Good Bad Ugly review: Low on emotion and logic, high on Ajith and fun

Ajith Kumar’s previous release Vidaamuyarchi didn’t fare well at the box office, so his fans are waiting with bated breath to see their star firing all cylinders with today’s (April 10) release Good Bad Ugly. The film’s director, Adhik Ravichandran, is a self-declared fanboy of Ajith and has treated his maiden venture with the actor with the same mindset.

Yes, Good Bad Ugly doesn’t have a unique plot, there is no emotional connection. The emotion is only on paper and not on the screen. For example, Trisha keeps on saying in the film that it’s because of his husband AK that her son’s life is in danger, but the conflict between the couple is not effectively conveyed. All the emotionally written dialogues of Trisha fall flat like a television commercial.

Also read: 'Vidaamuyarchi' review: Ajith's remake of American crime thriller fails to pass muster

Simple plot

The storyline is simple. AK (Ajith Kumar) is a menacing gangster in India. When he gets married to Ramya (Trisha Krishnan), she wants him to bid goodbye to his gangster business. But his past continues to haunt him; when Ramya was in labour, the hospital was under attack. As soon as their son was born, Ramya asked AK to leave her and the newborn. AK leaves everything and goes to prison.

Eighteen years later, AK comes out of prison a changed man. But to his surprise, his son Vihaan gets kidnapped. Now, AK must find who is behind the kidnapping. Towards the intermission, we get to know that twin gangsters (Arjun Das) are behind all the foul play, and they also cunningly put Vihaan in prison. The rest of the film is all about AK’s revenge against the twin gangsters, and he gets his son out of prison!

Also read: ‘Veera Dheera Sooran’ review: Poor plot plagues Vikram-starrer, gifted cast saves the day

No dearth of entertainment

As said earlier, the film lacks emotional depth, but that doesn’t mean it lacks entertainment. Yes, Adhik has treated Good Bad Ugly as a light-hearted mass entertainer. There are many references to Ajith’s previous blockbusters like Mankatha, Dheena, Vaalee, Arrambam, and Billa. He even utters a famous dialogue from Vijay’s film.

The action sequences are formulaic, but on the contrary, Ajith’s histrionics, style, and swag are enjoyable. The way Ajith casually sits on a chair and commands Arjun Das with his villainous smile and counter-dialogues reminds us of Mankatha’s epic interval episode.

All about Ajith

In the second half, Adhik plays a safe game by introducing a lot of vintage hit songs, and cameos that throw hints at Ajith’s blockbuster films, and in addition, he also refers to popular gangster films from Hollywood and Korea (John Wick, Dong Lee).

On the downside, Adhik has taken the logic for a toss; he didn’t care much about the screenplay, filmmaking grammar, etc. Performance and Ajith’s majestic screen presence hold the film, and his mass punchlines and throwback to old blockbusters will surely make his fans scream out in theatres. Trisha couldn’t do much in her limited role. Prasanna, Prabhu, Priya Prakash Varrier, Sunil, and others also hardly have any scope to perform.

Also read: Dragon review: Ashwath Marimuthu’s entertaining tale of second chances

Vintage songs

Arjun Das, who generally plays a subtle villain, is very loud here. But he provides a comic relief here and there. GV Prakash’s theme song is good but mostly, the film’s big advantage are the vintage songs like Thottu Thottu Pesum, Otha Rooba Tharen, etc.

Overall, if you expect logic and a screenplay-driven film, Good Bad Ugly is not your cup of tea. But if you want some fun in the theatre without worrying much about logic and only look to celebrate a mass actor like Ajith, you can watch Good Bad Ugly; it won’t disappoint.