Hotel Mumbai

Hotel Mumbai works well in every aspect. It is dynamic, the action is authentic, without any slow-motion and similar nonsense that doesn't belong in such films, and most importantly, it avoids the clichés of action thrillers and the problems of the main characters (who are very often not subject to the same rules as other mortals), who are treated realistically and very unsparingly for most of the film. Hotel Mumbai successfully, colourfully and thrillingly reconstructs the 2008 terrorist attack, which did not happen in the advanced Western civilisation, so not many people actually know about it, and the form in which the filmmakers remind us of this event is highly above average. (21/06/2022)

This year is ruled by "the lower the expectations, the bigger the bang", and Hotel Mumbai is a fine example. The film focuses on the Mumbai terror attack of 2008, where a group of young terrorists broke into a hotel to perform Jihad in the name of Allah. What I really like about the film is that it gets to the point right from the start, so we watch a literal two hour terror and carnage where guests and staff are executed in cold blood and mercilessly, and that there were not a few. Authentic, chilling, uncomfortable and atmospherically very dense. The greatest horror is often reality itself. I recommend it!! 85% (11/06/2019)

I admit that I have somehow missed the news about the terrorist attack on an Indian historical hotel. After watching this film, however, I’m aware of it and I won’t ever forget it. A genius reconstruction of a terrorist attack, which is ruled by precision, excellent acting performances, technical sophistication, but also often illogical behavior of the characters born out of the stressful situation, which in addition, provides another straw that will break the back of Islam. I am undecided about this, but during this film, I had to think about what is better – to believe in a religion in whose name its followers cause an endless amount of pain every year or to give it up, to take away its influence from the world and become an atheist? (17/02/2020)

An adequately raw portrayal of a tragic event whose urgency will likely intensify in the future. The superb actors don’t get much space and Maras hardly ever gets close to the editing virtuosity of Paul Greengrass, which takes the best out of the subjectification of the suffering of the group of characters and the dynamic alternation of different perspectives, but the narration holds together regardless and is able to generate interest in the characters, without glorifying them excessively (only Jason Isaac’s Russian is somewhat caricaturish) or blindly condemning the killers, who were pushed to that terrible act by a senseless ideology and education. A good piece of work that generates a strong desire for this madness to finally end. 80% (12/02/2020)

A film about morally corrupt Westerners and their Indian sympathizers, who absolutely failed to realize that a group of charitable Allah worshippers were bringing them cultural enrichment. This is how a self-appointed guardian of multiculturalism might sum up this film. I, on the other hand, enjoyed a two-hour tough action-packed excursion into a desperate and futile struggle of contemporary civilization against a bunch of medieval lunatics. Yet again, the Australian filmmakers demonstrated the main difference between American and the rest of the world’s production. Nobody but the Americans needs a convoy of tank trucks full of pathos, everyone else is able to affect the viewer's emotions with quality filmmaking – which in this case definitely worked out (for me). It was an excellent theme, which was excellently filmed. (03/08/2019)