What’s it about?
MS Gandhi (Vijay) is a member of the counter-terrorism unit, but his wife Anuradha (Sneha) remains oblivious to his employment with the covert law enforcement agency. Sunil (Prashanth) and Kalyan (Prabhudeva), who are part of his team, are his friends, and Nazir (Jayaram) is his superior. During their operation in Kenya, they blast a train, resulting in the death of Menon’s (Mohan’s) family.
When his wife finally knows his true identity, Gandhi and his wife, who is expecting a child, go to Bangkok for a short vacation. An unknown gang abducts their son, Jeevan, in Bangkok. The police announce that their kidnapped son lost his life in a road accident.
This devastates him and his wife. Years pass; his second child, a daughter, becomes an adult. Gandhi transitioned from his field work to a desk job.
But given his experience, the government sends him to Russia to deal with an important diplomatic mission. A gang attacks Gandhi in Russia, but a doppelgänger, strikingly similar to him, saves him. Gandhi instantly recognizes the doppelgänger as Jeevan’s son.
Menon kidnapped Jeevan and trained him to exact revenge on Gandhi. Will Jeevan commit patricide by killing his biological father, Gandhi? Will Gandhi recognize his son’s true mission?
Analysis
“GOAT,” aka “The Greatest of All Time,” has Vijay in a dual role and is directed by Venkat Prabhu. The film has a captivating idea. To sum up, the story unfolds as follows: A rogue leader abducts the son of a secret agent, and the boy, after becoming an adult, resurfaces in his homeland with the intention of assassinating his father. This story, seemingly influenced by the 2019 Hollywood science fiction action thriller “Gemini Man,” is undeniably captivating and sufficiently robust to generate a thrilling action film. While some of Venkat Prabhu’s ideas have worked well in the movie, most of them turn out to be lackluster.
The idea of pitting a superstar like Vijay against his son (played again by Vijay) is exciting. But director Venkat Prabhu’s scripting is insufficient to turn this exciting concept into a gripping film. Many parts in Venkat Prabhu’s film appear to be imitations of Hollywood spy thrillers. The film features some captivating scenes, like when father Vijay tries to capture the younger Vijay in a hotel, and when the younger Vijay reveals his true villainy to avoid his father’s arrival. Aside from these two episodes, the rest of the film is neither particularly entertaining nor thrilling.
Besides that, other main characters like Sneha, Meenakshi Chaudhary, and Prashanth lack any compelling characterizations. Many sequences also defy logic.
Among the actors, Vijay, the lead star, excels. In particular, he delivers a convincing performance in the role of Gandhi. In the role of a son, Jeevan, he neatly portrays the negative aspects of the character, but his performance falls short of being truly impressive. Sneha and Meenakshi both get limited roles. Mohan, who played hero in Mani Ratnam’s “Mounaragam,” gets a role that is totally unconvincing. Prabhu Deva and Prashanth have done neat jobs.
The film has standard technical values. However, the deaging technology for Vijay is impressive.
Bottom line: “GOAT,” despite possessing an intriguing central concept, fails to effectively convey it in an engaging manner. An uninteresting action film. Director Venkat Prabhu’s narration is filled with many boring moments.
Rating: 2.25/5
Movie:The Greatest of All Time/GOAT
Cast: Thalapathy Vijay, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhudeva, Mohan, Jayaram, Laila, Ajmal Amir, Parvati Nair, Vaibhav, Yogi Babu, Premgi Amaren, and others
Dialogue: Hanumaan Choudhry and Venkat Prabhu
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
DOP: Siddhartha Nuni
Editor: Venkat Raajen
Production Designer: Rajeevan
Action stunts: Dilip Subbarayan
Creative producer: Archana Kalpathi
Producers: Kalpathi S Aghoram, Kalpathi S Ganesh, Kalpathi S Suresh
Written and Direction: Venkat Prabhu
Release Date: September 05, 2024
