Commando (2013)
10/10
India's answer to Tony Jaa & Scott Adkins
15 April 2013
Back in the 90s, in his films like KKK and Mohra, Akshay showed that Indian heroes can do the spinning back kicks and use the Nunchaku with as much ease as the Van Dammes . Vidyut takes that legacy forward and proves what Tony Jaa and Scott Adkins can do, he can do as well.

The introduction of Vidyut is nothing less than a celebration of his histrionics. This commando can do handstand pushups, one leg squats, spartan push ups with as much ease as walking in the garden. His intro fight is easily the best choreographed action sequence in Bollywood for a long time and matches the global standards of martial arts action. The ease with which he carries out his back flips, corkscrew kick, jumping through a car window and over it, vidyut makes all so-called action heroes Salman and Ajay look like school-going kids. People run on road, Vidyut runs on people!

But not everything is good about Commando. Pooja Chopra's role is quite irritating at points and she tries her best to ruin the film and is successful to some extent. But the Villain Jaideep Ahlawat makes up for her OTT acting. He is a supercool villain though personally i would have preferred a more evenly matched opponent for someone like Vidyut. The dialgues between them are good to okayish. As I always say, a good action film is one which keeps everything else simple but the action. Commando tries to take itself too seriously in the second half with some attempt at social messages which doesn't help the cause. There is an item song too and some typical filmy scenes added purely to make it look like a South Masala and that doesn't help. There are enough fight scenes for a normal movie goer but for an action lover, I believe there were less fight sequences. At least two more sequences could have been added in the second half instead of the nonsense of Pooja Chopra and the boring atrocities to her family.

I remember Aamir claiming Ghajini to push the envelope of action in Bollywood. It regressed us by 20 years and we had to face the wrath of a rather unhealthy trend of nonsensical South Masala remakes like SOS and Himmatwala. Commando is not entirely satisfying but its is a film that genuinely pushes the envelope of action in Hindi cinema. For this alone, the film deserves to be a success. My wish now is to see both Vidyut and Akshay in the same frame.
40 out of 52 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed