L2: Empuraan movie review: Mohanlal & Prithviraj Sukumaran starrer action-thriller is high on swag, charisma & technical brilliance

Star cast: Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Abhimanyu Singh, Tovino Thomas, Manju Warrier, Andrea Tivadar, Jerome Flynn, Indrajith Sukumaran, Eriq Ebouaney, and Suraj Venjaramoodu

Director: Prithviraj Sukumaran

L2: Empuraan begins where the first part (Lucifer) concluded. It’s been five years since Kingmaker Stephen Nedempully, aka Lucifer (Mohanlal), left Kerala, handing over the political responsibilities to Jathin (Tovino Thomas), the state’s CM.

In the flashback, the 2002 Hindu-Muslim riot is shown where Gajendra Patel’s gang (Abhimanyu Singh) are killing Muslim people, including children and women, mercilessly. The level of cruelty chills down your spine, where Gajendra’s brother Munna is shown raping a Muslim woman, who is pregnant.

Young Zayed Masood (Karthikeya Dev) survives and is later saved and trained by Stephen, who tells the young lad his name is Qureshi Abraham (Khureshi Ab’raam).

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Back to the present day, the members of Indian Union Front (IUF) are not happy with Jathin as he is no longer following the principles of his late father PK Ramdas (Sachin Khedekar). He arranges a huge rally and shocks everyone by announcing that he is quitting IUF and making his party with the name of IUFPKR. This party will be allied with ASM (Akhand Shakti Morcha), which is founded by Bajrangi aka Gajendra Patel. While Jathin has gone completely corrupt, this alliance will give power to Bajrangi to carry out all his illegal activities throughout the state of Kerala.

So, will Stephen come back to save Kerala from his own people? Well, for that you have to watch L2: Empuraan on the big screen. While you must be thinking the plot looks simple, Prithviraj has beautifully added complexity to his narrative with simultaneous tracks, which unfold with surprising elements. The plot explores the dynamics of political drama, hunger for power, and hawala, along with international intelligences with an interesting cat-and-mouse game between Khureshi Ab’raam nexus (who controls the world’s gold and diamond trade) and Chinese nexus (who controls the world’s weapons, arms and drugs) being one of the highlights.

Prithviraj once again brilliantly amalgamated technical brilliance with a twisting plot and turned it into a massy treat for all Mohanlal fans. Sujith Vaassudev, the DoP, shot L2: Empuraan impeccably and went all out to make sure the movie looks visually enriching and larger-than-life. However, the editing could have been a bit crisper.

Talking about the performances, Mohanlal is expected to be brilliant, and he is, without any doubt. He oozes swag and beautifully expresses each emotion with a subtle yet impactful mood. Prithviraj looks charming and charismatic on the silver screen, with the action sequences featuring him and Mohanlal turning out to be a big-screen bonanza. Manju Warrier and Tovino Thomas play their role to the T, while Abhimanyu Singh once again shines as the lead antagonist.

On the whole, L2: Empuraan has ample of massy elements with plot twists, which will be please all Mohanlal & Prithviraj Sukumaran fans.

Rating: 3.5 (out of 5 stars)

L2: Empuraan is playing in cinemas