A Roman general, seeking to expand his base, sets out with his army into the open sea. Before you think you’ve accidentally clicked on a review link gladiator 2Don’t worry; how is it Canguwa Begins. Interesting story of director Shiva Canguwa Stretching from the hills of a famous island to the sandy shores of Goa; It also transcends time as it takes place in two different time frames. But whether they would together make an interesting watch is a different question altogether.

In CanguvaSuriya plays the role of a bounty hunter named Francis, who comes in contact with a lost child with whom he appears to share a connection from his past life. Then we see how about 1000 years ago, the five-island landmass – each with its own chieftaincy, customs and professions (straight from the pages of Raya and the Last Dragon) – Suriya, also playing the lead role as the son of Perumachi’s chieftain, makes a promise to the same child. As history repeats itself, our hero must save this child to learn how they are connected.

on paper, Canguwa It has everything going for it; The filmographies of both Suriya and Shiva boast grandeur on an unprecedented scale; established Bollywood stars in their Tamil debut (because what else screams ‘Pan Indian’ apart from actors from other industries); And an emotional core, an aspect we have come to associate with Shiva’s films. But Canguwa It has become a textbook example of how an interesting story can get lost in translation due to poor production.

The cracks are evident from the very beginning when we are introduced to Francis and his ex-girlfriend, a fellow bounty hunter named Angelina (Disha Patani), and their respective partners-in-crime, played by Yogi Babu and Radin Kingsley. From a writing standpoint, given that much of the film is set in the distant past, it would make sense to make the present as colorful and futuristic as possible. But the scenes we do encounter show Francis’s family speaking Tamil with an English accent while he plays a VR game, and uses Siri to calculate the chances of meeting someone he likes. He was hit. On the other hand, the kid whose character is a blatant imitation of Eleven From stranger thingsEncounters strange things within a Russian facility, from which he conveniently escapes and ends up with Francis.

Past the surprisingly bleak present-day scenes and countless shots of the moon and computer-generated eagles, we finally step into the relatively better parts of the period. The world, its people and their lives make up the USP Kanguva, And art director, the late Milan, and cinematographer Vetri do a phenomenal job of putting us right in the middle of the action with their impeccable technical ability. The talented crew ensures that the look and feel the film aspires to is accomplished, and it is to the film’s advantage that it shows where its massive budget was spent.

But once the initial fear of this spellbinding world subsides, the many chinks in its armor become more apparent. At its core, Canguwa It is an emotional story of a man and his relationship with a child – a stranger who becomes his relative. It is about the adversity that introduces them to each other, about the betrayal that brings them closer, and about the promise that makes them a family; They should have created some of the best parts appropriately CanguvaThe pairing part about traversing forests and surviving obstacles reminded me of the extremely interesting dynamic between Kratos and his son Atreus from the 2018 video game ‘God of War’.

A scene from ‘Kanguva’ Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Despite centering on this plot, the film, to add more action and drama, introduces Udhiran (criminally underutilized Bobby Deol) and his Arathi tribe, cut from the same cloth as the Kaalkeyas. Baahubali Franchise. If the red filter, the splatter of blood, and the bodies of slain men and animals don’t drive the point home, they are the villains, and their encounters with the Perumachi people result in bloodshed for them and our senses. An attack occurs.

While the over-the-top nature of these primitive people can be ignored, one major hurdle is how loud the film gets. Do you remember the pictures of Apple watches, which showed the high-decibel noise on the field when Dhoni came out to bat during the IPL? CanguwaFor unknown reasons, takes embarrassing those memes as a challenge. Apart from testing the strength of our eardrums, they also make it difficult to follow the dialogues and detract from the immersion which is paramount for such a film. CanguvaIf that’s not enough, Devi Sri Prasad’s songs and score offer little or no consolation.

The sequences are also clumsily put together; There is an interesting scene in which a group of Perumachi women are trapped in enemy territory and another scene where Kanguva fights a crocodile. Standalone sequences like this would have worked well if they fit seamlessly into the narrative, but here, they feel forcedly included. For a film that relies heavily on its action sequences, it’s safe to say Canguwa No one breaks barriers on that front. There are some scenes in the film that have a lot of potential – like when Kangwa tracks down his enemies with the help of his trusty, winged pet. There are also some pieces of thoughtful writing and illustration – when a character holds gold coins in front of his eyes, the shot represents how the bribes are blinding him; Another shot of red wine spilled on the map predicts massacre in those areas. But none work because of their disconnection from the original.

Despite the plethora of talents, it is Suriya who stands out with his commanding presence on screen. Although playing the character of Francis seems like an easy task for him, the kind of emotions that his character Kanguva goes through gives the actor immense scope to showcase his acting abilities.

Finally, when we question Canguwa ‘Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?’ On par with — for the pop-culture fan in me hoping for the climax of “Assassin’s Creed” — we get an ending that proves just how sequel-baiting has become a panic-inducing trend. With a story that relies heavily on its period pieces, and promises a far more promising story in future titles, Canguva The present offers little to enjoy.

Kanguva is currently running in theaters