‘Commando 2’ movie review: The film shines on its action quotient and powerful performances

Directed By: Deven Bhojani
Produced By: Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Cast: Vidyut Jammwal, Adah Sharma, Esha Gupta
Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 3/5

Vidyut Jammwal can claim to be one of the best action stars in the industry, no doubt about it. As he strikes again with ‘Commando 2’, we were thrilled with chances of his vibrance, enhancing the film’s mood further. Do things fall in place? Yes, and no.

The story revolves around the much-discussed black money issue, wherein a handful of influential politicians and ministers continue to capture and cease the poor people’s money unlawfully, and adopt unfair and illegal means to justify their earnings. Karanvir Singh Dogra (Vidyut Jammwal), an Indian commando, sets off on a journey to Bangkok to trace a few lakh crores of such money and catch Vicky Chadha, the mastermind who helps these corrupt figures keep their accounts clean. Karan is accompanied by encounter specialist inspector Bhavna Reddy (Adah Sharma), Inspector Bakhtawar (Freddy Daruwala) and hacking specialist Zafar Hussain (Sumit Gulati). Bhavna hails from Hyderabad, and is obsessed with selfies and shopping. Zafar Hussain is a committed patriot who would even give away his life for the country. Bakhtawar is young, energetic and a little impulsive at times. About Karan, you’ve to discover. The film kickstarts with a trail of actions, and that continues throughout.

First and foremost, the story is well-knitted and doesn’t seem dragged. Choosing a contemporary and relevant plot many would empathise with, was a smart move from director Deven Bhojani. Considering that ‘Commando’ franchise is mostly known for high-octane action sequences, we would not mind rating the film good in that aspect. Not just Vidyut, but his co-stars do it pretty effortlessly as well.  Also, the film, instead of mindless (and clueless) nationalism, banks upon how a gang of young, daring officers adopt new ideas and high-end technical assistance to reach what they’re looking for. Much appreciated!

Freddy is compact and good in his character. Sumit Gulati showed his versatility more than once in past. We wish he stayed till the end. Shefali Shah, as the Home Minister of India, deserves a special mention. For Vidyut, However, his stunts and mind game have overshadowed his acting. Comparisons with ‘Commando’ would definitely crop up in no time. While ‘Commando 2’ has done a decent job, we still feel ‘Commando’ was much dense, multi-layered and high in terms of emotional quotient.

Adah Sharma’s character is probably the biggest drawback in ‘Commando 2’. Her heavy accent and obsession towards all-things-lavish get irritating after some time, and are at extreme contradiction with her fierce inspector avatar. Her job is to glorify Vidyut’s presence, which she has done well. However, the reason why she exists in the film is probably because the makers did not dare to make a commercial film without a female figure. Same is the purpose why an unnecessary romantic equation between Vidyut and Adah was forcefully included. Those smooches had no head and no tail! After ‘Rustom’, we expected much more out of Esha Gupta, who doesn’t quite live up to expectations.

Thank heaven, Bhojani wasn’t lured with the exotic Bangkok and spared us of a few cringeworthy songs. The film is just fine without songs. Background music has done the job of setting moods of suspense. Because action flicks move fast to faster, editing plays a crucial role. Amitabh Shukla deals with it well.

To wrap it up, ‘Commando 2’ should be a decent one-time watch for you!

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