigm. "We have to maximize our existing models and, more importantly, build new ones."

It's too soon to know whether Ross, a seasoned TV executive, can pull off his ambitious plan as well as successfully transition to the movie side of the business -- the track record in Hollywood is mixed. Ross declined to be interviewed.

In September, Iger stunned the industry when he ousted Disney's movie Chairman Dick Cook, a 38-year veteran who began as a Monorail operator at Disneyland. By installing Ross, who built the Disney Channel into a global juggernaut, Iger gains more control over a key division he believed had long operated too independently.

Since Ross took over in early October, he has dismissed several top executives and begun restructuring operations. In the process, some say, the hyperkinetic executive displays flashes of brusqueness and impatience. The upheaval has created anxiety for employees and even at times disrupted business dealings. An important meeting with director Tim Burton and producer Joe Roth, who once ran Disney's studio, to discuss marketing plans for the upcoming release of their film "Alice in Wonderland," for example, was abruptly canceled pending an executive shake-up, leaving the filmmakers flummoxed.

Since then, Disney watchers have needed a score card to track all the comings and goings.

Last month, Ross flew to New York to fire Daniel Battsek, the head of Disney's struggling specialty movie label, who, despite the unit's recent poor track record, was caught off guard. A week later, he pushed out another company veteran, Mark Zoradi, who was president of Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, in a prelude to an overhaul of the marketing and distribution operations that he oversaw. Ross next let go marketing President Jim Gallagher and elevated former home video chief Bob Chapek to an expanded role that encompasses all aspects of film distribution from movie theaters to home and digital delivery, breaking with the conventional role of solely booking movies into theaters.

In the coming weeks, Ross plans to hire a new marketing chief -- Disney has retained an executive search firm to find candidates outside and inside the movie business -- who will have an equally broad mandate to handle the promotion of films from multiplexes to living rooms.

Beyond organizational changes, Ross' vision for the types of movies that will ultimately define Disney is beginning to emerge. His main focus will be developing family-friendly movies under the Disney label. Iger's overarching strategy is to amass a stable of recognizable entertainment brands -- Pixar Animation Studios and the pending acquisition of Marvel Entertainment Inc. -- and exploit the films across its TV, theme parks, consumer products and game divisions.

"It's brand over everything else," said Roth, referring to movies that come with built-in, pre-sold concepts, such as sequels. It's a strategy, he notes, that although designed to reduce risk is not without a downside. "What may get lost in the shuffle are non-branded original ideas that have no pre-awareness."

One of the challenges Ross faces is how to navigate the release dates for Disney's event movies, including those from high-powered producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Bob Zemeckis. "It's very difficult because there are only X-number of really key release dates and a lot of filmmakers who make big movies," said Bruckheimer, responsible for Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise.

Ross, to a great degree, is doing what every new studio chief does: comb through the list of existing projects to decide those that live and those that die. Last week, he torpedoed director McG's planned $150-million production of "Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," which had been envisioned as a new franchise.

One of the things he's told agents is that he's looking to make more movies that appeal to women. In meetings, Ross cited the studio's upcoming release "Old Dogs," a comedy starring Robin Williams and John Travolta, as a missed opportunity to further develop the female characters that would widen the movie's appeal.

"He seems to be open to broadening what it means to be a Disney movie," said United Talent Agency partner Jeremy Zimmer, "and to have more diversity and stronger execution of movies."

The new direction shouldn't come as a surprise: The studio has suffered two consecutive quarters of operating losses, and Iger this year took the unusual step of publicly criticizing the movie choices. Trying to cultivate relationships with talent that has close ties to Disney, Ross has been making the rounds in Hollywood.

Shortly after he took over, he went to DreamWorks' headquarters to meet with Steven Spielberg and his partner, Stacey Snider, who were enticed into a distribution deal by Cook and were distraught over his ouster. Snider said that Ross assured them that DreamWorks was an "important partner" and "was not going to let any balls fall." She and Spielberg in turn said to Ross, "We were sad that Dick was no longer there but that we're completely on board with him."

