Archies Review/Spoilers Discussion - Page 23

Originally posted by: Clochette

But Smiley is right...it isn't a movie where there is the need to think so much.

Watched this..i CANT be bothered to even review this movie..except Vedang Raina is the one bright spot in this otherwise dead, dull, boring, irritating, silly, waif thin stupid movie…I feel totally depleted and without any energy after watching this pakaaooo movie..please don’t watch this..(I fast forward half an hour towards the end as well ) instead try a nice Christmas movie similar to Love Actually and the likes.. btw idk if anyone remembers that cute Pehla Nasha remix video with cute kids..that was a much nicer tribute to Archie Betty Veronica..than these flaky, one note, flat, boring grown ups!!!

This scene is most criticised on Twitter and deservedly so.

https://x.com/tantrumswtomar2/status/1732821674398261321?s=20

Originally posted by: Clochette

Actually, I can understand that members here won't understand that my observations aren't influenced by my affection for ShahRukh...they simply don't know how my mind and my emotions work.

From the age of 6, I grew up with stories told in movies (which isn't the same as stories told in books). Book stories fuel my imagination, movie stories fuel my love for magic...but I learn from all stories about people...maybe that makes me experience The Archies in another way than most of the people here...

If I connect with a movie-story emotionally, I enter into the acting persons....and if they achieve to persuade me, I keep feeling with them (if not, I leave them...and also the story...that's what I did with Animal when watching the promotional snippets...it was all pretentious...a lie...a betrayal).

I suppose, that my connection to The Archies is completely different as for others as my focus isn't on the actors but what I feel for the characters...

I can't argue about it - at least not in an environment where the focus is on things that have nothing to do with the movie as such but with personal sensitivities.

I get what u r saying..books fuel imagination..but movies r a visual medium..that's the reason for actors' popularity..not only characters.

Here this particular movie is based on a comic book series. Graphic representation..there is a certain appearance n personality given to characters. So when a movie calls it n adaptation complete with the name, comparison with the actor will happen.

There r tons of movies based on Archie theme without the names..no one questioned them.

No one questioned two states coz the novel wasn't graphic.

Archies the movie had a bigger task

Originally posted by: MaxMayfield

Poo was panned by critics..everyone spoke about Kareena's over acting...its another thing that Poo is epic now...BUT Bebo in her worst performances has 100x times more star aura and screen presence and her toe nail has more talent than these pathetic new gen actors...same for Alia...hate her all you want..she has proved herself time and again.

Kareena got a lot of flak for Poo, as well as her movies Khushi, MPKDH, Yaadien etc. Even though she was bad, she still LOOKED really good and there was something about her that was still appealing. She still had strong screen presence and star quality.

Alia in SOTY, tried to be the "it" girl,at least was she was presented well and it was not completely unbelievable.

Suhana on the other hand - with her looks, strange voice and even more strange way of walking would not even be the it girl if she was the only girl in the school. I also feel that we should not give people more opportunities and chances just because they are bad looking. She already has her next film lined up with her Daddy, which I think is a horrible idea. She needs to go away. Give me Aryan Khan instead please.

Review:

People will think I am crazy when I tell them that Archies has been my most awaited movie ever since the cast announcement video released 1.5 years back (dont judge me pls). The main reason for this is that I grew up on Disney Channel and even as a 30 year old, I am a huge sucker for kiddie, silly content. The Archies really did seem like something fresh and different from the stuff the Hindi film industry usually churns out. I was delighted that finally we had a teen-movie with a cast that actually looked like teenagers and all the promos really took my nostalgic heart back to simpler times- away from the oversexualized potrayals of teen life that we have gotten used to seeing in media. I was ofcourse not expecting great cinema, heck I was not even expecting good cinema- all I wanted was silly fun. And boy, do I feel disappointed. Zoya seems to have really lost her touch. 2.5 hours for a teeny bopper like this? It could have easily been cut down to 1.5. On top of that she has the guts to make it boring?? The entire film industry must have been relieved after the premiere that this movie went straight to OTT. If it had released in theatres, it would have flopped terribly and would have been a bitter pill to swallow for the star families who are launching their new gen with this one:

-I dont know about others, but the storyline itself was very interesting to me with how it addresses themes like the power of democracy, freedom of press, responsibility towards one's roots and the environment, not letting a man get in the way of female friendships, empathy and support towards minorities etc. However, the execution is soo damn boring 90% of the time. I went in to watch a kid's movie, I am not interested in seeing what Hiram Lodge is plotting or what the council chair is doing. The writers could have easily written out these scenes or atleast shortened them without hampering the main storyline. That way they could have devoted valuable time building on the dynamics among the group. I KNOW there was supposed to be more Ethel-Jughead interactions but we got next to none of that. I wish they had built up the Reggie-Dilton friendship a little more. I wanted more of the Archie-Reggie harmless rivalry over trivial things (we only get this in the wooly bully part and it was so much fun). I loved the Beronica friendship but I also wouldn't have opposed to them being a bit more petty over things. Moose and Midge could have also been a little bit more prominent (Moose was adorable btw). So all in all, a lot of the usual tropes seen in the comics is missing here. Also as a result of the screenplay not spending more time on the kids, the overall effect the story has suffers. I was supposed to be elated at the end of the film, I felt nothing. Is it so hard to end a teen movie on a euphoric note??

