DON2:REVIEWS pg 9(TOI) - Page 17

Im also praying that this becomes an ATBB! They all really need the success..

Been waiting for a sequel since the release of Don, hopefully it won't disappoint!

DNA Review.
3/5 stars.

A still from Don 2

Film: Don 2
Director: Farhan Akhtar
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani
Rating: ***

Ever since Farhan Akhtar gave us the delectable Dil Chahta Hai (smartly written, well acted, a trendsetter of sorts), he has failed to better, or even get close to, his debut effort. His production company may have churned out some pretty memorable films since (Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, Rock On, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara), but his own directorial ventures have been mediocre. Lakshya suffered from a Dil Chahta Hai-wannabe first half fused with a JP Dutta-styled second. Don, the remake of Chandra Barot's highly enjoyable 1978 caper, with its harebrained finale, was a complete letdown.

Unsatisfying as Akhtar's Don was, the sequel promos have been promising. And with Akhtar and Co free of the baggage of recreating the original Don, they could take things in a new direction. Which they do. Except, others have trodden this path already.

Like Danny Ocean. And John McClane. In Don 2, Akhtar manages to blend elements from various H'wood films, mostly Ocean's Eleven and Die Hard, with a bit of Mission Impossible thrown in. This is our answer to Hollywood - a rehash of what they've done already. No points for originality.

No points for writing either. If Akhtar's film lulls you to sleep initially, in spite of some slick editing, it's because the writing (Akhtar, Ameet Mehta, Amrish Shah) falters. Characters say boring, random things to each other, there's a pointlessly long dance sequence (Hrithik Roshan, looking dapper in an unintentionally hilarious cameo), and the attempt at dialoguebaazi is laughable ("Jab tak Don ko asliyat ka pata chalega, tab tak Don mar chuka hoga").

The situations are alarmingly unimaginative. Sample this: Don-ny Ocean (SRK) plans to get out of a high security prison by mixing the food given to prisoners with a liquid that results in mass food poisoning. Johar Mehmood In Hong Kong had a similar sequence where prisoners in a jail are given julab (laxative) on the sly, helping them flee. That was a farcical comedy. Here, it seems like a cop-out.

What keeps Don 2 alive, then, is its pulsating action. It helps the pace quicken as the film progresses, including a thrilling chase sequence and a wonderfully choreographed-and-shot pre-climax sequence. Cinematographer Jason West (Rock On) and stunt director Matthias Barsch enthuse life into proceedings, ensuring that action junkies get their fill.

The film, however, is nothing more than an attempt to cash in; to set opening weekend records. And to provide a vehicle for its lead star to dazzle (so much so, every other actor seems inconsequential). Thankfully, Shah Rukh Khan is in form. The body language is cocky, the attitude flamboyant, and the smirk consistent. In a full-fledged action role, Khan goes the whole hog, pulling off the stunts with panache. Only for him, Don 2 is pretty enjoyable.

Sadly, with a director who showed much promise with his first film, Don 2 should have been more than just another big-ticket Friday film that rests solely on the shoulders of its lead actor. Anees Bazmee has one of those coming out every few months. Akhtar seems to have found his own money-churning superstar. The filmmaker's voice, then, has been muted.

Watch Don 2 for some kick-ass action. And Shah Rukh Khan.

Review from SuperGoodMovies.com
3.5/5 stars.

Don 2 Review: Hardcore action, scintillating locations and Shah Rukh Khan form the USP of Farhan Akhtar's 'Don 2'. A must watch for all action buffs, Don 2 is pacey and entertaining, a true thriller which will keep you on the edge of your seats, apart from a few un-required sequences here and there.

Story:

Don (Shah Rukh Khan) has plans to looting the Euro currency plate from a high security vault. He makes plans after plans to hit bulls eye and amidst meets his old foes Roma (Priyanka Chopra) who plays a cop and her mission is to disturb Don's plans; and Vardhan (Boman Irani) who is looking at side lining Don. He's still being chased by the police, and this time not of 11 countries, but 101 countries. What happens next is the climax, which is better, undisclosed with the question that will Farhan make Don 3.

