Checked out this movie last night; it was neat seeing it in India since a portion of the story takes place in Mumbai and briefly features Anil Kapoor (who is turning out to be the go-to Indian actor for Hollywood). Even though the film had limited character development and an uber simple storyline, it was anchored by a series of action set pieces which were varied, thrilling, cleanly choreographed (Michael Bay's thumbprints were nowhere to be found), and elaborate. Also, despite how annoyingly smug he can come across on screen, Tom Cruise remains an appealing and believable action star. A director need only minimize his emotionality and maximize his physicality and he'll do well for them.
Interestingly, Mumbai was only shown in the best light, with the main locations being inside a posh hotel (looked like a a Taj or Oberoi) and a high-tech parking structure. The street scenes took place at night, conveniently obscuring any slums or filth, which other Mumbai-based films like "Salaam Bombay" and "Slumdog Millionaire" didn't shy away from showing.
Even though I'm typically a proponent of Truth, part of me is glad the film showed an edited version of it. Unfortunately, the chaos, crowds, and dirt are the first things to assault your senses upon arrival (at least in the cities) and it's only after having stayed in India for a while that you begin to pick up on the uniqueness and beauty of the culture and land. I know how silly this is going to sound, but if India had a more acceptable infrastructure (implicit in this is a reduction in corruption which would be necessary for this to occur) and a lower population (implicit in this is a resulting increase in the value of an individual life), I would move there in a heartbeat. After all, nowhere else I've been better represents all that is concurrently modern and ancient, eternal, and spiritual.
India currently represents the polarities - the very good with the very bad, and so conveys the full spectrum of life. In the US, the middle and higher classes lead sanitized, comfortable lives (hey, about this I'm not complaining), but the spiritual center is missing.
Asides a la Caffeinated Muslim
Not sure if this is the case with all Indian movie theaters, but...
- the soundtrack was played at a DEAFENING volume
- there was a 10 minute intermission in the middle of the film
- you can ask for your theater food to be served to you in your seat
- my uncle picked up his cell in the middle of the movie and started jabbering loudly to a work colleague (I wonder if this is acceptable in India; it very well could be)