Ross also paid a visit to Bruckheimer at his Santa Monica office to see 40 minutes of his action film "Sorcerer's Apprentice," and attended a preview of his video game-inspired "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" -- both big upcoming summer releases for Disney. "He's off to a fast start," said Bruckheimer, referring to his industry networking and studio realignment. Equally important, he said, is that Ross "keep up the morale, which is important when you've lost a lot of leaders." A few weeks ago, Ross and Iger visited director Burton and Roth, who showed them a 10-minute 3-D clip of "Alice in Wonderland."Ross, who at Disney Channel was known for nurturing talent, apparently hit it off with the eccentric Burton."Rich was very good with Tim, really enthusiastic," Roth said

Now, Ross will have to work his magic on the studio's biggest star, Johnny Depp, who plays the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland" and Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series. Depp was shaken over the abrupt dismissal of Cook and said at the time that the former studio chief embodied the quality he valued most.

"You generally don't meet people at the studios you trust," Depp said.

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New Disney boss sinks McG's Captain Nemo

Moviemaker McG's underwater adventure Captain Nemo has been sunk by Disney's new boss Rich Ross. The studio is being revamped under Ross, the former president of Disney Channels Worldwide, and he has decided the planned big budget adaptation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea will not float.

Reports suggest Will Smith turned the Nemo role down. No casting decisions had been made, but McG's Terminator: Salvation star Sam Worthington made it clear he'd like to be considered for the role. He recently told MovieHole.net, "McG and I haven't discussed it seriously. I wrote him an email and he wrote back saying, 'I don't think you have these qualities, blah, blah...' and I wrote back saying, 'It's your job as a director to bring it out of me.'"

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Twilight carries an abusive message

Popular entertainment has always been blamed for corrupting children, sometimes warranted sometimes not. The “Twilight” books, because of their positive description of abusive relationships, their success despite horrible writing and mediocrity are extremely dangerous to children.

The books run the risk of desensitizing a generation of readers to abuse. Bella, the book’s heroine, is subjected to a litany of abuses and not only accepts it, but finds it romantic. Her love interest, Edward, stalks her, watches her sleep and controls every moment of her life.

This might not seem that dangerous, but evidence suggests otherwise. People are able to buy shower curtains with Robert Pattinson’s face on them (as Edward). This way, Edward’s rapist’s eyes will always be there, after a long shower. Watching.

The age of the characters makes their relationship unsettling as well. The vampire mythos according to the author, Stephanie Meyer, is that once a person becomes a vampire, they do not age biologically, just chronologically. In the fourth book, Bella becomes a vampire at nineteen, while Edward is biologically 17 and chronologically 104.

There are three problems with this. One, Bella is forever married to a male under the age of consent. The second is that she’s nineteen, while he’s 104, meaning, while they’re legal, it’s still extremely unsettling. The third, and most popular is “I’m not listening. I can’t hear you. Leave Bella alone!”

Love is confusing, especially when mythical beasts are thrown into the mix, but even by those standards their relationship is perturbing. Edward likes Bella because of the way her blood smells. Bella obsesses over him because he’s pretty.

In the second book her life’s goal is revealed: become a vampire and stay with Edward for eternity, presumably barefoot and pregnant. She doesn’t have any outside interests, no friends, no family, nothing, just Edward encompassing her entire life until the end of time.

Furthermore, Bella doesn’t actually do anything. She’s on the periphery of the entire story, even though it’s a first person narrative. She watches Edward play vampire baseball (yes, I’m 100 percent serious, vampire baseball) follows her friends shopping, has her father/friends/the world do things for her.

This is dangerous because the entire book is designed to be a indulgent fantasy. The characters are neither well developed nor well written. This is intentional so that Bella can serve as a simulacrum for the readers. It creates the illusion that acting like Bella will get you the man of your dreams.

