To start with, I know that I am not going to talk about any good points here, but that is not because that there isn't any but because that I believe talents like constructive criticism more. So I opted to point at some stuff that one can improve.
I would also like to note that this writing is mainly done base on the movie trailers that you can find in you tube. Okay, this comment has done purely focusing on certain areas where I felt that this film has failed to convey the message it trying to convey. let's have a crack at it..
-The music of the movie, I think it is good in most cases but some time it has failed to stage that old, historical, secretive, uncertain feeling, that you get when you read/ talk about a legend. I think in that sense music need little more improvement to reach to that international standard, which Sri Lankan directors always talk about..
-The core part should be the actions of this film. The fighting seen of the movie need lots of improvement too, I think the team that act on most of the fighting seen need at least 100 more times of training before even considering taking those seen that they have put in the actual film. Their movement (Kata = Adimaru) are just childish. I never saw a single movement, that I can be happy about, which shows the characteristic of a matured fighter. I think this director has completely missed that important segment of the film. By looking at what is out there I can say you have just play the fool out of our heritage. These actors have failed to show the smoothness, quality, accuracy that you would expect from an ancient “angam” fighter. I don't think you have done enough research on this..
-The character selection for prince Aba has not work *that* well either.. his voice, look, action are too young, and immature to match the real hero (prince abaya) that lives in Sri Lankan’s mind. Additionally as an example I noticed that when he moves the sword it is like, not he moves the sword, but the sword moves him :-)...
-We are talking about a society that wear costume and capture, train horses/ elephant, and use iron (mean who has invented the technology to extract iron)... OK hold it right there, what does that mean to you?, that mean that this society is a well *seasoned* and civilized one right, okay now.. what does that mean..? that mean you need to think little more than "this" before you putting up that palace for the king, alright?? Additionally you need to be intuitive in weapons selection/ designing too, you are thinking them like vaddas, and that is completely wrong. I think you would have creatively desinged the weapons to show their ivolvement.
I am sure that you have put lots of effort in to this film already, but I think it is not enough. I can give you many example of some choices you have made, that contradict with other stuff that you find in this film.
-Battle field/ castles/ palace - I see a small mistake in there too, apparently I see that mistake in all of the Sinhala movesof this kind. I think Sri Lankan directors got to do lot more research on Sri Lanka battle field/ castle before starting to copying them from Chinese, Indian or American films. You need to think, what it would be like an ancient Sri Lankan battle field? A fight seen in Anuradhapura cannot be like a seen done on a desert land, can it??? Like this film has, is it effective trying to chase down someone while riding on a horse in a place like Anuradhapura?? Is the horse ride effective at all there?? How they would have used hourses/ elephants to their advantage?? What I am trying to say is that think about the land shape/ land diversity, it is not a flat ground that you can ride a house at a super speed and hit hard one on one, face to face (just like in films like troy or ashok does). Film directors need to think creatively and find it.. Because we as viewers need to see how the ancient Sri Lankan would have utilized, taken advantage of the natural barriers around them. But sadly I have never seen any doing it yet. but YES with this start I am sure many will followup..
so overall this is a GREAT ATTEMPT!!
References
Aba Sinhala film at you tube
Aba Sinhala film at you tube
Aba Sinhala film at you tube
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