298. Web-series Reviews – 131

More web-series reviews…

Guns and Gulaabs – Came out in 2023. In a sleepy town, a mechanic struggles to emerge from his dead gangster father's shadow in a mission to win over the love of his life. An honest officer ends up being a chaos agent; whilst a reluctant cartel heir has an identity crisis.

A review from IMDB...

The duo of Raj & DK is celebrated for their expertise in crafting interesting characters from scratch, and they are not only well versed in their interplays and discourses but also understand how to make those personalities more relatable to the audience and their latest collaboration with Netflix, "Guns & Gulaabs" is no exception!

We have got a bunch of fascinating individuals with different quirks and traits, and all of them have been given space and time to evolve, albeit to varying extents.

Actors like Rajkummar Rao and Adarsh Gourav had captured most of the spotlight, whereas in Dulquer Salmaan and Gulshan Devaiah's case, things have not gone all smooth and sailing, and they got way less screen time than they merited, given the quality and capability they possess as actors.

And the main reason behind this unjustness was that the creators were too busy playing around with half a dozen sub-plots all moving parallel to each other, which wore them down and, subsequently, their whole execution!

Underplots are critical in storytelling, but having too many of them could jeopardise the entire equation; you have to figure out and respect the limitations.

That being said, I did appreciate the show overall, and that's mainly because of the humour that came organically; rather than coming off superficial, and for that, I would like to applaud the writing as well as Rajkummar Rao because he was sensational with his comic timing; he was without a doubt the highlight of the show.

My Take – Worth a watch

Blackspace – Came out in 2020. An Israeli series. An ordinary morning at a small-town High School turns into a nightmare when anonymous figures in masks have committed a massacre leaving four dead students.

A review from IMDB...

Slow burn which is typical of police procedurals but atypical in the sense that the story delves into something fresh: what happens to high school seniors in the aftermath of a school shooting that leaves some of them dead.

The viewer is tempted to fastforward but hesitates because he/she could miss something important in the investigation by Rami Davidi (Guri Alfi) and Morag Shmuel (Reut Alush).

The pace picks up considerably in the last 2 episodes when the young killers are revealed.

The writers spice up the story by developing Rami's personal story: a skillful detective, who's having a hard time adjusting to a glass eye, with his own issues on the school where the shooting takes place and on being a would-be father and neglectful husband.

The ending is a tad melodramatic and a bit of a surprise. But I suppose the writers had to end it the way it did because the subjects of the story are simply 12th graders (who are about to begin their compulsory military training) and not hardened criminals. And the viewer could empathize (although it can never be condoned) with the motives of the young killers.

Overall, it's an entertaining series that provides insights into the thinking of young Israelis.

The senior actors gave solid performances. The young ones didn't disappoint either. Their portrayal was heartfelt. Special mention to Liana Ayun ( Libby), Yoav Rotman (Itamar), and Noam Karmel (Eram Sagi).

My Take – Worth a watch

 

Hijack – Came out in 2023. A tense thriller (told in real time) that follows the journey of a hijacked plane as it makes its way to London over a seven-hour flight, while authorities on the ground scramble for answers. Sam Nelson (Elba) is an accomplished negotiator in the business world, who needs to step up and use all his guile to try and save the lives of the passengers -- but, his high-risk strategy could be his undoing.

A review from IMDB...

Just when you thought it was safe to board a plane again! This taut 7-part thriller crosses elements of both "Airport" with "United 93" and if I was being unkind, even "Airplane" as Idris Elba's corporate negotiator finds himself pressed into action when his return flight from Dubai to London is quickly taken over by a gang of five hijackers, but in a twist, even they don't know what or where the final outcome of their actions will be.

That's because the whole thing is being controlled by two high-security prisoners in the U. K. whose ingenious plan will not only see them sprung from prison but also benefit from raiding the stock market for millions as they short the market in a "bear-raid" when the price of the airline company's shares naturally plummets at about the same time as the plane itself.

With more twists and turns than a loop-the-loop, we see the reactions on and of the different passengers, some of whom are gung-ho to take the plane back by force while the rest are more naturally cowed into abeyance by the gun-toting hijackers. Things escalate when one of the passengers is accidentally killed and still more when one of the criminals is severely wounded in a separate incident.

Meanwhile, on the ground, in Dubai a suspicious local air-traffuc controller is ruthlessly terminated by professional assassins along with the security agent who was herself coerced into turning a blind eye to the boarding armed gang on the plane's departure. It's London controller, stressed single-parent Eve Myles who becomes the conduit who liaises with whoever up there's flying the stricken plane (it changes more than once!) as the flight's final destination looks like being central London.

Truly, this series was on steroids from the beginning. Totally incredible as it all is, just as you'd expect, stretched out over seven super-tense episodes, my wife and I followed every unbelievable plot shift pretty much wrapped up in the plight of the passengers.

Elba ably holds it all together in a sub-Lutheran sort of way and gets good support from the large ensemble cast. Even if one suspects that it could all have been boiled down to a more manageable two hour movie, this is definitely one to just strap yourself in for as it really is a bumpy ride from departure to arrival.

My Take – Worth a watch

Cheers till next time😊!!