This is completely contrary to real life because of Bella’s characteristics. She is neither smart, nor strong, creative, passionate, interesting or even nice. Her only talents are whining, complaining and forgetting people’s names. This is not the kind of person who gets boyfriends or, for that matter, friends.

The book sends the message that showing up and doing nothing leads to success. The book’s commercial success reinforces this message. This is a book with paragraphs that begin with the word “but,” needlessly cluttered prose, poorly written characters and conflicting mythology, yet it has made Meyer millions of dollars.

The success of such a bad product not only shakes the core beliefs of capitalism, but it furthers the idea that no real effort or talent is needed. Readers infer that they don’t need to work hard, or develop personalities. All they need to do is show up and find a hot, controlling man to take care of them. This is a dangerous message because everything about “Twilight,” seems realistic at first. The realism stops once you delve a little deeper.

Bella ignores Edward’s abusive personality because he’s just too perfect. Every touch ignites a fire within, every kiss sends shivers down her spine and can even force her heart to skip a beat (seriously). Such a person does not exist and if this is a girl’s first introduction to relationships, it will lead to disappointment.

Every generation of parents finds boogeymen in their kid’s pop culture and this generation is no different. Usually their fears are blown out of proportion and this may be the case with Twilight as well. Still it’s hard to see how a book that preaches the virtues of abusive relationships, mediocrity and terrible writing can be a good thing.

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2012 and how good viral marketing can go bad

When Columbia Pictures launched a marketing campaign for 2012 – the latest disaster movie from serial Earth molester Roland Emmerich, where the planet, played by America, is set for impending doom – they didn't do it by halves.

First, there was a teaser trailer showing a tsunami crashing over the Himalayas. The Earth was going to end in 2012, it said, and the world's governments aren't doing enough to prepare us. Search "2012", it said, for "the truth" (the "truth" turned out to be over 1,000 real websites and 175 real books obsessed with 2012 as the end of time).

Then, there was a fake website – the "Institute for Human Continuity" – which consisted of a screen stating that for 25 years they'd been assessing threats to the continuation of mankind, and the results were in.

The "odds of global destruction" in 2012 had been confirmed at 94% (goodbye mortgage) and "to ensure your chance of survival, register for the lottery". In other words, it was a web campaign that seemed to say: "Look, the end of time might actually be coming, so enjoy a film about it why you still can, yeah?"

Many didn't get the joke. Tens of thousands from all over the world panicked, called Nasa, wrote letters – couldn't they do some saving of people too?

"I think people are really, really worried about the world coming to an end," said David Morrison of Nasa. "Kids are contemplating suicide. Adults tell me they can't sleep and can't stop crying."

Indeed, Nasa got so many queries, they set up a specific site to deal with them. Yet perhaps even more worryingly, 2012 is not alone. Following the success of Blair Witch, nearly every film worth its celluloid now has its own teaser campaign, web mystery, and viral marketing push, and even the simplest promotional campaign can have unexpected consequences.

For the independently made 2008 animated fantasy Delgo – featuring the voices of Freddie Prinze Jr and Jennifer Love Hewitt – they hit upon the idea of launching "Digital Dailies", where a crack team of animators would whet the public appetite by posting their handiwork as they went. It seemed to work: the videos were getting up to half a million hits a month. Yet, sadly, it seemed most of those were in the industry; they liked what they saw, and began poaching the film's best talent. The director, Marc F Adler, was forced to resort to hiding their identities with aliases.

"It was brilliant as viral marketing," says Adler, "but terrible for making a film."

The "brilliance" of the viral marketing also proved questionable. On a reported budget of $40m, the film's box-office taking was one the worst ever for widely released film (it opened on 2,160 screens), taking just $694,782. According to Yahoo Movies, that works out as roughly two viewers for every screening.

To be fair, their teaser trailer – "From a Studio Nowhere Near Hollywood … From People You've Never Heard of … Comes a Myth for the New Millennium … Delgo" – probably didn't help either.

