Movie Review: Kedarnath

Michael's Movie Grade: B-

Review: Enjoyably old fashioned romance and disaster movie from India.

What makes this movie work is our two main characters. These two are just very likable. They are not simply two dimensional characters instead there is quite a bit of subtly to them. More importantly the two have great chemistry and you really want to see them against all the odds end up together. A major part of this is the acting of our two leads, Sara Ali Khan and Sushant Singh Rajput. These two are fantastic in these roles and truly bring some great humanity to these characters. The two also work so well with each other, that we enjoy seeing them share the screen, just as we should with any movie romance.

This is also a visually beautiful movie. This movie captures the visual beauty of India beautifully and even during the simple romantic scenes, the view is still breathtaking. Director Abhishek Kapoor and cinematographer Tushar Kanti Ray, do an amazing job with this. Kapoor also does a fantastic job with the later action scenes, transitioning from CGI to live action in a way that seems seamless and completely believable. This action packed finale is certainty very exciting and a highlight of the film.

This movie's story is one we have seen a million times before. The idea of two lovers separated and ostracized by society was a cliché movie story back in the silent era, and still is in 2018. We know just what is going to happen. Almost every story point is something that has been done in a previous film and this gives the movie a sense of familiarity. This is not to say the movie has a poor story though. There are some legitimately touching moments found here and though I didn't, I can picture someone tearing up at one scene. This story has been told many times because it is a good story, but this doesn't change that 140 minutes of clichés can get tiring at times and that the familiarity doesn't occasionally take one out of the film. Adding to this unfortunately is that the side characters (unlike the main two) are what I refer to as movie stereotypes, made to fill in specific roles we have seen in other movies with nothing to make them stand out.

 There is also an out of nowhere musical number that will take most anyone out of the movie and make them feel instead like they are watching a music video. The song itself is not bad and this wouldn't have been a bad music video, but there is no transition to this making its inclusion kind of laughable.

 Despite any of its faults though, thanks to likable main characters, a believable romance, great action and good performance, I still enjoyed myself and hopefully if you see this you will too.

    -Michael J. Ruhland