-The dialogues are also bad and cringe-inducing at many points.

-The second half of the movie really needed some upbeat songs and dance numbers. I wish they had integrated In Raahon Mein somwhere else in the movie and done a energetic song and dance number at the end.

-I didn't like the acting of the adult cast and I partly blame Zoya for this. All of the adult cast had a very performative way of acting, that IMO could have been suitable for a teen-musical. But the direction, screenplay and BGM just didn't compliment their style of acting, making each and every one of them look hammy. This problem extends to the main 7 as well, with various degrees of severity (More on each of then below):

1. Suhana as Veronica is the most affected by the lack of harmony between her performance and the direction. For most of the film she has a very theatrical way of acting and dialogue delivery. That is obviously her and Zoya's interpretation of an Anglo Indian Veronica- but it doesn't work most of the time. Her worst moments are definitely all the "archiekins" nonsense- her and Aggie had more chemistry in the promotions than they did in the film and her attempt at being sultry is just not good. Suhana, despite all the criticism she has been getting, does have some high moments too- I think she is a pretty good dancer, her friendship scenes with Betty were heartwarming and she was quite good actually in her confrontation scene with her father. I find Suhana very pretty honestly but her styling in this film is not up to the mark- part of the reason why I think she is getting excessively hated on. I believe with the correct styling, and a little bit work on her dialogue delivery, she can be a good commercial heroine- just want to see a petite and dusky girl get a big budget filmy heroine role.

2. Khushi, IMO, perfecty suited Betty- in real-life also, she has a very sweet demeanor and that reflects in her performance. She has a cloying, nagging way of delivering lines that might be annoying to some. But for me it somehow works for a 17-year old highly sensitive and kind girl-next-door like Betts. Again, I liked her friendship with Ronnie, how she took a stand for her friend and told the boys off when they treated Ronnie wrong. Khushi's mouth area looks really weird when she sings however, and if I am being honest, she is the worst dancer of the lot, so there's that. However, she might find a niche for herself in urban romcoms.

3. Agastya I feel has a good actor hidden in him somewhere, but it is nowhere to be seen in this film. He is not bad btw, he is quite alright actually with his dialogue delivery. Infact he has less truly terrible moments than Betty or Ronnie. But he is also not a standout- in a good or bad way, in any scene. He is just sort of there, floating across the screen along with the other characters who grab your attention with their great/terrible moments. And this is sort of a problem. Where is the main character energy, Archiekins?? Agastya's performance is basically a newbie's attempt at subtle acting which just makes him look bland. His romance scenes with Ronnie/Betty are a disaster. He fares better in his scenes with the boys and I wish Zoya had tapped more into Agastya's early-career-Abhishek-like jovial personality for Archie's role. Because there is nothing about Archie that stands out and it is a wonder why Beronica and random girls from the neighborhood are so besotted by him. He is neither as handsome and smooth as Reggie, nor is he a true-to-oneself goof like Jughead, nor is he a cutiepie like Mason. Aggie is a decent dancer though IMO, and I feel like he can evolve into a good performer over time.

4. Vedang is a good looking young man and I must admit that I have had a mini-crush on him since the cast announcement that happened all the way back in early last year. He has really good screen presence and he pretty much burnt up the dance floor in the Lodge house party song and the Politics number from school- although the camera kept putting focus back on Archie every now and then. I thought he acted decently for a debutante. It is, like I said about Veronica, a little extra at times, but I think in his case, he somewhat manages to pull it off as Reggie is a self-assured, hot-headed character in the comics. All in all, I think he did justice to the fresh take on the character of Reggie and served the energy you expect from a teen musical. I just hope he keeps working hard on himself and takes in the constructive feedback in stride- we desperately need some all-rounder actors from the younger generation.

5. Mihir, from a purely acting perspective, is easily the best of the lot and his experience as an actor is definitely reflected in his performance. He was great in all the scenes where he is allowed to take centrestage- the "arrest" scene, the instances of beatboxing, him asking Andrews to focus on cherry blossom, or when he does that RJ voiceover. He also has a very affable screen presence as Jughead and I think this shows his versatility (as people who have seen MIH say they detested his character). I think he may become an acclaimed actor of his generation.