Yet if that was unexpected, some campaigns just cry out for trouble. Take the case of 2008 indie horror film A Beautiful Day. Set for its debut at an independent film festival in Muskogee, Oklahoma, the makers posted a teaser on YouTube, which featured a sinister synthesized voice saying: "People of Muskogee. Open your eyes. April 25th is a day you'll come to remember", including the message "the end is coming". But 25 April was also the prom night for the local high school. The scared students called the Muskogee police, who assumed it was a terrorist threat, and called in the FBI. Outcome: their film was swiftly booted out of the festival.

And in the world of suspect virals and dodgy publicity stunts, it seems terror threats can come from anywhere. The Cartoon Network's guerilla marketing for cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force saw them install LED displays depicting the show's "Moonieites" – 2D aliens from the moon – in 10 major cities across America. In Boston, however, they didn't get the gimmick. Authorities considered the Moonieites suspect devices, which sparked a major bomb scare, caused the closure of roads and posed the question: would al-Qaida really plant bombs that glowed in the dark?

"It had a very sinister appearance," said Attorney General Martha Coakley, adding "It had a battery behind it and wires."
Of course, ill-judged glowing figurines are one thing.

But even ill-thought-out poster campaigns can wreak havok. To promote Forgetting Sarah Marshall, unbranded posters were put up all over the US, saying things like "You suck, Sarah Marshall", and "My mother always hated you, Sarah Marshall". Which sounds like great fun – unless your name is Sarah Marshall of course, many of whom assumed they were the victim of a hate campaign.

As student Sarah Marshall, of Fort Worth, Texas, told the LA Times: "I got a lot of emails and phone calls asking if my boyfriend and I were OK." Some Sarah Marshalls even struck back with posters of their own: "You suck, Judd Apatow," they responded, citing the film's producer.

Even the obviously fanciful bus-station posters for recent sci-fi hit District 9 – featuring a crossed-out alien, text saying "Bench for humans only", and a request for alien sightings – saw the marketing team get more that they bargained for. Tens of thousands called the hotline with sightings, assuming it was a real request.

"There are always going to be problems with unbranded campaigns," says Dan Koelsch, managing editor of MovieViral.com, "because people may not get the connection to the film, and people fear the unknown."

Yet with studios looking at ever more innovative ways to market films, it inevitably leads to more innovative ways to cock up.

"Sometimes studios try too hard, to the point where people can smell the desperation," says Sean Dwyer, editor of filmjunk.com. "That's when it doesn't really work."

The desperation ponged when 20th Century Fox, looking for a way to market this year's rom-com I Love You, Beth Cooper, paid a high school student, Kenya Mejia, $1,800 to profess a secret passion for a classmate during her graduation address (which she did, bellowing: "I cannot let this opportunity just pass by. I love you, Jake Minor!").

The idea was that Fox would video the moment – which recreates a key scene in the film – post it on YouTube, and create viral buzz that the movie was inspiring copycats. It didn't work due to a) Mejia blabbing to the Wall Street Journal, b) Her already having a boyfriend, who wasn't Jake Minor, and c) The film hadn't even been released when she was supposed to have copied it. The film bombed, and a month after the video was posted, it had attracted less than 2,000 views.

If that was treading on suspect moral ground, it didn't come close to New Line's marketing push for 2006 adult crime drama Running Scared starring Paul Walker – a tale of the Russian mafia, bent cops, paedophiles, hookers and men being chased around with really big machetes. What did they do? Made a promotional online game from it, of course, in which players re-enacted not just the film's main action scenes ("A man points a .38 revolver at another man's crotch and fires it, blowing his crotch apart," notes the Parent's Guide section of IMDb of said action, in a list that goes on for six pages) but the more intimate moments too, including Walker's character performing oral sex.

Needless to say, conservative America wasn't too happy when they realised little Timmy was performing online cunnilingus, and pressure from the National Institute on Media and the Family saw the site swiftly shut down.

