Good Bad Ugly Review

Ajith Kumar who was last seen in Vidaamuyarchi clearly disappointed the fans. However, he teamed up with his fan cum Director Adhik Ravichandran for an exciting action Drama titled Good Bad Ugly. Adhik Ravichandran tasted a success with his debut Trisha Illana Nayanthara. And then, he impressed everyone with his last movie Mark Anthony. Despite not meeting commercial expectations with his last film, Adhik got a chance to direct Ajith. Since he is the fan boy, he presented Ajith In the best possible manner. The trailer and other promotional material clearly indicated how big the film is going to be and how the fans can enjoy the vintage Ajith in the film. Trisha Krishnan, Arjun Das, Sunil, Jackie Shroff, Sayaji Shinde, Tinnu Anand, Priya Prakash Varrier, Prabhu, Prasanna, Yogi Babu, Raghu Ram, Redin Kingsley, Rahul Dev, Usha Uthup and Shine Tom Chacko are also seen in key roles. Did Ajith bounce back to success? Was Adhik Ravichandran successful in delivering a Blockbuster? Let’s figure it out with a detailed review.

What Is It About?

The most feared gangster, AK (Ajith Kumar), decides to quit all his activities for his wife, Ramya (Trisha). He surrenders to the police and bows to his jail term. Things don’t end up the way he expected due to his past haunting him even after he changes his ways. When his son lands in big trouble, the gangster in AK returns and takes things under his control. Who is after AK’s son and how does he solve the problem by finding the hidden villains is all about Good, Bad Ugly.

Performances

Ajith’s fans were not very happy with his most recent film, Vidamuyarchi, and instead want him to be back with movies like Gambler and Billa. Good Bad Ugly serves what the fans actually want from him, but the movie has a dated template of ‘changed gangster – trouble – return of the gangster’. Ajith Kumar is the Unique selling point of Good Bad Ugly because everything else in the movie is flat and cringed. Ajith appears in different looks, enthralling the fans mostly during the quick flashback narrative.

Trisha has a short yet monotonous role. Her performance needs no special mention. Sunil gets a lengthy role, and so does Prasanna in the supporting role. Jackie Shroff and Tinu Anand did their usual roles in a any gangster movie. Arjun Das becomes the big villain for Ajith in this gangster drama. He did just fine but did not appear very powerful opposite Ajith. Priya Varrier and others did fine in their respective roles.

Technicalities

Good Bad Ugly has all the style and flash, but that’s the end of it. The story is stale, and the narrative is very ordinary. The background music is loud but not intense. The BGM did not help Good Bad Ugly when it needed it the most during elevations and a few action sequences. The cinematography is good and slick. The action episodes during the fight with other gangsters were shot well. Though fans like it anyway, there is not one great dialogue or a powerful mannerism that could have made them even jubilant. The songs are bad, and there is one song that is left in Tamil for Telugu versions!

Thumbs Up

Ajith Kumar
A Few Action scenes

Thumbs Down

Background music
Stereotyped plot
Dialogues
Weak Narrative
Lack of emotional connection

Analysis

Good Bad Ugly is a beaten-to-death gangster drama that tries to enthrall the viewers with stylish visuals. When the plot is weak and stale, the style and visuals need interesting twists and emotional connections. Unfortunately, Good Bad Ugly lacks all that is needed.

With the routine template story, the director depended upon Ajith’s stardom and the stylish show. Though the story is understood, it just appears as a series of episodes due to the lack of depth and character establishment. The strong bond between the Gangster and his family is just told in the slides, and the strong enough reason to turn himself in to the police is not conveyed well. For a gangster who kept himself from the violence and spent many years in jail for a reason, getting back at it without hesitation looks artificial.

The first half has a ton of elevations, which at one point look boring, and then there comes more. Just being flashy and beating the goons won’t make him the most feared gangster, but the director could not highlight the power and uniqueness, leaving all the elevations pale and boring. Even the flashback episodes with a quick narrative in the second has references of AK partnering with popular gangsters like ‘Don Wick’ and others, that appeared weak and unnecessary. At least, the second half is better than the first, continuing the pace and lead from the interesting interval twist.

With a few more action episodes and predictable twists, Good Bag Ugly ends on an expected note. Good Bad Ugly has a superficial story with no emotional depth and character details, only relying upon the stylish gangster accessories and nothing else. Overall, Good Bad Ugly is good for Ajith fans and not great for regular audiences due to its stale template and boring narrative.

Bottomline: Grand Visuals – Bland Narrative

Rating: 2.5/5