Race 2

5 years ago , Abbas-Mustan directed Race set a new level in the thriller genre as far as bollywood is concerned....RACE-2 is no different...

As a sequel to RACE i expected this movie to be highly suspenseful, twistful and action packed....which it indeed was.....but what it failed to do was distinguish itself from its prequel...the same kind of storyline, same twists, same type of characters and same scenes were cloned throughout the entire movie... the climax scene was very poorly and sadly executed....

If u've watched RACE, you can easily predict certain part of the sequences and it makes you feel no different....But unlike RACE, apart from only planning and plotting, some action sequences have also been included and to my surprise, they have been executed to perfection....Along with action, cinematography and background score have been the most unique features of RACE-2...

As far as the cast is concerned,there are average performances by JOHN, DEEPIKA and others, but its SAIF who steals all the way...JOHN would have done a far better in a negative role...but fails to impress much...

Finally RACE-2 has all the contents to make it a good thriller film with unexpected twists, but it would have been much much better if the script would have different from its prequel....

The directing duo of Abbas-Mastan created Race back in 2008 that deals with the twists, turns, and double/triple crossings between two brothers Ranvir (Saif Ali Khan) and Rajiv (Akshaye Khanna), against an ostentatious backdrop that included the requisite flaunting of material wealth, horse racing, romance, and shady characters that included the likes of femme fatales in Bipasha Bashu and Katrina Kaif in one of her earlier Bollywood roles. The sequel boasts no less, although with only Saif Ali Khan and Anil Kapoor as the now ex police inspector Robert D'Costa returning, but adopting a similar formula that focused on the con.

You don't really need to watch the first film because everything pretty much moved along in standalone fashion in this follow up, which spent a considerable part of the first half hour cementing the nastiness of brother-sister team Armaan (John Abraham) and Elena (Deepika Padukone). One's a street fighter who has never lost a fight, and brought out of the scene by Elena, the brains of their enduring and successful partnership, dabbling into various cons from casino tables, to just about owning an empire both in the light, and in the shady underworld. They form a formidable team, and individually, Shiraz Ahmed's story shows just how bad ass each can be, never batting an eyelid if they have to rely on good old fashioned murder or seduction to get at what they want.

We're soon introduced to another new character played by Jacqueline Fernandez as Omisha, a thief who soon hooks up with Armaan not only because of his good looks but more importantly, his wealth and wicked demeanor, while Ranvir enters the picture to try and gain trust from the ruthless siblings to take on a larger con together, with Elena sending out her foxy signals right from the start. For a Bollywood movie, this covers the romance angle where the leads have their counterparts to woo, or in this case accelerated into the expected song and dance sequence in lieu of something more kinky that can't be shown on screen.

But really, things just aren't that simple, where soon Ranvir gets involved with both women, though for different reasons, and has an objective and motivation that ties in with a key character from the past, as well as to answer the rather open ended prologue in this film. To say a lot more is to ruin the surprises that Abbas-Mastan have in store for audiences. This is a Race movie that has qualities to be expanded into yet another Bollywood franchise of rotating villains played by a top star for each installment, going along the Dhoom route. So expect that things will never be as they seem, and there's almost always a motive behind what someone will say and do, where loyalties can shift at will, and one-upmanship is the order of the game.

Which happens to be the film's weakness as well. Sometimes the flip-flopping extracts a chunk of imagination, coincidence and stretches one's belief that the con actually began many steps beforehand, like a chess grandmaster playing against an amateur, that surprises spring out from the blue, with constant smirking that one got on top of the other, only for that smirk to be wiped out by an even larger wink. It can get tongue-in-cheek at times, and opened up loopholes that would be best glossed over for the entire narrative to work. Heavy reliance on sleight of hand techniques also called for plot convenience, with its fragmented narrative style forced to hide, and then present details of the con.

Heavy reliance on CG is also telling, but here the CG still seemed rather cartoony, which suited the hyper-reality style of the world that the characters in Race exists in. It's entertainment for the masses, so Abbas-Mastan waste no time in plying implausible stunts in every death-defying escape, although a parkour sequence was expertly handled. Set action pieces get bigger as the film moved along, culminating in a really nutty climatic showdown thousands of feet in the air. It's one thing presenting large set action pieces, but another in presenting them well no matter how cheesy it would be. Someone forgot to tell the filmmakers to ease up on the cheesiness, but perhaps they had comedy in mind as well, with a key unintentional one given gossip rags on the John Abraham-Bipasha Basu relationship that will have audiences in stitches.

John Abraham's hulking frame got put to good use, and in what would be the usual Salman- Khan style, there's built-in opportunity here for clothes to be shed in a stylized MMA caged fight, for some brawn to be added rather than to put him in a role whose character is only interested in whatever it takes to make money, and horde cash, in what would be a major negative role since his turn in the first Dhoom. Saif Ali Khan continues with the swagger and poser requirements as Ranvir from the first film, playing the ultimate conman now with a more personal vendetta at hand, and paired up yet again with Deepika Padukone for the umpteenth time. If anything, Deepika's role as Elena fit into the typical Bond girl role, in having little to do, little to add to the story, but there for the eye candy. And she carried off the lightweight role really well, as does Jacqueline Fernandez in yet another sequel of her career. Anil Kapoor is grossly underused here, if only to serve as the plot's conduit between characters, and spending most of his time with his character's secretary Cherry (Ameesha Patel), leering and spouting sexual innuendos.

