An Out and Out CGI Fiesta

Rating: Null/10 (24 November 2009)

I don't remember the last time I saw an English movie, the first day in theater. Such was the hype surrounding the movie that release dates of many regional movies in India were put off. And man, the movie lived up to it.
The plot may be shallow, full of all those old sci-fi clichés like hero surviving the one-in-a-million chance stunts, some nerdy guy predicting something which nobody believes, Govts collaborating on a massive secretive campaign, etc. But the way it was handled by the director and supported ( or rather driven entirely) by such a masterly CGI work has transformed this mediocre doomsday movie into the ultimate winter blockbuster.
A 158 min CGI movie with not even a single crowd puller (atleast in India we dint know who Cussack was before this movie) managing such a opening in a place where nobody knows a word in English is a commendable thing in itself.
An average regional movie in India is made at a couple of million dollar budget and is declared a hit, if it recovers that amount. And most English movies (save those with big names) gross around $100K. Considering this, the fact that the box office collection of this movie which has already crossed a million dollar in its opening week with a less than $2 ticket/person is an absolutely unbelievable thing. The final gross is projected at around 20 million dollars in a single state (Tamilnadu) and India has 28 states!
Go to this movie with an open mind, without expecting an intelligent plot. If you are ready to appreciate the distance we have traversed in showing things that never were, you'll surely enjoy this movie. This movie neither claims itself to be an intelligent movie nor expects the viewer to be one.