Venkat Prabhu, the director of The Greatest of All Time, spends 183 minutes crafting a highly formulaic action film that ultimately suffers from mediocrity in every department.
The Greatest of All Time opens in 2008 and follows M.S. Gandhi (Vijay), a highly skilled special agent who works in a Special Anti-Terrorism Squad (SATS) alongside his colleagues Kalyan Sundaram (Prabhu Deva), Sunil Thiagarajan (Prashanth), Ajay (Ajmal Ameer), and the squad leader Nazeer (Jayaram). Gandhi, a devoted family man, is married to the pregnant Anu (Sneha), and the couple have a five-year-old son, Jeevan (Akhil). While on a work-cation in Thailand, Gandhi and his family are brutally attacked, which leads to the kidnapping and death of Jeevan. After flashing forward to the present day, we learn that Gandhi and Anu are no longer together; they have a daughter, Jeevitha (Abhiyukta Manikandan), and Gandhi has taken a job as an immigration officer. While in Moscow for work, Gandhi encounters political upheaval, leading to an attack on the Indian embassy. Amid the confusion, Gandhi identifies his son Jeevan (Vijay) as one of the perpetrators. Gandhi returns to India with Jeevan to reunite with his family, where everything appears perfect and filled with love. However, he soon realizes that Jeevan has brought a whole heap of problems with him, which will compel him to rejoin the force and confront his greatest enemy.
The film begins with an action sequence on a train where the SATS team is pursuing Uranium – 235 from Rajiv Menon (Mohan), their former boss accused of treason. The sequence is lazily choreographed and features subpar special effects. This is followed by an unnecessary and lackluster song, which starts the film on the wrong foot and raises apprehensions about the story and its execution. Ultimately, all your fears are realized by the time the movie ends. With the exception of a few family moments at the beginning of the film, particularly the segment where Gandhi’s pregnant wife suspects him of having an affair, which provides a couple of good laughs, and a few cat-and-mouse sequences in the second half, the story mostly is predictable, frivolous, and devoid of intrigue, with twists and turns evident from a mile away.
Given the film’s genre, the action sequences are the biggest letdown; aside from the pre-interval action scene on the metro train, all action scenes appear underwhelming, clumsily choreographed, and uninspired. The action choreography is further hampered by poorly handled special effects, particularly the climactic fight scene on the roof of the Chepauk stadium, which feels like a drag and does not translate well on the I.M.A.X. screen. Furthermore, the background score fails to impress, and Yuvan Shankar Raja’s musical numbers feel like an impeding factor to an already drawn-out plot. The film also features one of the most outlandish end-credit scenes I’ve seen; it forces the movie into the science fiction genre and seems like a weak attempt to establish intellectual property and cash in on sequels.
Watching this film, one gets the impression that the makers didn’t put much effort into all the essential elements—screenplay, special effects, action, etc—but relied too much on Vijay’s star power, cameo appearances, and Tamil audiences’ M.S. Dhoni craze. While it may occasionally generate a whistle-worthy moment, it fails to compensate for the subpar filmmaking on display here. Having said that, the critical reason that kept me sitting through the 183-minute slogfest was Vijay’s dual performance as father and son. Though, in the role of Gandhi, he manages to convey the vulnerability of the character perfectly, his portrayal of Jeevan—a character who is insane, unpredictable, remorseless, and ruthless—is the film’s high point. Here, Vijay’s de-aging is the only visual effect that works and, surprisingly, does not detract from the overall experience. Playing a darker character like Jeevan uncovers a different side of Vijay’s acting abilities and proves that he can still deliver even when stripped of his hero persona, which is what keeps you hooked and emerges to be the film’s saving grace.
The Greatest of All Time movie links: Wikipedia, Letterboxd
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