When you have a hero as 'Chiyaan' who would pour his complete heart and soul for the character and when you have the ravishing and Kollywood's top heroine as Nayanthara, you will definitely have your hopes soar high like an eagle flying above the skies. What if, just what if, the two heavy weights perform splendidly but with a botched up screenplay? The result for everyone to see and digest is Iru Mugan..!
The movie starts off on the right note with an Asian elderly person who turns himself into a superhuman with enormous strengths and abilities beating the hell out of the police in the Indian Embassy situated in Malaysia. You start to think that a brilliant sci-fi is in the offing especially the trailers visually stating the existence of another Vikram in a very different avatar as the villain. I will come to THAT part later. First thing's first.
The first half really sprints like a deer. Before you can even notice the time on your watch, a substantial interval block runs you over thus engaging you with a couple of thoughts when you stand in the line to get your cold coffee:
a) Is Nayan really an agent for Love and backstabbed Vikram by posing as his lover?
b) Has Nayan somehow survived the fall and forgot her memory?
The answer was revealed very early in the second half. Yes. One of the option is right. But, after watching the complete movie, you tend to think whether the other option could have made things even more spicier in this otherwise lukewarm affair.
Thambi Ramaiah tries to bring in the comic element but it evoked only few laughters till it lasted. Nayan has a solid role in the film and not simply hear the three magic words from the hero, dance, romance and THE END! She has something to offer on the table and pulls it off with ease. But, it is Vikram who really hogs the limelight from everyone as the rugged and razor-sharp RAW agent as Akhilan and the twisted effeminate Love. Though Love's voice is gravelly and grating to the senses, the mannerisms and expressions are worth every rupee spent particularly the hospital scene which was very close to Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker as a nurse in The Dark Knight. Cold-blooded, remorseless, unforgiving and sadistic - Vikram projects Love to be a character who is to be hated but unfortunately, as an audience, I just did not feel the emotional connect with Love. Instead of playing around in the beaches or imagining a sad song by the hero, time and screen space could have been utilized to develop the Love character so that the missing void was filled and the audience would have appreciated better the smart, able, ruthless Love as there was a definite method to her madness. It was really a witty director's touch to add "OK Kanmani?" when Love speaks to Nithya Menon. Nevertheless, Vikram was ruddy brilliant in his mien and attitude as Love.
Sadly, the second half was unrestrainedly meandering in its course to stop Love from distributing the dangerous inhalers to other parts of the world. All hell broke loose in the screenplay and I was constantly looking at my watch and groaning when will this omnishambles come to its end. If you want a sci-fi thriller, the screenplay has got to be taut and crisp. Instead, it was dragging till eternity. Also, why should I know the molecular formula of a compound or its workings? Am I going to examine it under a powerful electron microscope and get 'Good' in the record book from my teacher? Similarly, the lovey-dovey scenes between Nayanthara and Vikram were so unnecessary that it disturbed the complete balance of the movie. Not to mention the songs. I KNOW IT'S A TAMIL FILM. But, we certainly need movies like 'Unnai Pol Oruvan' more often so that the story and screenplay drives the film forward and not the masala elements. Likewise, Nithya Menon and Karunakaran were literally wasted away by excessively focussing on the drugs and its nervy effects.
Speaking of drugs, the director tries to give credibility to the SPEED drug by bringing in historical references to Hitler's atrocities when he was at the helm. The facts could have been reserved for the end credits so that people are made aware of the abominable acts done by Hitler to his own people and not in the middle of the film when it was stemming its speedy, no pun intended, flow. After one point of time, the SPEED drug is used so many times that only the director and producer wouldn't have had the opportunity to use it since the export plan was failed..! Such was its consumption that it produced yawns much faster than the men or women who ingested it into their systems and be endowed with superhuman strength. The SPEED drug SLOWS down the movie especially in the second half..!
Unlike other movies where the action sequences are stretched to unimaginable limits, the only good thing about the SPEED drug is that, for once, I knew exactly for how long the fight was going to last..!
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