Still, a really good teaser campaign, well judged, and executed, should work wonders, right? Not always. The campaign behind Mike Myers comedy The Love Guru was brilliant, spot-on, did everything right.

"It was a fully fledged effort to position Myers's character as a real guy, or at least flesh out his backstory," explains Chris Thilk, editor of MovieMarketingMadness.com. "But it wound up being funnier than the movie."

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The Making of Up with the Filmmakers

FLYING HIGH!
Step behind the scenes as I bring you the lowdown on Disney Pixar’s dynamite DVD, Up. I’ve got a backstage pass to the making of the awesome animation – and you’re invited!

UP, UP AND AWAY…
What’s the new Blu-ray about? “The story centers around a grumpy old man called Carl Fredricksen and an 8-year-old wilderness explorer called Russell,” explains the movie’s director, Pete Docter. “The pair fly off to South America for a wild adventure on a floating house suspended from helium balloons!”
BRIGHT SPARK!

“The original idea for the movie came from a drawing by Pete Docter,” explains producer, Jonas Rivera. “It was a simple drawing of a house being lifted up by hundreds of balloons and there was something wonderful about it. We decided we needed to create a story to go with the picture.”

WATER WORKS!
The head of Pixar Animation – John Lassetter – was moved to tears by the original pitch of the movie. “It’s true,” continues Rivera. “John Lassetter cried when the idea was pitched to him. He was giving us feedback with tears in his eyes!”

BE PREPARED…
A team of Pixar workers – including Pete Docter – took a trip to South America to research the movie and its stunning locations. “Pete bought just about every gadget he could find for the journey,” reveals the film’s character designer, Daniel Lopez. “The team got to experience what it truly felt like to be in the mountains for several days. They got dirty and muddy – and it was a great experience to inspire them.POP THE QUESTION!
“When we started work on the movie, we didn’t have the technology to animate more than 50 balloons at a time,” admits supervising technical director, Steve May. “Our goal was to animate 50,000 balloons to lift up Carl’s home in the movie, so we had to severely upgrade our technology.” How did the upgrade go? “Eventually we were able to animate 130,000 balloons,” chuckles May.

GOLDEN OLDIE!
The lead character in the movie is a cranky 78-year-old man called Carl – and a lot of time went into creating his animated appearance. “When we started animating Carl, we looked at a lot of older people for inspiration,” reveals character designer, Daniel Lopez. “We drew inspiration from actors from the past like Walter Matthau, or we looked at people we knew, like our grandparents and parents. We also looked at Spencer Tracey, who is a well-known actor from a great era. He’s a loveable guy who you want to hug – and that’s exactly what Carl is like.”

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MOVIE REVIEW - Old "Astro Boy" cartoons mix with modern imagery

"Astro Boy" is a standard, straightforward kids' movie. Sure, it's formulaic, but the formulas exist because they work. Even this hardened movie reviewer was a bit touched by its tale of a boy trying to find his place in the world. It's hard not to resonate with a character who works his way from being rejected because of what he is to being the hero who finds his destiny and saves the day.

"Astro Boy" takes place in the futuristic, robot-maintained Metro City, built on a mountain that floats above the polluted, junk-ridden earth's surface. When genius scientist Dr. Tenma (voiced by Nicholas Cage) loses his son Toby (voiced by Freddie Highmore) in a scientific demonstration that goes horribly wrong, the scientist goes a little mad, and creates a robot copy of Toby equipped with all the defensive technology he can possibly cram into it. But he learns the hard way that a duplicate of something isn't the real thing.

