Released: October 2019
Director: Siddarth Anand
Run Time: 154 Minutes
Not Rated
Distributor: Reverie Entertainment
Genre: Action/Bollywood
Cast:
Hrithik Roshan: Kabir
Tiger Shroff: Khalid
Vaani Kapoor: Naina
Anupriya Goenka: Aditi
Yash Raaj Singh: Saurabh
As an obvious an avowed movie buff, I’ve avoided the whole Bollywood scene for a long time. I’d heard about how their movies have dance numbers in them, despite the subject matter of a particular film. I had seen images and they all looked really strange to me. It wouldn’t be until a few years back when I caught video clips of one Tiger Shroff on YouTube. It was from a movie called Heropanti and I got see him do some pretty spectacular action and stunt-work. So, I decided to check the film out. While I can’t say I was super-impressed with the overall film, I did catch on to how fantastic Shroff was in doing action. He’s also a hell of a dancer as evidenced in the musical numbers. After doing a little bit of research into India’s film scene, I came to the realization that those musical numbers are part of who they are as a people. Truthfully, I wouldn’t change that for the world. Because of those goofy elements, Bollywood has a flavor that is incredibly unique. Some of those musical numbers are pretty catchy and very well made. After seeing more films like Baaghi, Baaghi 2, Commando 2, and War, I’m honestly really starting to dig the whole Bollywood thing. Yeah, it seems silly to a Westerner such as myself, but there’s degree of talent and honesty in these films that you really don’t see a lot of in other movies around the world. That brings me to the latest action bonanza that is War(not to be confused with the Jet Li and Jason Statham film from 2007).
War follows Khalid as he is tasked with hunting down his former mentor, Kabir. Years prior, Kabir had recruited Khalid to be a part of his elite team tasked with hunting down terrorists and criminal organizations that posed a grave threat to India. At some point, it seemed that Kabir had gone rogue hunting a particular terrorist. So, not only does Khalid have to bring down his former partner, he also has to contend with the same terrorist that Kabir has sworn to kill. Most Bollywood stories tend to be pretty straightforward, with a defined hero and villain. That’s been my experience with Shroff’s previous films. The story in War, while not particularly original, has enough creativity to change things up about half-way through the film. Does it always work? No, but they tried anyway and for a film like this, I went along with it. The film changes its focus from Khalid to Kabir periodically, so we begin to see how Kabir is dealing with the situation and there certain twists and turns in this film that I won’t spoil for you. It’s nothing terribly groundbreaking, but for a Bollywood action flick, it’s a bit of a game-changer, and I absolutely loved that aspect of it. Especially towards the end.
Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way: You don’t go to a movie like this for award-winning acting, and for the most part, acting in Bollywood films is a little over-the-top at times. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing, because it’s a part of the show. I have to be honest, the acting in War is probably the best I’ve seen so far in a Bollywood film, at least the ones that I’ve seen thus far. While I wouldn’t say that Tiger Shroff is a great actor, he does get to stretch those muscles a bit more in this movie, and when the film starts focusing more on Hrithik Roshan’s character, there’s definitely a lot more effort in trying to make a particular actually care about anything more than his job and country. The scenes between Hrithik and Vani Kapoor’s character come a little late in the game, but they felt a lot less cheesy than what we’ve seen in other films. These are actually some fairly compelling moments. Vani, in addition to being a stunning woman, is also a decent actress in her own right. I think she plays pretty well off of Hrithik despite the fact that she’s not in the film a whole lot. Outside of these three characters and actors, though, the acting is what you would expect from a Bollywood movie.
With a title like War, you would expect there to be some action, right? Well, let me tell you: If there’s one thing that War definitely delivers on, it’s the action. War features some of the coolest action that I’ve seen in a while. You’ve got big explosions, car chases, motorcycle chases and a pretty good parkour chase about half-way through the film. Most of the action is well-framed. There are definitely moments were slow-motion is used, but it’s not as much as what I’ve seen in previous productions from India. The fight choreography, especially with the scenes involving Tiger, are pretty good. If there’s one complaint that I have with the action in the film, though, is that some of the action scenes have too many close-ups and shaky-cam moments. I get that Bollywood films like to focus on their good-looking actors and actresses, but when it comes to action sequences, the audience needs to be able to see these guys actually do that. For the most part, though, the action is pretty spot-on. The cinematography in War is some of the most incredible I’ve seen, especially in high-definition. We get these really gorgeous shots of cities, mountains, and other landscapes that can rival some of the stuff we’ve been able to do in the west. In all honesty, War feels more like a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster than what we’ve come to expect from this part of the world, and that’s no easy feat. Yeah, there’s definitely some CGI and some of the effects are painfully obvious, but again, like the dance numbers, that’s part of the experience. One other thing: The dance and musical numbers are pretty damn good. The pacing is also pretty quick. War is probably the most action-packed Bollywood film that I’ve seen.
It’s weird: I never thought that in a million years that I would ever become a fan of Bollywood movies. But I’m on my way to becoming one. Of the four Bollywood action flicks that I’ve seen thus far, only one was a massive disappointment: Commando 2. I know that Tiger Shroff has another Baaghi film coming out and he’s starring in the Bollywood remake of Rambo. When it comes action movies, India is really starting to flex its muscles and I’m genuinely excited for what they’ve got coming up. I’m definitely paying attention. If you have any sort of interest in action movies, especially from other countries, then I would recommend War. It’s a really solid effort that shows that India can stand toe-to-toe with Hollywood and Hong Kong when it comes to action movies.
My Final Recommendation: 9/10