Leo movie review: Yes, a DNA test would make this film obsolete, but it's about bloody violence

Director: Lokesh Kanagaraj

Cast: Vijay, Trisha, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Sarja, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Priya Anand, Madonna Sebastian

Spoilers ahead…

To start off, there is no point in comparing Vikram to Leo. Secondly, the film would logically be obsolete if at any point, someone pointed out a logical solution. A DNA test. Finally, A History of Violence clearly inspired Leo and has rightfully received the credits. Now, looking beyond this, is the film fun? Yes. Is it a good action film? It is entertaining enough. The most intriguing part about _Leo_ is how the lead character is brilliant representation of human psychology. We have often seen the quote on Instagram, posters, walls among other places – You are what you think – and this film in a nutshell plays around with this concept.

Who does Parthiban (Vijay) think he ish? He is a husband, and a father, who runs a bakery in a quaint town. He has left the comforts of city life behind for the peace and silence that he has come to love. He dances to old Tamil songs, while indulging his daughter who is a fan of English pop music. He entertains his son with games that pushes his son to think beyond their everyday life. He doesn’t shy away from talking about violence, but neither does he romanticise it. Yet, this small world of his comes crumbling down when a cold-blooded murdered walks into his cafe. This portion of the film is my favourite. The visuals and the story go perfectly hand in hand, and yet again, Lokesh had nailed it when it comes to the choice of old songs to use.

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Imagine a bloody and gory fights playing out to the music of Thamarai Poovukum from Thalamum Melamum. You are absorbed completely in the scene at this point. There is no distraction, but a quiet cut of scenes playing at a rapid pace. It begs for attention, and will leave an action lover exhilarated. Now, for the psychology part. For Pathiban to go beyond the role that he assigned for himself, he must dig deep into his psyche. To be pushed to kill, for self-defense may be pardoned by the court, but what about all the senses that he had shut. The doors to the past that he had closed swings open after this episode, and this is the first piece of domino that falls.

From here on out, every piece that falls reveals something new about Parthiban and his wife Sathya (Trisha). Their relationship starts off strong. Sathya’s trust in Parthiban is absolute, but only to an extent. The moment violence takes their life over, the moment Sathya begins to see a seed of this violence in Parthiban, even though he acted in self-defense, her trust comes crumbling down. To be chased by a group of men who believe him to be Leo, to be chased by another group that is after him for killing a gang in defense and to be doubted by his own family – all of this definitely leads to chaos. Inside Parthiban’s head and outside as well. In a well-visualized sequence, an anxious Parthiban walks around the house, looking out of his windows. He does this to Anirudh’s voice that sings about fear. Fear of everything that surrounds him, and momentarily we see all of these thoughts come alive. However, this world of make belief has cracks, and these are ones that can’t be ignored. Mind you, we are speaking of cracks beyond logic now.

This is an action film first and foremost, so how were the action sequences? They were definitely not seamless. Take the shot where Leo fights off a large group of people inside the factory. The idea is to give a hawk eye’s view of the entire thing. So the camera is in flight and the scenes are supposed to flow one after another. However, it comes off as fractured, with no point to focus at. The CGI in the film is not up to the mark. Even if we were to give the hyena scene a benefit of the doubt, I cannot forget how thrown off I was at the horse riding scene. The first few shots here just did not work.

Ironically, it was the bike chase sequence that worked for me in this vein. Sure, it is reminiscent of over the top action sequences where cars topple. However, there was cause and effect from the very beginning until the end. If you pay attention, you can clearly make out the point of contact that causes every roll and every bump in this scene. To a certain extent, it even looked stylish.

So in terms of actions, experiments were conducted. Some failed, some worked, but none too bad.

Anirudh has yet again proved that his music can elevate a scene, add tension where required, hype wherever necessary and overall just keep the audiences hooked with sound.

If you wondered why I haven’t spoken of the plot, it’s because I found it to be the weakest link in the film. I especially thought Elisa deserved better. Sure, Trisha’s Sathya was lovely in the film, but beyond the scope of Parthiban’s family, the story just didn’t work for me.

PS: There is not one, but few references to LCU. I think you should experience those moments for yourself.

Rating: 2.5 (out of 5 stars)

Leo is playing cinemas

Priyanka Sundar is a film journalist who covers films and series of different languages with a special focus on identity and gender politics.

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