War Movie Review
Handsome hunk Hrithik Roshan is back to Dhoom 2 mode after a very long time. His de-glam characters in Kaabil and Super 30 really didn’t do justice to his inbuilt swag and Greek God like looks. So, War is a must see for Hrithik fans who would love to see him walk in slow motion like a Swag Sultan. If the style, swag and handsomeness of Hrithik is not enough then there is Tiger Shroff who is equally well built and stylish looking as the former. War is not a film that boasts of great storytelling or likeable characters. It is all about weaving a decently engrossing action drama that fits in the action heroes Hrithik and Tiger and it does that, well, almost. War offers an action spectacle and a thrill ride that is expected out of it. Hrithik and Tiger are pretty much aware that they have to pull this half-baked story along and they are successful in doing so.
Kabir (Hrithik) an ex RAW agent has gone rogue and a young agent Khalid (Tiger Shroff) has been assigned the job to stop Kabir and bring him to justice. The storyline is very simple and the writers rely upon a screenplay that has more twists and turns than a slide at Center Parcs. First half of War is dedicated to showing off the swag of its leading men. Both Tiger and Hrithik gets a lengthy opening sequence each that will leave their fans awestruck. Director Siddharth is aware of the fact that War will survive only because of its leading men and he simply forgets about the story for a while and focuses on giving proper buildup shots to both of them. Although Tiger makes an impression he pales in comparison with Hrithik who just steals the thunder in every frame that he is in.
War has lots of action right from the word go. There is no shortage of it as Hrithik and Tiger keep on fighting with hundreds of men both with guns and bare hands. There is no space for songs in this film, but the director takes the liberty of squeezing in a dance number so that Hrithik and Tiger could shake a leg together. The song placement looks very odd, but who would complain when two of the greatest dancers of our times are rocking the dance floor? First half is breezy despite the story not moving forward. Fans of Hrithik and Tiger would be more than happy gawking at their sheer handsomeness and the testosterone loaded action scenes.
Second half needed a bit more focus on the plot as the director couldn’t rely anymore on slow motion shots of Hrithik and Tiger walking around. Second half opens with a flashback showing the reason for why Kabir has gone rogue. This episode is in stark contrast to the visuals in the first half that it will take a while for us to realize that the commercial break is over and the movie has begun again. A song on Hrithik and bikini clad Vaani Kapoor comes before the War gets started all over again. Now Kabir comes to know about the biggest terrorist operation planned against India and he has to find all the men who are behind it. A big twist comes right at the point where the action is becoming too predictable leading to the climax.
Final duel scene is an exhibition of brawn with the two leading men taking on each other punch for punch. It drags on and on and takes a while to tie all the loose ends before the end titles roll on. War ends hinting at a sequel and it looks like Yash Raj Films is up for another action franchise. War imitates the style of Hollywood action franchise Mission Impossible and Bourne series with the leading men fighting on bikes, cars, planes, icy terrains and what not? We get to see slick foreign locations and adrenaline pumping chase sequences besides the masala. The film is technically brilliant in every aspect, but the stunt directors should get most of the credit. On a whole, War is a perfect pop corn action flick that is bound to set the box office on fire. There is nothing that you could take home from it, but it is one hell of an action ride while it lasts.
