Superhero films haven't been successful in Tamil Cinema and we had only a few films that came in that genre so far. We can probably say that Tamil cinema doesn't need superhero films because our larger-than-life star's films are equal to that genre. Adding to this, PS. Mithran's Hero is the most recent superhero film in Tamil. Is Hero really a superhero film? Well, unfortunately, it isn't. Why? Well, the film has more social messages than superhero elements. Sivakarthikeyan plays the main lead Shakthi who is a fraudster at first sight and superhero later in the film. His character is not that heroic except in the climax speech. Performance-wise, Hero is a very decent film for Sivakarthikeyan because he has very little scope to perform as an actor. Honestly, the film's real hero is Arjun. Well, he has reprised his role from Shankar's Gentleman and played it effortlessly. His performance is worth watching and his role is definitely impactful in the narrative. On the other side, we have Abhay Deol playing the main antagonist with so much style and attitude. He is definitely a strength in this film. Speaking about Yuvan Shankar Raja, his album might be disappointing but his background score is a huge energy booster. PS. Mithran makes films similar to that of Shankar and A.R.Murugadoss. He is playing with the commercial format and adds a strong issue to make it more relevant to the audience. Fortunately, it works in both of his works, Irumbu Thirai and Hero. Well, Hero has strong content but takes too much time to get into it. We have an unnecessary love track and not so hilarious comedy track that doesn't fit into the film's first half. It's only after the interval that we get the actual conflict of the film. Hero feels less engaging than Irumbu Thirai because it focuses more on establishing the character's backstories than the actual conflict. Sivakarthikeyan has a backstory to justify his acts and Arjun has a backstory to introduce who he is actually which feels like taking too much of the film's duration but Arjun's backstory is worthy. The superhero factor comes only in the last 30 minutes which is a major letdown. Moreover, PS. Mithran has focused more on the social issue than the superhero factor which could have been equally balanced. Overall, Hero is not a superhero film but a social issue-based film.
