Malaikkottai Valiban tells the tale of an unstoppable wrestler later revealed to have a supernatural ancestry, and his acquaintances. Although the plot is interesting, premise is new, the film lags like a snail. Adoor Gopalakrishnan makes movie faster than this. Overuse of slow-motion has gone from boring to irritating by the time film crosses 1st hour. Every character moves from one of frame to the other end mostly without dialogues over a span of 30 -40 seconds. Pace of the film is absolutely pathetic. Could've cut the slomo portions, and made a bit crisper, it would ve been an hour and a half long movie but well paced. Mohanlal is on a good track after Neru with his performances as compared to Monster/Arattu. Hareesh Peradi and Danish Sait too performed the eccentric characters well. Cinematography was great "each frame a painting". Music was average, didn't help with keeping audience engaged. Action choreography was cartoonish and immature especially for a fantasy story that needs convincing. Unbeatable wrestler is a plot which had unlimited potential for fight choreography and shot like its on a zero budget. Lijo needs to reconsider his mind set. "No plans to change/impress" won't work if the film is boring. Lijo only will sit and watch his own films if he's not adaping to the audience expectations. All he had to do was to pace up the screenplay. A man who made Amen/Jallilkattu need not be lectured regarding fantasy and fast paced action. But here we are. Thanks for the utter disappointment Lijo.
Review of Malaikottai Vaaliban