The little robot boy doesn't fit in anywhere, really. His father doesn't want him. Metro City is a hostile environment once the power-mad President Stone (voiced by Donald Sutherland) learns of Astro's existence. The surface of earth seems like a sanctuary for a while Astro falls in with a collective of orphans and is able to pass for human. But once they find out who he is, he's not welcome there, either. Soon he's back in Metro City, up trying to save it from President Stone's enormous, rampaging Peacekeeper robot. Even though the city rejected him, he

still does the right thing and struggles to save it.
Astro is a fantastic hero for a kids' film: he's stronger, faster, smarter, and braver than the adults around him, and has a great destiny if he can only figure out what it is. Finding your place in the world is a vital component to growing up, and "Astro Boy" doesn't make it out to be easy. Adults will likely enjoy the references to other films tucked here and there amid the shining computer animation, but kids are the real audience for this picture.

The art design is a mix of the old "Astro Boy" cartoons and modern computer imagery, and it works well. Likewise, most of the voice acting is either solid or rather good. Nicholas Cage and Sutherland both sink into tepid line-reading at times, but Freddie Highmore shines as Toby/Astro and Nathan Lane's turn as a surface-dwelling robot mechanic is marvelous.

"Astro Boy" isn't a great or particularly original picture, but it is charming and a fun ride. The animation is well done and the plot moves smartly along from one point to the next without a lot of unnecessary detours. There are changes from the source material, but Astro's story has been told so many times that it's hardly surprising. This is a fun film for those looking for kid-friendly entertainment, but if you're looking for something off the standard, formulaic path, go elsewhere.

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Movie Review - Aladin (2009)

The story is set in a fictitious town called Khwaish. Aladin (Ritesh) is a shy college going bloke who is forever bullied by his college mates lead by big bully Kasim (Sahil Khan). They always force him to rub lamps to get a Genie out of it only because his name is Aladin.

He instantly falls in love at first sight when he sees Jasmine (Jacqueline) the new girl in his college. But then again Kasim always succeeds in keeping him away from her. But one fine day he luckily chances upon a lamp that actually brings out a genie called Genius (Amitabh). Genius offers him three wishes so that after they are fulfilled he can retire.

At first Aladin doesn’t believe that Genius is actually a genie but after he is convinced the first two wishes he wastes on getting Jasmine. Meanwhile Ringmaster (Sanjay Dutt) is hot on trail of the magic lamp is an ex-genie who wants to kill Aladin and get hold of the magic lamp so that he can be come the genie and use the powers to further his own evil interests. In his team are a fire-spitting lady, a clown, a knife thrower and other circus renegades.

On interacting with Ringmaster, Aladin learns of a sec ret Genius had not revealed to him and he is heartbroken. Anyway, to become a genie once again, Ringmaster has to catch a comet that comes once in a million years. The comet can only be caught with the help of a magic lamp. What happens when Ring master confronts Genius and Aladin and who wins the battle for supre macy is revealed in the climax.

Its commendable that Sujoy has picked up the much heard famous fairy tale and attempted to give it a modern day twist with some amazing never seen before special effects. However, he along with his co-writers have failed to make Aladin a fun filled entertainer. Even if we take into consideration that the film is only aimed at the kids, then too its a challenge for the kids to enjoy it as most of the proceedings are wasted in Aladin wooing Jasmine.

The emotional quotient of the romantic story is zero. The script is completely dry and drab. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that just one dialogue stands out because it unwittingly expresses the feelings of the audience watching this film in the cinemas. The dialogue, mouthed by Genius, goes somewhat like this: “Abbe, yaar, bore mat karo!” Indeed, that’s the dialogue the viewer keeps muttering to himself while watching the film.

Amitabh brings Genius to life with his excellent act even though it appears over the top at times. Ritesh is perfectly fit for his role and does an endearing act. Sanjay Dutt though saddled with a half baked role is in great form. You can make out he is having a ball playing the fantasy villain. Newcomer Jacqueline has superb screen presence and not only is she very attractive but is very expressive too. Sahil Khan is well casted and his scenes with Ritesh are hilarious.

Vishal-Shekhar’s tunes offer nothing new but gel with the film. Editing could have been better but camerawork by Sirsha Ray and set design by Sabu Cyril is top notch. Even the sound design is of international standards.

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