Suspenseful and intense thriller.

Rating: 7/10 (3 April 2019)

Hotel Mumbai (3.5 out of 5 stars).
Hotel Mumbai is a suspenseful thriller that adapts the true events of the Mumbai attack in 2008 and the people in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. It can be a very tough film to watch with the realistic shootouts. Especially, the film being a true story and there are many horrible shootouts and tragedy events that can make this film scary to watch. The film does a great job in having an intense and fast paced direction. Putting the audience at the edge of their seat throughout the movie.
The plot follows the victims that went through the 2008 Mumbai attacks in India. When there was a group of young terrorists who were designated to several locations in India and following orders from some unknown guy who has been preaching their religious belief and delivering a message to the world by causing such a horrible tragedy event. Arjun (Dev Patel) is a young adult and a waiter at the restaurant in the hotel. David (Armie Hammer) and Zahra (Nazanin Boniadi) is a married couple who are visiting the country and staying at the hotel with their newborn baby. Vasili (Jason Isaac) is a high class VIP guest at the hotel. When the terrorists attack around the city. And several terrorists are on a shooting spree in the hotel. The survivors band together to avoid the attacks and trying to survive the night.
I did feel like the plot is just the retelling of the events of 2008 Mumbai attacks with several characters trying to save their families and trying to escape. The characters being real life people. The script did feel a little uninspired to develop the characters in the film. You have a high-class couple David and Zahra. David feeling a little out of place with living the high class lifestyle. David will do whatever takes to make sure his family stays safe. Even with their nanny Sally (Tilda Cobham-Hervey). When an intense scene with the terrorists going room to room and she is trying to hide in the closet with the baby. And her trying to cover the baby's mouth to stop him from crying. It gets suspenseful and it does not stop from there.
The film picks up the pace real quick. Seeing people and tourists in a restaurant. And their terrified reaction. When they see a grenade drop in the floor randomly. And the chaos that goes on from there. When the victims are stranded in the hotel with no support from the police and waiting for the Special Forces to help out.
One thing I did have issues with the film. There are like six to nine terrorists in a big hotel. And plenty of people who are hiding. And avoiding them. A few strong victims who are capable of fighting back. But no one grabbed any kind of weapon to fight back.
Overall, Hotel Mumbai is a pretty fair film. The direction is intense and suspenseful. The horrible tragedy is a tough one to see. The cast did great with what they can with their characters like Armie Hammer, Dev Patel, Nazanin Boniadi, Anupam Kher, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, and Jason Isaacs. The film may have some weak developed characters and poor choices with the actions on the characters. It is definitely worth checking out.