Analysis:

Shah Rukh plays a baddie after a long span in his career and adds charisma to Don. But the actual hero of the film is Farhan Akhtar who seems absolutely sure of what he is looking at. He makes the actors perform, the technicalities sound and has put soul into the film. Don that was the remake of the Amitabh Bachchan starrer received mixed reviews as people could not get over Big B as the Don, but Don 2, is different and shuts all of them up who compared Don with the Big B starrer.  

Performances:

Shah Rukh is at his best as the arrogant, rude and witty Don. He's back and how! Shows that he is the original king! Priyanka Chopra looks astonishing and acts well. She adds lots of glamour to the film and that's not all, she is a great actor too. Boman Irani is charming and you will love to hate him at the same time. He does a wonderful job. Lara Dutta and Kunal Kapoor are adequate. The rest of the supporting cast is good too.

Technicalities:

The film's music is not very great, but SEL do a decent job. Background score makes the thrilling sequences all the more interesting. The action stunts picturized should be commended with some must-watch breath-taking sequences. Editing is crisp but the romantic angle added could be explored more for commercial reasons. Farhan Akhtar's direction is great, as already said.

Plus points:

- Performances
- Technicalities
- Action stunts

Minus Point:

- Boring in parts

Final Word: A must watch for action buffs.

Rating: 3.5/5

I find it hilarious that that negative review from Rediff is being RT with a #HappyBirthdaySalman hashtag on twitter 😆 Edited by chocolover89 - 12 years ago

Don 2 Housefull Opening In Noida   Friday 23rd December 2011 10.30 IST

Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network   Don 2 takes a house full start in the first few early morning of shows in Noida. Below are the figures from the three multiplexes of the four multiplexes in Noida. The first show at the other multiplex of Wave will be at 10.30.   Spice Noida 10.00 - 258/258 100%   BIG TGIP Noida 10.00 - 293/293 100% BIG TGIP Noida 10.20 - 291/293 99%   Big Ansal 9.35 - 192/192 100% Big Ansal 10.00 - 302/306 99%

 

Originally posted by: chocolover89

I find it hilarious that that negative review from Rediff is being RT with a #HappyBirthdaySalman hashtag on twitter 😆

 

So SRK is damn good in Don 2. Yayyy!🥳 *touchwood* hope this works! 😃

Aahahahahah...NO WAY!! Really?! 😆 😆
*runs to twitter*

http://boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=3827&nCat=

Don 2 takes a house full start in the first few early morning of shows in Noida. Below are the figures from the three multiplexes of the four multiplexes in Noida. The first show at the other multiplex of Wave will be at 10.30.

 

Spice Noida 10.00 - 258/258 100%

 

BIG TGIP Noida 10.00 - 293/293 100%

BIG TGIP Noida 10.20 - 291/293 99%

 

Big Ansal 9.35 - 192/192 100%

Big Ansal 10.00 - 302/306 99%

 

Originally posted by: fly2me

Aahahahahah...NO WAY!! Really?! 😆 😆
*runs to twitter*

Yeah its mainly 2 people RT again and again again 😆😆 But its hilarious 😆😆 

This is good enough for me 😆

Originally posted by: chocolover89

Looks like addy boy didn't get paid that much. 😆

 

And I hate to ruin the moment but here's the first negative review..it's NOT Raja Sen..well atleast he liked SRK in it 😊 

 

Review: Don 2 has no edge-of-the-seat moments

December 23, 2011 09:21 IST

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For an action film with the central plot setting us up for a robbery inside a major bank, Don 2's pacing is very slow, writes Aseem Chhabra.

In his new film Don 2 director Farhan Akhtar [ Images ] takes his time introducing us to his lead, played by Shahrukh Khan [ Images ]. We get a whiff of Khan, a slight sense of his presence, with close shots and shaky hand held camera. There we see his arm, part of his unshaven face, his dark glasses.  As he travels up a meandering river in Thailand, we notice Khan's rather odd looking long hair (a wig, of course), with dreadlocks.  And there is cigarette smoke rolling around his face in slow motion. It is all very sexy and so cool!

