‘War 2’ Movie Review: Hrithik Roshan and Junior NTR lose the war to a tedious sequel

Director: Ayan Mukerji

Language: Hindi

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Junior NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana

The year was 2012. The film was Ek Tha Tiger. It brought along with it a lot of firsts. The first YRF collaboration with Salman Khan. The first film in the now omnipresent spy universe. Despite the uneven narrative, it was a box-office juggernaut. The other two films in the franchise were more grotty than gratifying.

_Pathaan_ , which marked Shah Rukh Khan’s return to celluloid after a four-year sabbatical, was a gleeful guilty pleasure that created a blend of intense realism and innocuous fantasy. But the standout in the series of these spy thrillers will always be the 2019 War. It brought together the dreamy and dazzling duo of Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff. The casting was more than just a coup. It was clever. It was charismatic.

Shroff’s perpetual drooling over his idol throughout the film’s running time smartly blurred the lines between fiction and real. He was getting to share the screen with the man he emulated all his life. And despite the limited expressions, this still remains his most enhanced performance purely because of the genius of the makers.

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The reason why War stood out was because, unlike a lot of other vanity vehicles that reek of hollowness and are content with their pretentious set pieces, this one didn’t forget to grab the vulnerable edges of their superhuman creatures. And despite the inevitability of visual effects, Shroff’s breathless and bolstering one shot-action scene paved way towards a gripping thriller. War got it right more than it got wrong. It marked the reincarnation of Hrithik Roshan as the astonishingly gorgeous leading man who didn’t have to pop his veins to prove his point. Kabir quickly wiped out the memories of those turgid tearjerkers (Kaabil, Mohenjo Daro, Krrish 3) that didn’t know what to do with a star who could do just about anything.

Six years later, they have added another name to their collection of spy movies in the form of War 2. As Shroff is done and dusted (Only in the film), we have a new nemesis for the rugged, rakish, roguish agent Kabir in the form of Junior NTR. This time, the casting decision feels like it happened more for catering to commerce than creativity. Anyone would swipe right listening to the names involved in the sequel.

He’s back with a new business, bad blood, and a bikini-clad romantic interest. There’s as much going for War 2 as the first one. Perhaps more. And the idea to have Ayan Mukerji as the director sounds intriguing. Here’s a filmmaker whose ambitions have only quadrupled as he has furthered his journey in cinema. He began with Wake Up Sid, took a leap with Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, aimed for the skies with Brahmastra, and now hopes to achieve meteors with War 2. The man is new to the party only as a guest but not as an outside spectator. All the ingredients you need to create a spy film for YRF (ala Powerpuff Girls) are here too.

Slow motion shots- Check. Plot twists- Check. Flashbacks- Check. Beach song? Check. Globetrotting thrills? Check. Bikini? Double check. VFX? Triple check. Agent Kabir is now far more suave and just like how he was introduced in 2019, we first get to see a marveling close-up of his biceps (or were those triceps?) His first mission begins in Japan where he has to battle an army of villains in a surprisingly bland and inept sword combat. And just like Anil Sharma’s The Hero: Love Story of A Spy, War 2 shifts locations faster than Ajay Devgn announces inconsequential sequels. Within the first half an hour, we move from Japan to Berlin to New Delhi to Amsterdam to Somalia.

Junior NTR, the yin to Roshan’s yang, is clearly having fun right from the time he enters the frame. He chews upon the scenery and mouths some delicious one liners and quips. Despite the improbable action, there’s some thrill to be had purely because how committed the leading men are. The idea and intent is clear- Make us suspend our disbelief to the lowest to aim for the highest form of entertainment. It doesn’t always land as seamlessly as it did in the first one, but at least the masala being served isn’t as stale as it has been in most of the self-proclaimed mass cinema. Come to think of it, War 2 explores and exploits all possible spaces for its combats- A train, a ship, and an aircraft. This is that buddy film where both the bronzed men are Khiladis.

But we have a problem. The problem is the uneven pacing. The problem is the expectation set by part one. The problem is to take giant leaps and still be at the same place where you were. The problem is how somebody keeps the world at your feet and you’re still not entirely and effortlessly swayed. The problem is you want things to happen but nothing moves. The problem is how your movie moves from one stunning locale to another so rapidly that none register. The problem is a flashback so random that belongs to an entirely different film. Also, this is the third time, after Agneepath and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, that a wrong actor has been cast to play the younger version of Hrithik Roshan. Are we supposed to believe and buy into the fact that this man, who lets his smouldering aura do the talkin,g belonged to the streets?

War 2 showed promise, not as a coherent story, but at least dumbed-down, cheerful fun when it began. But just like Tiger 3, it began to take itself way too seriously when all it needed to do was guffaw at its silliness. Some endless conversations and combats barely serve any purpose. The sheer disappointment of the enterprise fails its two competent leading men, that have shone in masala stories before. And War 2 is not the end, we have more films in the spy universe coming in. One happens to be Alpha and then whatnot. Shah Rukh Khan once rightly said in an interview, only the dead have seen the end of War.

Rating: 2 (out of 5 stars)

War 2 is now playing in cinemas