ab1n_abh1lash

400 crore budget, yeah Vijay was paid 200 crores, but damn. The VFX, after the team promoting it so much as high quality, there was so much green screen it was unbelievable. The whole de-aging thing was meh at best for Captain Vijayakanth that is, but still the AI generated expressions were so terrible, even worse for the 16 year old version of thalapathy.

Coming to the storyline, and script, in general it was very predictable, like what you can gather from the trailer is exactly what the film is. The comedy worked in some places, mainly when Yogi Babu came in the second half, and a few counters from Vijay and Premgi. The runtime being 3 hours, was so unnecessary, and the placements of the songs were in the most bizzare scenes, especially the 'spark' song. The BGM was just so loud and messy at times I don't even know what U1 was trying to do. In the climax, bro just gave up and let the CSK match commentary do the work 💀.

In terms of performances, Vijay carried, as always, particularly the 'Illayathalapathy' character, and we were able to see some different acting and mannerisms from Vijay, although the villainism was quite goofy in several instances to be completely honest. As to everyone else, they were decent, nothing extraordinary.

The action sequences were just constant shaky cam, and the choreography itself was basic. Basically, the film relied HEAVILY on fan service, and sure the cameos did work and the multitude of references to previous Vijay films and even Venkat Prabhu films.

But overall, the film is just for the fans really, and the general audience will probably find this terrible unfortunately.

Alright ... I've got a lot of thoughts on this one, so I will try to keep it short, keyword try*.

Now, where do I start ... the songs, were meh, some were alright, but we've had better from Vineeth, 'Madhu Pakaroo' is decent though. The BGM and the rest of the soundtrack was apt for this genre in general, and did accompany certain scenes really well.

Now the storyline itself, nothing special, very predictable, and all, the first half you do feel a bit of a drag here and there, (the movie is almost 3 hours) and the funny thing is the first half and second half of this, lowkey felt like two different films, obviously there is a change of setting, new characters and all that are introduced. But like the first half itself had a climax, and that part was concluded so you would think 'oh, it's finished' - and obviously it's not.

Like I'm going to be honest, the Kalyani x Pranav love side-story didn't hit as much as it should've and felt a bit forced, as it didn't really have a significant impact on the rest of the film. And some scenes were a bit ... cringe. OK, now it looks like I'm hating on the movie, bear with me. It's a Vineeth film, and that's his style and it's fine, we already know that and accept it.

Next, performances, this is easily Dhyan's career best no joke (cause all his other individual films are flops) like he was very mature, and his comedic timing was pretty good, now coming to Pranav, he's like (being Mohanlal's son and all there's always been a lot of pressure on him ever since he came into the industry - why is blud waffling) he was alright, like he wasn't bad or anything, and you could feel a bit of vintage mohanlal vibes occasionally; mannerisms and all, but Dhyan did score more than him.

Aju Varghese came, added some humour, then Basil came added some MORE humour, Neeraj Madhav had a hilarious small role as well, and then ...

The man, the myth, the legend, NIVIN PAULY, sorry "NITHIN MOLLY" came, the fact is I went to see this film JUST for him, and see him on the big screen again, and I WAS NOT disappointed. As soon as, he arrived the theatre went crazy and all his scenes were peak, we literally did "get him back", his energy was absolutely amazing, like deadass could not stop laughing. Like his character, was him playing as himself pretty much, and he was trolling himself, calling people out for body-shaming him, all his previous films being flops etc. And like essentially it is 4th wall breaking and quite literally a message to his haters. And that one scene, got so much applause and cheers from the audience, it was lit. A little bit of overacting, but again his character literally demanded it, and it was so entertaining. Oh yeah, and there was so many fun references to other movies, and real life internet personalities. And a lot of cameos. Like the film is lowkey a tribute to malayalam cinema, and a wake up call for this current generation of directors.

Jeez oh, I think you know what I am about to say, NIVIN PAULY carried the film, or at least made it significantly better.

Dhyan did pretty well, Pranav was alright, and the comedy although a bit inconsistent, there was more hits than misses. Again, if you were to watch this at home, you would probably skip through some scenes, and that's why certain movies will only work with a lively audience, and a proper 'theatre experience'.

OK, to summarise, a 'typical vineeth sreenivasan film', definitely a family padam, and yeah, once again, I didn't hate the film or anything, it's a nice feel-good picture, I just didn't like certain aspects, but as a whole it is decent.

Now, if you actually read allat, respect.