Runtime: 173 minutes
Directed by: Ayan Mukerji
Starring: Hrithik Roshan, N.T. Rama Rao, Jr., Kiara Avani, Ashutosh Rana, Anil Kapoor
From: A few different Hindi companies
I discovered what War 2 was good for…
Despite the negative reviews I’ve already read for War 2, I enjoyed the first one-also seen theatrically-I haven’t viewed Indian cinema theatrically in over a year, and for me, the promise of experiencing Hindi-language badass Hrithik Roshan against Telugu-language badass N.T. Rama Rao Jr. was too enticing to turn down. It even played at AMC cinemas in & around Orlando; no excuse for me not to give it a shot, despite the almost 3-hour runtime. Those unfamiliar, Rao was Komaram Bheem in the legendary RRR.
Boy, was this movie not as good as War, let alone incredible like RRR was. Roshan returns as Kabir, uber-badass and lone wolf who left India’s foreign intelligence agency during the first film and has continued to be a mercenary. Opposing him is Rao; yes, it is much more complicated than that (including an overarching enemy, a love interest, and Indian political figures being targeted) but that’s the main plot thread.
My main issue: in the past I’ve giggled at how ludicrous and divorced from reality some Indian cinema could be. Sadly, War 2 was a bridge (or perhaps, several bridges) too far for me; it was SO asinine and absurd, the movie felt like a parody of 21st century Indian action cinema, at least to a dumb white American like me. How macho the male leads were, the slow-motion, the wind through their hair, the love interest, the bombastic, physics-defying action, the logic-defying plot, and yes… a homoerotic relationship! You may call it “an epic bromance;” that works too.
I hate to phrase it that way as the intent is to not offend an entire nationality, and a large one at that. To an outsider like me, some of the genre examples do give off that impression, even if it’s born from ignorance and a lack of cultural knowledge. Well, it is clear to me why many on Letterboxd in the same boat as me (or even those of Indian heritage) have noted what could be interpreted as gay subtext. Of course I have no issue with homosexuality; as goofy as the movie was, that was one of the elements that made me laugh and not hate War 2.
As nonsensical as the film was, as mind-numbing as the action beats and cliches could be, as goofy as the CG usually looked, I can still say that War 2 was OK. Like in the first film, several exotic locations are visited around the world, ones not always shown in Western cinema. There are several catchy songs, sometimes accompanied by fancy dance routines. Here, there was also Kiara Advani, a.k.a. the love interest. She is a lovely lady unfamiliar to me; there’s a gratuitous scene of her in a bikini which afterwards I learned caused a stir in that part of the world. Myself, she certainly looked fit & in shape!
No hate on those that can enjoy War 2 for its most bombastic and bold moments. To reiterate, I still laughed often at the spectacle in front of me. A crying shame then that the plot is such rubbish, and the final act felt interminable.
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