Mark Antony movie review Guns, gore and time travel, everything in excess ruins this Vishal, SJ Suryah-starrer

Cast: Vishal, SJ Suryah, Ritu Varma, Selvaraghavan Director: Adhik Ravichandran Language: Tamil Retro gangster drama, just the genre is so intriguing as there is a lot of potential in making a period noir film. The look and feel of the film, the nostalgia that the period of 70s to 90s evoke is a plus for any film set in this time period. Now imagine an intriguing sci-if element added to the mix — a telephone that allows one to talk to people in the past — and it is definitely an idea worth giving a shot. This is exactly what director Adhik Ravichandran has tried to bring to life with SJ Suryah, Vishal-starrer Mark Antony. Both the actors appear in a double role, Vishal as father Antony and his son Mark, and SJ Suryah as Jackie and Madan. Of course, SJ Suryah breathes life into both his characters brilliantly. He is known for eccentric portrayal, and with Jackie and Madan, he has reiterated that he is the best when it comes to this particular playground. However, it is in excess. There are short inspired stretches in the film that really point you towards the potential that the film had, but couldn’t reach. For instance, the conversation between Jackie from the past, and Madan from the present as they continually plot to kill Antony is one of the most hilarious conversations that I have seen on screen in recent times. Again, this is one of the only places where it is truly enjoyable. Similarly, the set-up of travelling through time through a phone call gets redundant towards the intermission of the film. I personally felt as if the film could come to a close instead of breaking for an intermission. That is how redundant the phone call idea became. By the film’s half time, we are saturated with the back and forth of calls that get made and the present event that changes. Sometimes, less is more and it is clearly time that filmmakers understood this. Of course, with Vikram and most recently Jawan, everything has been loud and served in excess. However, there is something called a meter. In Mark Antony, this meter is tossed out of the window, and we just see one stretch of action followed by another with little to no breathing space. This truly is the reason why the film comes across as mindless instead of a smart, partially spoof-comedy noir-drama. One of the only things the film has got right though is in establishing the time period that the film is set in. The palette of the film, the scenes, and to a certain extent even the compositions would remind audiences of the films that were made in this era. One of the high points of the film happens to be the intermission block where we see Antony confronting Jackie to the tunes of Varudhu Varudhu from Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey (1983). There is a parallel drawn here between the past, and the present where Mark, Antony’s son has a confrontation with Jackie. It is fun as long as it lasts, and Adhik uses smart references in the film. For instance, this song is from a film in which the lead actor Kamal Haasan plays a double role. There are references to Vaali, Ajith Kumar, watching MGR movies on the first day and more. They are decent additions. Another missed potential is actually the story of scientist Chiranjeevi (Selvaraghavan), who is the one who discovers this legendary phone in the first place. A most seamless inclusion of this character into the main plot line would have potentially been fun. In the end, it is all about a missed opportunity. Mark Antony squandered its potential, leaving us with a lingering sense of dissatisfaction. Rating: 2 (out of 5 stars)

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