වෙඩි නොවදින ළමයි (2023) - Tried too hard to be Ho Gaana Pokuna
වෙඩි නොවදින ළමයි/ Bulletproof Children (2023) - Sri Lanka
Dir: Indika Ferdinando
★★★
So, Indika Ferdinando thought, "So, That හෝ ගානා පොකුණ was a hit, huh".
I don't see what you guys are blabbering about. There are so many things here, a few nice, some not, but all put together in a way that it doesn't really seem like anybody knew what they're doing. The rich look of the 'Put in a couple school children, and make them sing.'
The whole production quality thing, with Camerawork, Lighting and Color Grading, impressive and makes it work. Element of that old buddy duo I really liked, and almost all the Performances were good, and a good Ending somewhat.
But almost all those pros feeling like separate items without a real connection, and the awkward songs and placements, This one is certainly miles behind his previous work, හෝ ගානා පොකුණ. Because the truth is, No matter how much it pretends to, this one lacks a heart underneath, so it doesn't have the same feeling and emotion that made the last one memorable.
Yeah, I do get the idea of being surreal. But where is the output? I'm familiar with films being surreal, Lynch, Deren etc, but this just doesnt fall into the same category where it makes sense one way or another.
Simply said, while there are good things in this movie, it seems like it's trying too hard and not quite getting there. It's like having a bunch of good pieces that just don't make a complete picture. Maybe the next movie will find that missing part, but for now, this one feels like a bunch of good pieces without a strong connection.
IMDb Rating - 6.7