CBI 5: The Brain

A good, once to watch, suspense thriller, keeping in line with all the CBI movies released till now, but casting falling short of the past movies.

The movies falls short on the fact that Mamooty's character was not really needed to solve the mystery as in the past, or the mystery got unfolded by itself was a bit of a letdown.

The introduction of the protagonist in the fist half is so deliberate that the writer tried his max, but couldn't in anyway inculcate the character to show up in a way of investigation but on it own.

The similar clichés of CBI officials and interrogated people still continues and could have been done away with.

The inculcation of scenes that bare no requirement to the movie adds to the lag, both in first and second half of the movie. These scenes and characters have no meaning to the movie or plays any importance in the storyline.

But all in all, the writer and director has combined again well to bring out a good movie.

CBI series for me is something different. Oru CBI Diarykurup set the benchmark for investigative thrillers. Jagratha failed to get much attention like its predecessor but it was a really good film and was successful in the box office. Sethurama Iyer CBI was also a really good film. After Sethurama Iyer CBI, Nerariyan CBI came which disappointed me. But CBI 5 really exceeded my expectation because I went with no expectation. I will be saying about the good and bad of the movie in a non-spoiler way.

The Bad

Some subplots was started but was left unanswered which left me scratching my head. Also the motive of the killer is a little generic and dumb. The first half is very lagging and nothing is thrilling in it. But after the first half, it goes smooth and great. This is the only movie in the series which has less or no action sequences, which is not a bad thing but I just mentioned it. The pattern of the killing and how they presented it is very poor and disappointing. Soubin, Asha Sharath, Ansiba and Anoop Menon were miscasts.

The Good

Technically this film is really good. The remixed background score of Iyer by Jakes Bejoy reminded me of the original score from the original one. The cinematography is great. Screenplay wise, this one has an average one but is better than Nerariyan CBI. The second half is really good and gives us some thrills. Some of the performances are really good. Mammootty gives the same vibe of Iyer from the predecessors and also gives a restrained performance. They have tried to do something different with the character of Iyer and have succeeded with it. Loved the scene in which Jagathy was there. It was a pivotal moment in which Jagathy appeared and had a good role. Jagathy did his best and was good. Mukesh and Sai Kumar had a limited appearance but they did a good job. Sai Kumar brings some nostalgic memories. Others did an average job. The climax twist was really unexpected, interesting and good.

So I recommend all of you to watch it but it isn't very good but you can get entertained and the fans and haters of Nerariyan will love this film and should see it but those who are fans of the first three, it is up to you to decide.

CBI 5: The Brain is actually CBI: The Greatest Hits. All ideas, including the climax twist, have been rehashed from the previous films. SN Swamy tries to contemporize one of the kills, but once certain things become evident in the more briskly paced second half, I realized that he was only harking back to another script of his (from the '90s) starring Mammootty himself. The film is exposition-heavy, and those vague close-up shots, which may have worked 15-20 years ago, fail to work here. The setting, the playout of events, and the not-so-novel idea of the killer having accomplices are all picked up from the earlier entries and Swamy's other works. But the most disappointing factor here is the motive for the killings - not only is it the weakest element but it also struggles to firmly bind everything together. Even when there were loopholes and questionable climaxes in the earlier ventures, at least the murderer's motive was one that made sense.

P. S - It was a pleasure seeing Jagathy Sreekumar (as Vikram) for that wonderfully effective but short scene. Even Mukesh (as Chacko) showing up for just a couple of scenes felt nice.

Sethurama iyyer was not required for this case any charector investigating such a case would have been ok but Sethurama iyer needs to do much more to impress, previous movies were that good.

Glad to see Jagathy back! Mammootty, as always did a wonderful job. Salim Kumar was awesome and the BGM seemed nice. Overall impressive story, but it lacks a touch of classy direction and dialogues. The old school direction may be the reasom.