Through most of the film Khan is very cool. He often has a twinkle in his eye, a slight mischievous smile, as he speaks dialogues like "Touch" and "Kya karen sweetheart, we are everywhere" (in response to Lara Dutta's [ Images ] startled look on hearing that an Indian is a vice president of a major German bank).  Then there are the Don-isms (Don Says) where he speaks in third person spouting statements like "Don ko pakadna mushqil hee nahih, namumkin hai," and "Don apne doston ka haal puche na puche, apne dushmon ki khabar hamesha rakhta hai."

He walks with a swagger, whether in a Malaysian prison wearing an orange jump suit, or on the dance floor with Dutta. There is a rhythm in his body, as he sways his shoulders and his arms walking up in the Zara Dil Ko Thaam Lo song sequence.

And then how can one forget when Khan strikes the ultimate pose -- the camera captures him at an angle, as he slightly tilts his back, with his arms open sideways. It is King Khan's [ Images ] signature attempt to remind us that he is the master of the universe.  At least his fans believe that.

A lot of Akhtar's new film is full of such cool elements with sequences set in sumptuous foreign locations -- the French Riviera, the jungles of Thailand, Kuala Lumpur, Zurich and finally Berlin. Don 2 is beautifully shot, well lit and has a very clean look, whether on the streets of Berlin or inside the studio, thanks to Akhtar's terrific cinematographer Jason West.

But then, as with many good intentioned, and technically well crafted Bollywood films, Don 2, fails in the key test. Akhtar is definitely one of the smartest filmmakers in Bollywood, but this time he presents us a story, plot and script that is dull, almost boring. When we are not seeing Khan's swagger, or hearing the hip upbeat background score by Shankar Ehsaan Loy [ Images ], Don 2 starts to lose steam. 

Part of the problem is that despite its action segments, Don 2 is also a Bollywood film and so romance has to be a part of the plot. Towards the end of the film while bullets are flying everywhere, there is an unexpected, almost forced and laughable romantic moment between Khan and his co-star Priyanka Chopra [ Images ]. Everything pauses for the stars to look into each other eyes.

For an action film with the central plot setting us up for a robbery inside a major bank, the film's pacing is very slow.  Coupled with that, the script explains everything to us step-by-step. And if anyone was paying attention, following the convoluted plot where Don always manages to sweet charm the morons at Interpol, in the last five minutes Akhtar sums up the film with a quick recap, revealing many more details that were never shown to us before.  It is an old fashioned gimmick to make the audience say "Wow, we were fooled!"

For a suspense thriller, Don 2 has no edge-of-the-seat moments, despite a decent car chase sequence and a scene when Don jumps off a tall building in Berlin. One big problem is the timing of Don 2's release. Akhtar and his producing partner Ritesh Sidhwani (Khan and his wife Gauri are also listed as producers of the film) chose to release the film during Christmas weekend.  It is too bad that just a week before that, Tom Cruise [ Images ] released his mega-budget action film of the season Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol (MI4). It is may be wrong to compare the two films, but watching MI4, I had to remind myself to breath. As I sat through Don 2 -- a wannabe MI4, I was breathing too heavily, frustrated at the slow moving film.

Khan's charming presence aside, Don 2 is packed with uninspired performances by a large supporting cast. First in the line-up is Chopra as Roma, an Interpol officer located in Kuala Lumpur. She is attractive looking, with her big pouting lips, but most of the time Chopra acts like a school girl putting her hands on her forehead in exasperation saying "Damn it," or a character out of an Enid Blyton book, collecting clues to solve the Mystery of the Missing Don! 

Om Puri [ Images ], who once was one of the finest actors in India [ Images ], is such a caricature here. He looks tired as Vishal Malik, Chopra's boss at Interpol. Despite his very Leslie Nielsen appearance, he sounds positively silly, saying dialogues with his heavy throaty voice -- "It's over Don," or simply "It's Don" (as he answers a cell phone.)

Boman Irani [ Images ] tries hard to look menacing, and he does partially succeed. Kunal Kapoor [ Images ] appears in the second half of the film as a computer hacker, but he is so sweet and good natured, and has a lovely pregnant German girlfriend. We know that nothing bad will happen to Kapoor's Sameer. Don may be a negative character, but Khan is a Bollywood star. He has to have a heart of gold and he cannot do bad things to good people.

Rediff Rating: