Sardar 2 – Makes Sardar Look Like a Masterpiece

 

Major Takeaways:

1. Poor writing and poor execution of a tell tale that is boomerish to say it in the most respectful manner.

2. Although Karthi acts with sincerity, the script lets him down, together with the other members of the cast.

3. Another film that proves again P.S.Mithran is mid at best in filmmaking. 

 To put it up in meme language,


"Ungaluku ena nga rights iruku engala inga kooti vanthu kolrathuku" sums up Sardar 2

With Sardar 2, Sardar (played by Karthi) makes a comeback following his encounter with terrorists. He returns from China, only to rise from the dead, a development which doesn't fit well with the story. At the same time, Sardar's son Viji (also played by Karthi), who is a CIA agent, is sidelined for reasons that are kept undisclosed. He investigates Agent Walrus (Achyuth), who ends up dying after handing over a strange-looking object. This object is later discovered to be a key to a vault housing a bioweapon. Walrus was killed by a group known as Black Dagger, headed by "Yogi" S. J. Suryah. So, how do Malavika and the rest of the cast come together in this film which is supposed to be a "spy thriller"?

The movie starts from a rather simple idea yet ends up making it seem unnecessarily complicated. A good spy thriller should be slick and stylish, or at least keep things moving at a rapid pace, with scenes that keep us tense and make us want to see more. Unfortunately, Sardar 2 doesn't have any such moments. The characters talk so much that you could shut your eyes and still keep up with what is happening. The only good point is that it doesn't include any romance or songs that seem out of place. That's worth a compliment.

On the contrary, Karthi acts with such sincerity that it seems as though he is acting even when he is not, particularly since he is among a group of actors who appear to have no idea what acting is. While he displays a certain level of conviction in each of his roles, the script seldom offers him anything valuable to work with.

Herein lies the film's greatest flaw: the opportunities that have been missed.

In the first film Bose and Viji had only one scene together, whereas in Sardar 2 there are many. However, by focusing entirely on the bioweapon storyline the movie achieves very little in terms of developing their relationship. In fact, there is greater emotional involvement in the history between Bose and Yogi. Even so, the revelation regarding Yogi's past would have had a more powerful effect if it had been made during their first meeting.

Rather, the screenplay resorts to taking all sorts of convenient shortcuts, a fact which is especially clear in the scene involving the Vande Bharat, where Viji attempts to prevent a terrorist scheme, and once more in the climax, when the father and son manage to work out Yogi's endgame. The ending tries to elicit an emotional response but, unfortunately, fails to do so since the film had not laid the necessary groundwork for it to have any effect.

In the second half the film completely fails to hold itself together; it grows long and overweight and provides very little to excite the viewer not even the image of two Karthis appearing on screen together.

Exactly as the film moves into a serious phase, the villain starts to teach the two funny characters about the substances they take in under the pretence of being medicine or food. Although I enjoyed the performances by S. J. Suryah, Yogi Babu, and Nizhalgal Ravi in that scene, the fact that it is inserted at that moment completely spoils the film's rhythm and atmosphere. This is just one example of a movie which continually has difficulty in keeping a steady tone.

In that scene from the lecture Yogi relates to his detainees a story about greed involving two men who put too much air into a life-saving tyre until it bursts.

The people who made Sardar 2 ought to have taken their own story into account and produced a strong sequel that properly honours the first film; alternatively, they should have decided not to make one just for the sake of making one.

Unfortunately, the result is a sequel that has dramatically overestimated itself and just can't seem to stop.

"Sardar 2" running in theatres, PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!