If movies with twists and turns at every other instant is your cup of tea, then Race 2 would be that popcorn entertainer you're looking for, with a good looking cast providing eye candy to wild away those two and a half hours. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and neither should you.

I wasn't expecting much from the director duo after "Players." But, since Race was a very good watch, I watched Race 2 and was disappointed.

It starts with fabulous action sequences in great locations and as you try and perceive what it will be all about in the remaining 2 hours, a twist awaits you and the total number of twists we have here is colossal and that is why I gave it 5 stars. It is surely a thriller, I guarantee that. But too much of style and Bollywood punches ruined this broth.

But, as a cinemaholic, I felt the plot was saggy, the performances by the cast wasn't up to the mark. Saif is cool, John is beast and lacks character depth, the lead girls act dumb and try VERY hard to be killers. Anil Kapoor has disappointed me the most with his not-so-witty jokes along with emcee voluptuous Amisha! And it also demands total attention or else, you will lose your way into this maze.

Direction is sweet; the screenplay sucks and the story, which has to be a foundation of such high-octane flicks is feeble, fickle and sometimes even super-fly. Music is like... good - but the songs - film- makers were forced to slide them in.

Race 2 is not a red-lounge-reclining seat movie, but looking at the 2013 releases, it is better than Matru but feebler than Table No. 21.

Bottom Line: Some Race 2 sequences will make you whine and swear, but the rest MAY... I repeat, MAY make you happy. It is a type of movie where different people will have different verdicts. And my verdict is it is a preposterous caper where no only a couple of rich Indians run the town. It is like hue & saturation. You can go for it if you haven't anything to do this three- day weekend! It will entertain you to some extent, but if you are a serious cinema-goer (and critic) and aspire logic, Race 2 cannot be compared with its predecessor or with any action flick for that matter.

Some pivotal plot points have been copied from Nicholas Cage starrer National Treasure & certain Hollywood spy movies.

WATCH OUT FOR: Saif, explosions, ridiculous stunt scenes, numerous plot turns, expected ending, cheesy dialogues and a useless wrestling sequence.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Language: Clean | Sex: No | Foreplay: No | Violence: Strong | Gore: Very Mild | Alcohol: Strong | Nudity: Medium | Smoking: No

There is no imagination, or rather stupid imagination all through the movie. The amount of money thrown around is obscene...for the first time a bollywood movie talks in billions of Euros. The special effects are childish, the premise and the so called twists are crazy. Its all about being glamorous, the script proves that no brains have been applied. I cant think of enough bad adjectives for this movie. I couldn't avoid watching it, but do yourselves a favor and stay away from it. I was feeling embarrassed watching it, the makers should have been ashamed.

Lets take one example of the multitude in this movie. a car is fitted with a bomb that would burst if the speed is reduced. So Saif removes it while the car is doing 100+, but lo and behold, the bomb has no wiring connected to anything in the car. its just stuck there, he pulls it and throws it away. So how would it have tripped if the speed was reduced? Just one of the hundreds of examples of asinine non logics in this movie. Stay AWAY!!

Race 2 (2013) IMDb- 5.4 RJG Rating- 05

Sequel to the blockbuster hit Race ,follows Ranvir's latest plan for revenge.

Starring- Saif Ali,John Abraham,Deepika ,Jacqueline Director- Abbas-Mastan

None of the actors are of any good.The only thing Saif Ali Khan does is give out his "know it all" stare.John Abraham proves once again that he has no other talents than modeling.His only contributions to the movie are his various shirtless scenes.As a villain he is a big time fail.Anil Kapoor is another wasted talent.He and Amisha Patel dish out various fruit related (im not kidding,all their dialogs are fruit related!) puns.Although both Deepika and Jacq have some story related role ,they only score on the skin show department.

Its easy to mistake the story for being written by an 8 year old who probably ate too much chocolate.Within 5 minutes from the start ,it starts getting beyond the realm of ridiculousness.Its so bad that i wanted to 'facepalm' myself permanently for watching the idiocy that unfolded on screen.Cheating poker ,speed based bomb,stealing historical items ,the list goes on,its all so idiotic that it starts getting hilarious in the second half.One of the best qualities of the first movie were its twists.With Race 2 ,the twists and turns can be seen a mile away.Its all too obvious and predictable.Almost all of them are shamelessly recycled from Hollywood.

This movie is an insult to the human senses.Abbas-Mastan have either gone nuts or are just trying to make quick cash with their worthless movies.They fill the movie with stylish shots trying hard to cover up the dumb story.Even here they fail.The visual effects are very poor and seem to be a decade old technology.The overdose of stylish sequences drag the movie even more.

The action sequences are too long and the comedy is very poor.The fruit related jokes are the most utterly lamest things I've ever heard in an action movie.Why fruits? Was it to support the cherry popping jokes? There's no other reason for fruit comedy in Race 2!! The only plus point that can be salvaged from Race 2 is its music.The music videos were interesting and helped to increase the movies tempo.

Overall Race 2 is one of the worst movies I've seen in 2013.Stay away from it.The music videos can be seen on Youtube for free.

Acting- 0/5 Story- 0/5 Direction- 0/5 Action- 1/5 Thriller- 1/5