Many have actually loved this because of its nostalgia and nothing else!
The relentless advertisements and banners and the promotions by everyone will of course make sure that this movie will be talked and seen! But is it good? As far as I am concerned, it was a big bore!
The circumstances which made us watch the movie is suspect since it was around 12 midnight! But since it was a weekend, it was still ok!
My wife knew about the Archies by their greeting card shops and nothing else while my kids knew only about Manga and Harry Potter and maybe One piece!
Of course during my teen years (which I realize now was ages ago!); Archie comics were a big craze! But that was restricted only to a select few who had access to these comics either via library or some other connections! Second hand comic book store was another place! Tinkle and other comics like Nagraj or Chacha Chowdhry were more affordable and famous especially in the north. In South, I think Champak was more popular along with Amar Chithra Katha comics.
So the moment I had to explain the characters to everyone, I knew that it was a lost cause!
The director is as confused as Archie in the movie! You have a story about Riverdale and not much scenes with the principal and Ms Grundy! Instead you make a serious movie and then make it musical! It is confusion from the first scene!
She has made a movie of a comic strip which was famous in the past and the ones who know about are grown up! In any case the comic strip was just that! Comic! It was supposed to be funny and nothing else! Serious issues may have been dealt with but it was in passing! Either you use your brain or you don’t! You cannot do both!
The fact of the matter is that it was the story of a confused teen and nothing else!
Add some of the funny adventures of Jughead and Reggie and Moose and it would have been a fun ride!
But Zoya had to make it an issue! She made some scenes Mature which changed the rating while she retained the characters still in their teens!
A better reimagination was Kuch Kuch Hota hain! (Of course it was also flawed but then…)
Now Archie was a comic about beautiful people! There was no confusion there! Sorry to say but none of the characters in the series look good! They look so dated and confused! In an attempt to recreate 1960s, they have been given the old fashion dresses but that does not mean that they have to look bad in that! Like my son exclaimed, “Only Reggie looks good! rest all look so bad!”
Some of the best and funny stories in Archie comics were the Archie Vs Reggie fights! Or how the hard working but talented Betty wins a beauty contest over the rich and spoilt Veronica!
Either you stick to the story or you change everything! If you try to ride two boats then you will drown!
The weight of the star kids would have been too much to shoulder and that is probably why most characters in an attempt to do something different end up being confused!
A better cast would have been Suhana as Betty and Khushi as Veronica!
The only thing positive is that all of them have tried! They have worked really hard to push this nonsense story/Musical!
Musicals will not work in India! A film with good music will! You cannot do a La La land here! A student of the Year like theme also would have worked! Suddenly when the characters break into a song which sound so bad, all we can to is be happy that fast forward works! Only the first song is good and that too because of repeated listening!
To top it off you have some ridiculous schemes of builder and park! Yawn!
The only good thing which happened is that I downloaded some Archie Comics and gave it to my daughter to read! She is liking them so lets see!
See for nostalgia and nothing else…
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