'Mugamoodi' - the super 'hero' who could've been superhero (Tamil Movie Review)

Film: “Mugamoodi”; Cast: Jiiva, Narain and Pooja Hegde; Director: Mysskin; Rating: ***

Here’s the story of a superhero who can’t leap tall buildings, stop a speeding bullet or fly in the air at the speed of an airplane. But, he’s still considered a superhero just because he wears a rubber suit and a mask!

If you were under the same impression like many, then you are probably wrong. Mysskin’s “Mugamoodi” is not a superhero film, but it’s about a super ‘hero’ with exemplary martial arts skills on a mission to fight for justice.

When a Bruce Lee enthusiast - Anand aka Lee; a group of masked bandits who are terrorising the city with frequent stick ups and an entire police department are sucked into the whirlpool of crime, mayhem ensues in the city. In order to let the residents sleep peacefully at night and prove he’s not guilty, Anand should don the costume of a superhero and fight crime. The suit and mask is to protect his identity.

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The initial setting of the film is loosely based on 2008 Hong Kong martial arts film “IP Man”, directed by Wilson Yip. However, this is only for the first few minutes before the film takes a completely different path. Powered by a cliched plot of a common man-turned-super ‘hero’ with no superhero abilities, “Mugamoodi” is salvaged by the performance of lead actor Jiiva.

Despite a disappointing second half, luckily the film manages to entertain with an earnest first half blessed with humour and spectacular stunts inspired from celebrated combat form Wing Chun. In this story of right versus wrong, Mysskin attempts to throw in some of Bruce Lee’s ideologies, which in a way, form the crux of the story.

But, in this sincere effort he completely ignores the screenplay, thus failing miserably in the whole process.

Despite Jiiva’s rewarding performance, the film fares well in the stunts and music department. The music drives the film with an adrenaline rush that will crawl through your body and make you want to cheer for the superhero, while stunts in particular will encourage you to go home and enroll for a kung fu class.

Performance by Narain, who plays the baddie was quite disappointing. He appears irksome instead of menacingly vindictive in his role as Anguchamy – the ex-convict-turned-robber with a passion for killing. Pooja Hegde, the debutante may have floored everyone with her amiable appearance, but she definitely needs some coaching in expressions.

Cinematographer Sathya’s effort to shoot most of the scenes at night seems to have paid off as it adds a type of novelty of the kind never seen before, and the credit for the same is owed to Mysskin. But Mysskin’s direction on the whole doesn’t qualify to be his best.

With little extra effort, “Mugamoodi” could’ve been the best superhero film in Tamil cinema.