Kanguva movie review: An impressive Suriya gives his all to Siva's visual grandeur which works only in parts

Cast: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley, Natarajan Subramaniam, Kovai Sarala, Vatsan Chakravarthy, Anandaraj and K. S. Ravikumar

Director: Siva

Kanguva has been in the news since its inception. From its announcement to its trailer featuring Suriya, Disha Patani, and Bobby Deol in his menacing avatar, the fantasy action-drama has struck the right chords among cinegoers. But has  Kanguva lived up to the sky-high expectations of the audience? Let’s find out…

The narration of Kanguva starts in 1070 when an old tribal lady from the island of Perumachi narrates a story to a group of kids about our place being filled with mysteries. Everyone knows what is happening and where it is happening but doesn’t know the root cause of it. An excited child named Purva dives into the story and asks about the mysteries.

Cut to, the movie shifts to 2024, where illegal research is happening on kids in a biomedical lab at an undisclosed location, which is headed by Russians. One of the children, whose skull has been opened with nerves and whose brain is being altered is the incarnation of Purva.

His code name is Zeta and through experiments, his brain has become powerful and advanced as he can control machines with his mind. One night he escapes from the lab and through a train he reaches Goa. On the floor of the train, he sketches Kanguva, which hints that he still has memories of his previous birth.

In Goa, we get introduced to Francis (Suriya) and his right-hand Darling (Yogi Babu), who are bounty hunters, who get assignments from the police to catch criminals, whom cops can’t catch and surrender them in exchange for money.

While chasing one of the bounties named Jittu, the target gets killed by Francis & Suriya on the boat and the child, whose code name is Zeta sees them.

On the next day, that child draws sketches of Francis and Darling after Angelina, Francis’ ex-girlfriend (Disha Patani) tells him to.

Francis and Darling take Zeta aka Purva with them and run through the car. Francis notices that there is something strange connection with Purva whenever he sees him. In the car, Purva suddenly gets hyper and unconscious. When he is taken to the hospital, the doctor is shocked with tests of his brain as she discloses that his skull has been opened and there is some alteration in his brain.

While Purva, Francis & Darling are underground, Angelina catches them and surrenders to Jittu’s brother, who is a don. Amid this, the army of the biomedical lab comes to the place for Zeta and takes him. In this turn of events, Francis goes all out to save Zeta and realizes his connection with the kid from a previous life where he was Kanguva, a brave and skilful warrior from Perumachi and son of the Island’s chief.

Now, we are taken back to 1070 year, where the Roman empire wants to capture Perumachi and Purva’s father, who is one of the residents of the island, turns traitor and helps Romans in exchange for gold coins, which leads to the murder of 100 warriors of Perumachi.

Kanguva understands Purva’s father’s strategy and he not only saves other warriors but captures the traitor. Now, as per Perumachi tradition, Purva’s father is given a death sentence by burning him alive. However, the tribal people demand that even Purva and his mother should also be given the death sentence. Taking a promise from Kanguva that he will protect her son, Purva’s mother jumps into the fire.

Kanguva now considers Purva his son and takes care of him against his tribal’s people wish. Roman Empires now approach Tribal people from Athir Island, which is headed by Udhiran (Bobby Deol) to help them capture Perumachi by killing the lives of that island.

Udhiran’s two sons along with their army strategically attack Kanguva and his people when they are without weapons. Kanguva tells Purva to bring his sword. However, Purva attacks him with his sword, which leaves Kanguva shattered. He realizes that Purva holds him responsible for the death of his parents and wants to take revenge.

After killing Udhiran’s sons, Perumachi sends a message to the Athir community that the war between the islands will take place in a week. As tribal people of Perumachi demand to give a death sentence to Purva, Kanguva rejects it. When they suggest that Purva should be left in the Black Forest (Kaala Jungle), where he won’t be able to survive because of wild animals, Kanguva goes along with Purva to that dangerous place.

Kanguva promises Purva that once the war is over between Perumachi and Arthi, he will surrender himself and he can kill him. However, with Kanguva’s love and care, Purva’s heart changes and they develop like a father-son bond.

Later in the war, we see Udhiran capturing Purva and post that there is a mixture of emotional and surprising moments. And to witness that, you need to watch Kanguva on the big screen.

Siva, who is known for making entertainers like Veeram, Vivegam, Vedalam, Viswasam, Annaatthe and others, has come up with a commercial potboiler with a reincarnation theme, which has grandeur and great scale, however, his screenplay falters because of its pace and unnecessary elements. The predictability of the story affects the film to a large extent.

While the VFX and cinematography is top-notch, the editing of Kanguva could have been more sharper. The music is somewhat satisfying but could have been much better.

Talking about the performances, Suriya has given his all to the film and is impeccable as Kanguva and stylish as Francis. His intense eyes in the tribal avatar is powerful and impeccable and add more punch to his character. Bobby Deol is great as Udhiran but I feel, his character has been underutilized. Disha Patani has been wasted again just like it was in Kalki 2898 AD. Yogi Babu is fine but his character looks repetitive. The child, who played and Purva and Zeta has sheer innocence and his camaraderie with Suriya is beautiful beyond words.

Not to forget, the menacing and charming cameo in the climax, which will make you happy and excited for Kanguva 2.

On the whole, Kanguva is not a great film but a decent entertainer with Suriya’s impeccable performance being the biggest highlight.

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Kanguva is playing in cinemas