6. Dot. has a really cute and spritely screen presence. It is a shame she doesn't get a proper arc for herself (that double job thing is just there to give the girl something for herself and has no relevance to the overall plot). I also really wanted Ethel and Jughead to become a thing, however the makers were too busy with the non-existent chemistry of Barchie/Varchie. I think she will do well in indie romcoms, if she wants to do more acting gigs.

7. Yuvraj as Dilton was nerdy cute and his "thankyew" was adorable. Him being the youngest of the cast shows but I think his accented Hindi and awkward body language works for the character he plays.

So that was my opinion on all of them and I tried to be fair to everyone. However, I do strongly believe the performances would have come off much better with a strong direction and there is where the film fails big time IMO. I wanted this film to be the perfect Christmas movie but alas it wasn't meant to be.

YES

https://x.com/lkb12357/status/1733162928772395346?s=20

https://x.com/DrSU1712/status/1733113336852595098?s=20

Originally posted by: FilmiDhun

Review:

People will think I am crazy when I tell them that Archies has been my most awaited movie ever since the cast announcement video released 1.5 years back (dont judge me pls). The main reason for this is that I grew up on Disney Channel and even as a 30 year old, I am a huge sucker for kiddie, silly content. The Archies really did seem like something fresh and different from the stuff the Hindi film industry usually churns out. I was delighted that finally we had a teen-movie with a cast that actually looked like teenagers and all the promos really took my nostalgic heart back to simpler times- away from the oversexualized potrayals of teen life that we have gotten used to seeing in media. I was ofcourse not expecting great cinema, heck I was not even expecting good cinema- all I wanted was silly fun. And boy, do I feel disappointed. Zoya seems to have really lost her touch. 2.5 hours for a teeny bopper like this? It could have easily been cut down to 1.5. On top of that she has the guts to make it boring?? The entire film industry must have been relieved after the premiere that this movie went straight to OTT. If it had released in theatres, it would have flopped terribly and would have been a bitter pill to swallow for the star families who are launching their new gen with this one:

-I dont know about others, but the storyline itself was very interesting to me with how it addresses themes like the power of democracy, freedom of press, responsibility towards one's roots and the environment, not letting a man get in the way of female friendships, empathy and support towards minorities etc. However, the execution is soo damn boring 90% of the time. I went in to watch a kid's movie, I am not interested in seeing what Hiram Lodge is plotting or what the council chair is doing. The writers could have easily written out these scenes or atleast shortened them without hampering the main storyline. That way they could have devoted valuable time building on the dynamics among the group. I KNOW there was supposed to be more Ethel-Jughead interactions but we got next to none of that. I wish they had built up the Reggie-Dilton friendship a little more. I wanted more of the Archie-Reggie harmless rivalry over trivial things (we only get this in the wooly bully part and it was so much fun). I loved the Beronica friendship but I also wouldn't have opposed to them being a bit more petty over things. Moose and Midge could have also been a little bit more prominent (Moose was adorable btw). So all in all, a lot of the usual tropes seen in the comics is missing here. Also as a result of the screenplay not spending more time on the kids, the overall effect the story has suffers. I was supposed to be elated at the end of the film, I felt nothing. Is it so hard to end a teen movie on a euphoric note??

-The dialogues are also bad and cringe-inducing at many points.

-The second half of the movie really needed some upbeat songs and dance numbers. I wish they had integrated In Raahon Mein somwhere else in the movie and done a energetic song and dance number at the end.

-I didn't like the acting of the adult cast and I partly blame Zoya for this. All of the adult cast had a very performative way of acting, that IMO could have been suitable for a teen-musical. But the direction, screenplay and BGM just didn't compliment their style of acting, making each and every one of them look hammy. This problem extends to the main 7 as well, with various degrees of severity (More on each of then below):

1. Suhana as Veronica is the most affected by the lack of harmony between her performance and the direction. For most of the film she has a very theatrical way of acting and dialogue delivery. That is obviously her and Zoya's interpretation of an Anglo Indian Veronica- but it doesn't work most of the time. Her worst moments are definitely all the "archiekins" nonsense- her and Aggie had more chemistry in the promotions than they did in the film and her attempt at being sultry is just not good. Suhana, despite all the criticism she has been getting, does have some high moments too- I think she is a pretty good dancer, her friendship scenes with Betty were heartwarming and she was quite good actually in her confrontation scene with her father. I find Suhana very pretty honestly but her styling in this film is not up to the mark- part of the reason why I think she is getting excessively hated on. I believe with the correct styling, and a little bit work on her dialogue delivery, she can be a good commercial heroine- just want to see a petite and dusky girl get a big budget filmy heroine role.

