Reviews

I am probably not the right person to review this because the genre isn't my cup of tea. In any case, it is just the kind of drama created to distract you with good looking people and good looking locales. Add some overtly dramatic twists that come across as a weak attempt to manipulate the emotional viewer. That's the gist of it. I really do not understand the point of all the voyeurism and spending hours watching incidents in settings that a vast majority of us will never relate to. But again, maybe it's just me.

It never occurred to me that something like this would someday be tried. Kudos to Netflix for trying to push the boundaries of what is possible through this medium. That said, the whole thing felt like a game. A fascinating game because of the novelty, but I felt none of what usually a good film would elicit. Yes, there was a lot of anticipation of what would happen next, but overall, due to the frequent pauses to choose, there was no continuity or involvement in the story per se. Some of the choices too felt pretty childish. The idea that the character was actually feeling like he had no free will and felt compelled to do things as though someone (the viewer) was controlling him - well, it brings a smile the first time, but later, feels like something that perhaps a smoked-up teen would find mind boggling. Overall, yes, definitely something that people would be thrilled to watch and try, but I sincerely hope we do not have a lot of this type of interactive films - at least not at the expense of "normal" films.

As I get older, I sometimes wonder if my brain wiring is becoming different from most people, which is bad news, because I can't trust movie reviews anymore. Take KGF, for example. SO. MUCH. HYPE! Like Baahubali level. Baahubali - although wasn't SOO spectacular, was at least entertaining. Moreover, we were watching a well-conceived historical fiction after a long time. So the hype was understandable. But KGF? Is this a joke or prank?

To me, it seemed like the director got heavily awed after watching Mad Max, then decided to take certain "formulas" from Bahubali, and a few bits here and there from other films, and packaged it with a good trailer and decent BGM. But the overall story? Nothing new at all. A poor child vowing to become tough and strong due to poverty, joining a don gang and becoming a big shot goonda. I mean, how many countless movies have shown the same thing? It is an appealing story though - if taken at least with an ounce of logic. But no, one hero should be able to bash up 50 to 60 men single handedly! He can walk on petrol with a cigar lit, he can dodge a hundred bullets, he is GOD! He is Yash and he is a mass hero and he is GOD. When are we going to mature as an audience?

Of course, a hero who kills pretty much in every second scene should also have a conscience right? Because we can't risk seeing a bad man as a hero. Oh no! So the hero stops traffic for miles and crosses the road - all for what? To give a bun to a poor lady and preach on the values of motherhood. See? We have a strong man AND a good man. So, worship him, please? Add to this a namesake hero worship song and a namesake heroine who first hates the hero and then adores him hearing his bun motherhood speech. Yawn.

And did I mention - this story is so disjointed. In the name of experimentation, we reel from past to present to past, and it just gives a headache. The second half gets slightly better - but again, only because the bad guys are shown to be SO bad - like, literally monsters - that we want to see them defeated. The last ten minutes are so loud and violent that it took me a day to feel normal again. Moral of the story - I write long reviews that most people won't anyway agree with, but it feels good to vent.

Hands down, the worst movie I have seen in 2018.

An IMDB rating of 6 for this one?! 94% Rotten Tomatoes? Jeez.. what's happening to this world? I could not get past the first half of the movie. And ppl say the second half is worse.