Ace

Ace (2025) : Movie Review -

Ace has all the right ingredients to cater to the masses, though it misses the finesse expected by the class audience. The film treads familiar ground-con dramas with mistaken identities and emotional backstories-so predictability does creep in. Fortunately, it doesn't become tiresome. The 155-minute runtime feels unnecessarily stretched for a con-thriller, which usually lands better around the two-hour mark. One unique twist here is that the identity of the protagonist is never fully revealed-even after the film ends.

The story, directed by Arumuga Kumar, follows Bolt Kannan (Vijay Sethupathi), who arrives in a foreign country and is mistakenly hired by Arivu (Yogi Babu). Taking advantage of the situation, Bolt plays along and eventually falls for Rukku (Rukmini Vasanth), who's facing abuse at the hands of her stepfather, Rajadurai (Babloo Prithiveeraj). To help Rukku escape and also repay a debt incurred while trying to double money for a dress, Bolt must navigate a world of cons, loans, and poker scams. The plot stays engaging with its many twists, though it occasionally slips into dated tropes and poor clichés.

Characters like Arivu with his silly decisions, or the overdone chase sequences and conveniently secretive leads, drag the narrative down. The comedy quotient is uneven-some jokes fall flat, but a few manage to evoke genuine laughter. Vijay Sethupathi, however, shines in a full-blown south-hero avatar after a while. He's got the full package-brawn, brains, charm, emotional depth, and a knack for manipulation. He's the savior, the lover, the fighter-practically unstoppable, as expected from such roles.

Rukmini Vasanth and Divya Pillai look stunning and deliver respectable performances. Yogi Babu, while not entirely convincing, brings enough energy to his role. BS Avinash is an effective villain, and Babloo Prithiveeraj is convincingly cruel. The rest of the supporting cast does a serviceable job. Action sequences vary in quality-some are punchy, others exhausting. The cinematography is decent, but the screenplay needed tightening. Director Arumuga Kumar maintains a steady hand but misses out on delivering that one big moment-the ace card, so to speak. With so many twists and build-ups, you expect a grand reveal, but Ace ends up playing it safe.

RATING - 5/10*

Ace" is a Tamil heist comedy-drama, starring Vijay Sethupathi and Rukmini Vasanth, that blends romance, crime, and humor. While the movie has some enjoyable moments, particularly in the second half and with the performances of Vijay Sethupathi and Yogi Babu, it ultimately falls short due to a meandering screenplay and uneven pacing.

The film follows Kannan (Vijay Sethupathi), a poker ace with a mysterious past, who gets entangled in a series of events involving a loan shark, a naive young woman, and a complicated heist. The plot introduces several characters and subplots, including a budding romance between Kannan and a young woman named Priya (Rukmini Vasanth), which adds some emotional depth to the otherwise lighthearted narrative. However, the story struggles to maintain a consistent tone and often feels like it's going in multiple directions.

POSITIVES: Engaging Second Half: The second half, particularly the heist sequences, is well-executed and keeps the audience invested in the story.

Vijay Sethupathi's Performance: Vijay Sethupathi delivers a natural and effortless performance, embodying the character of Kannan with charisma and charm.

Yogi Babu's Comedy: Yogi Babu provides some much-needed comic relief and his combination with Vijay Sethupathi is a definite highlight.

Rukmini Vasanth's Debut: Rukmini Vasanth makes a promising Tamil debut, and her character brings a certain charm to the film.

Good Cinematography: The cinematography is commendable, especially considering the film's budget.

Engaging Score: Sam CS's background score enhances the viewing experience, though at times it can be a bit intrusive.

This video provides a general overview of the movie, including its plot and some audience reactions:

RATED 7/10 Language: Tamil Source: Amazon Prime

This is the perfect movie for the OTT platform, where you have the control on your hand to forward on the lazy moments.

The story and characters are highly predictable. There are lot of repeated events/scenes which makes the movie looks very long. Still there are some good enjoyable moments make the movie watchable.

VJS and Yogi babu combination is very run of the mill idea. Heroine is fresh face for this movie and worked out well for the character.

Just put your expectation for the utter masala entertainment and you will not be disappointed.

Bolt Kannan arrives in Malaysia and Arivu picks him up, while pretending to be a rich businessman. With his lies, Arivu is trying to woo his love interest Kalpana, who is in need of money. Kannan is hired by Kalpana at her restaurant and he even falls for Rukku after she accuses him of being a thief. As their love blossoms, he is told that Rukku is in need of money to free herself from her abusive cop stepfather. In his attempt to arrange money for her, Kannan gets in trouble with a local loan shark / goon Dharma and ends up with a larger debt to him. Now, Arivu not only has to arrange money for Rukku but also pay off Dharma. What plan does he come up with to get out of this mess and will he able to pull it off, forms rest of the story.

Arumuga Kumar's story is decent and the screenplay tilts towards keeping things light throughput. It doesn't pay off as the stakes are never that high to feel the seriousness of the situation. There is hero elevation but that is not the kind of film Arumuga and Vijay Sethupathi want this one to be, so the humor dilutes it instantly. The uneven narrative dealing with a cunning man trying to outsmart a loan shark, a corrupt cop and actually Malaysian cops after pulling off an heist, needed a tighter screenplay. In his attempt, the story stops being engaging and the songs appeared as speedbreakers. Vijay Sethupathi and Yogi Babu with generic writing can only do so much to shoulder the narrative. The convenient writing also kept the proceedings dull, especially in the second half. I am going with a lenient rating, only for the attempt to keep it a light entertainer but it deserved better writing.

Ace is a movie that blends comedy, romance, thrills, and brainy twists into a single package. The first half starts with light humor. Vijay Sethupathi plays 'Bolt Kannan' who is an underdog with charm - a man who arrives in Malaysia with nothing but ends up entangled in a poker game gone wrong. His chemistry with Rukmini Vasanth is light and felt natural as the director takes his time to show the transition from friendship to love, which some people may find slow. The transition from fun to tension is smooth, and the pre-interval scene adds a satisfying adrenaline rush.

The second half is where the film truly shines. Rather than relying solely on brawn or over-the-top action, Ace leans into deception and strategy - making it feel less like a violent gangster flick and more like a mind game. The film relies heavily on Yogi Babu's comedy in both the halves, so if that's something you want, Ace definitely delivers!

There's not much music, at least in the second half, but the first half's music scenes - though long were calming to see. Near the pre-climax sequence it seems to drag, but climax is done well. Some of the scenes have lazy writing but on the whole it doesn't disappoint even with it's own lows and highs.

While the plot sticks to some cliché lines, it didn't feel boring. The pacing is good, the twists land well, and the final scene leaves the audience with a grin. Ace might not be something unique, but it delivers exactly what it promises: a stylish, engaging, and satisfying story that's fun to watch and easy to revisit.

Overall: Ace is an example of a fun to watch masala film that relies more on mind games and humor than plain action. Relies heavily on Vijay Sethupati and Yogi Babu's comedy.