2. Khushi, IMO, perfecty suited Betty- in real-life also, she has a very sweet demeanor and that reflects in her performance. She has a cloying, nagging way of delivering lines that might be annoying to some. But for me it somehow works for a 17-year old highly sensitive and kind girl-next-door like Betts. Again, I liked her friendship with Ronnie, how she took a stand for her friend and told the boys off when they treated Ronnie wrong. Khushi's mouth area looks really weird when she sings however, and if I am being honest, she is the worst dancer of the lot, so there's that. However, she might find a niche for herself in urban romcoms.

3. Agastya I feel has a good actor hidden in him somewhere, but it is nowhere to be seen in this film. He is not bad btw, he is quite alright actually with his dialogue delivery. Infact he has less truly terrible moments than Betty or Ronnie. But he is also not a standout- in a good or bad way, in any scene. He is just sort of there, floating across the screen along with the other characters who grab your attention with their great/terrible moments. And this is sort of a problem. Where is the main character energy, Archiekins?? Agastya's performance is basically a newbie's attempt at subtle acting which just makes him look bland. His romance scenes with Ronnie/Betty are a disaster. He fares better in his scenes with the boys and I wish Zoya had tapped more into Agastya's early-career-Abhishek-like jovial personality for Archie's role. Because there is nothing about Archie that stands out and it is a wonder why Beronica and random girls from the neighborhood are so besotted by him. He is neither as handsome and smooth as Reggie, nor is he a true-to-oneself goof like Jughead, nor is he a cutiepie like Mason. Aggie is a decent dancer though IMO, and I feel like he can evolve into a good performer over time.

4. Vedang is a good looking young man and I must admit that I have had a mini-crush on him since the cast announcement that happened all the way back in early last year. He has really good screen presence and he pretty much burnt up the dance floor in the Lodge house party song and the Politics number from school- although the camera kept putting focus back on Archie every now and then. I thought he acted decently for a debutante. It is, like I said about Veronica, a little extra at times, but I think in his case, he somewhat manages to pull it off as Reggie is a self-assured, hot-headed character in the comics. All in all, I think he did justice to the fresh take on the character of Reggie and served the energy you expect from a teen musical. I just hope he keeps working hard on himself and takes in the constructive feedback in stride- we desperately need some all-rounder actors from the younger generation.

5. Mihir, from a purely acting perspective, is easily the best of the lot and his experience as an actor is definitely reflected in his performance. He was great in all the scenes where he is allowed to take centrestage- the "arrest" scene, the instances of beatboxing, him asking Andrews to focus on cherry blossom, or when he does that RJ voiceover. He also has a very affable screen presence as Jughead and I think this shows his versatility (as people who have seen MIH say they detested his character). I think he may become an acclaimed actor of his generation.

6. Dot. has a really cute and spritely screen presence. It is a shame she doesn't get a proper arc for herself (that double job thing is just there to give the girl something for herself and has no relevance to the overall plot). I also really wanted Ethel and Jughead to become a thing, however the makers were too busy with the non-existent chemistry of Barchie/Varchie. I think she will do well in indie romcoms, if she wants to do more acting gigs.

7. Yuvraj as Dilton was nerdy cute and his "thankyew" was adorable. Him being the youngest of the cast shows but I think his accented Hindi and awkward body language works for the character he plays.

So that was my opinion on all of them and I tried to be fair to everyone. However, I do strongly believe the performances would have come off much better with a strong direction and there is where the film fails big time IMO. I wanted this film to be the perfect Christmas movie but alas it wasn't meant to be.

Finally someone else saw what I saw.......in my review....I said that this movie....had a HEART....but Zoya didn't use it as much as she could have....

I am surprised that no one mentioned Suhana as such a good dancer......I wanted to but anything I would have written in favor of Suhana would have been instantly dismissed/mocked as the rant of a fan.......she is infact a good dancer and looks like she took dancing lessons.....I found her good in some scenes......

People blame and mock the fans....but its the same thing for haters.....refusing to see anything good in Suhana.....same had happened to Alia....and how she proved everyone wrong with her second movie..

I do think that Suhana and Khushi would have done each other's roles better...just my opinion....I wish there were not so many songs.....and they could have made the movie either a little shorter or put some more scenes with other actors....but Thanks for such a detailed review.

Originally posted by: Shaitan-Haiwan

Kareena got a lot of flak for Poo, as well as her movies Khushi, MPKDH, Yaadien etc. Even though she was bad, she still LOOKED really good and there was something about her that was still appealing. She still had strong screen presence and star quality.

Alia in SOTY, tried to be the "it" girl,at least was she was presented well and it was not completely unbelievable.

Suhana on the other hand - with her looks, strange voice and even more strange way of walking would not even be the it girl if she was the only girl in the school. I also feel that we should not give people more opportunities and chances just because they are bad looking. She already has her next film lined up with her Daddy, which I think is a horrible idea. She needs to go away. Give me Aryan Khan instead please.