Vishwaroopam 2 : Movie Review
Vishwaroopam 2 is a part sequel and part prequel to well made action thriller Vishwaroopam. The film was supposed to release a few months after the first part was released, but it took many years to see the light due to financial troubles. Is Vishwaroopam 2 worth the wait?
Story :
The story starts as a continuation to the first part. Al-Qaeda terrorist Omar (Rahul Bose) is after Indian spy Wisam (Kamal) to exact revenge from him. Also they plot a terror attack on Delhi and London cities. How Wasim and his friends deal with this is the main crux of the story.
Performances:
Kamal Haasan is good in conversational scenes and in the romantic scenes with Pooja Kumar. But he looked wearied out in the action sequences. Age has slowed him down and that reflected in the key action scenes. Pooja Kumar is all coy and Andrea is stylish and suits her part. Rahul Bose is alright as the terrorist.
Technicalities:
Kamal Haasan was in command as director in the first part, but here his direction suffers due to the lack of proper script. It almost looks like an attempt to cash in on the success of the original. There are a few scenes where he shines as a writer, but on a whole he fails as a director and script writer.
Background score is good and the cinematography in the battle scenes is very impressive. Editing is not up to the mark as it confuses the viewers with bizarre cuts. Production values are good. The film is made on a high budget and maintains good standards in the action episodes.
Thumbs Up:
Kamal’s act in few scenes
Wry humor
Thumbs Down:
Incoherent script
Pointless direction
Weak second half
Analysis:
Kamal Haasan might have thought to make Vishwaroopam a franchise, which is a fine idea. Vishwaroopam is one of the finest spy thrillers made in Indian cinema. However, it is not easy to make a true sequel to a successful film. Kamal Haasan clearly struggled as a writer as he was left clueless of where to take this one. He made a dangerous exercise of telling both the past and future scenarios of the original plot. Complex and non linear screenplay made it very confusing as the story oscillates from past to present all the time.
First half is passable though with interesting conversations between the characters. Kamal’s satire on our Governance is thoroughly enjoyable. Also the chemistry between Kamal, Andrea and Pooja Kumar offers comic relief here and there. Scenes like detecting the bugs in the hotel room and finding the mole in the department are okay to watch. The underwater sequence in London which failed to thrill brings the film to the intermission point.
Second half suddenly turns emotional with the introduction of the protagonist’s mother character. Film directly enters the climax zone after a couple of emotional scenes. One would expect a thrilling climax for such a grand setup, but the gravity defying action sequence towards the end looks like a joke. Kamal lacked the agility and swiftness that is needed to make such scenes work. Graphic violence in the second half doesn’t add any value to the proceedings.
Audience who liked Vishwaroopam will be thoroughly disappointed with this pointless sequel. Even Kamal couldn’t shine in this bizarre film that ends up in a mess. With Goodachari still in theaters action lovers has a far better option than Vishwaroopam 2 to get their thrills.
Verdict: Messy Sequel!
