RRR (A or 3.5/4 stars)
Remember when movies were ... fun? Superhero movies used to be fun. Now, they're overlong, redundant & lost in a sea of CGI. But if commercial American movies have hit a wall, there are options elsewhere. I offer up S.S. Rajamouli's 'RRR', an Indian action/adventure epic that is as thrilling as it is emotional. Honestly, aside from the recent Top Gun: Maverick, this film puts Hollywood blockbusters to shame. A shocking act kicks off this Indian rebellion vs. British rule tale set in 1920. Snooty Catherine Buxton (Alison Doody, of Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade) convinces her callous husband, Gov. Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson), to 'buy' an Indian girl, Malli, from her tribe. When Malli's panicked mother tries to stop them, she is severely beaten.
Her Gond tribe responds by sending their #1 warrior, Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao, Jr.), to find & bring her home. We know he's able because he successfully faces down a wolf & a tiger in his introductory scene. Buxton gets wind that 'someone' is after him, so he & Catherine offer to promote the officer who can identify & catch Bheem. The brave man who volunteers is Rama Raju (Ram Charan), a fearsome fighter who has a secret reason to get ahead. Real-life revolutionaries Bheem & Raju have a chance "imagined' encounter when they join forces to rescue a young boy in peril. A close bond develops, although Bheem has no idea that Raju is hunting him ... and Raju doesn't realize that Bheem is the man he is looking for. Chaos ensues.
What a sensational, emotional blast of a movie and, a staggering achievement in filmmaking. This 'Tollywood' {Telugu-language, akin to Bollywood} import runs 185 minutes, yet as is the case with the very best, I didn't want it to end. The proceedings are jam-packed with so much goodness {action, humor, tragedy, spectacle, joyful dance numbers, heartrending emotion, etc} that it makes you feel like you've been on this journey right alongside the characters. Speaking of characters, I love that this film imagines a fictional meeting/friendship btwn. real-life figures Raju & Bheem; revolutionaries who fought against the British Raj. They likely never met in real life, but the script is ingenious in the way it joins them up.
An early action scene where Raju quells a furious mob threatening to overthrow the British government is one of the best-choreographed sequences I've seen in a lonnnggg time. The camerawork moves kinetically in some spots, employs slow-motion in others, and executes action/violence/gore in unique & inventive ways that allow us to easily follow each blow as they come. Despite the visual effect-augmented surroundings, the characters regularly interact with physical objects so that nothing looks phony; there is a wonderfully tactile nature to the effects. The scene where Raju & Bheem meet involves a train that derails into a river, which subsequently explodes, catches on fire, with a boy stranded on floating debris. Raju & Bheem telepathically come up with an insane plan to save the boy; which involves them diving off opposite ends of the bridge & swinging on a rope through flames to grab the him.
After a blossoming bromance music video sequence {yes, you read that correctly, haha} ... the two have a dance-off so unabashedly joyful & powerful that it manages to wreck the dance floor. All of this is to woo some women away from their overbearing British suitors. Gosh, there's also a palace siege/rescue attempt in which a host of wild animals are unleashed upon the unsuspecting crowd -- I rose out of my seat from excitement while watching it. There is an intense whipping scene. There are flashbacks to Raju's loss of innocence. Once these two men realize who the other is, the plot conflict involves whether they can reconcile their true identities before killing each other en route to their mission. And the final battle is just mind-blowing.
This movie truly has it all. And yet, none of that would mean a hill of beans if we didn't care for the characters or the story at hand. Sure, the likes of Alison Doody & Ray Stevenson play broad villains to the hilt, but sweetly goofy N.T. Rama Rao Jr. & strong-as-an-ox Ram Charan PERFECTLY balance the inherent humor & fantasy elements of the story with the more serious, emotional beats; their chemistry together is the big beating heart of the film. Alia Bhatt & Olivia Morris play their love interests with sweet sincerity. And a topper to the superb production values is M.M. Keeravani's sweeping music score {+ a handful of energetic songs}. 'RRR' is the kind of pure-adrenaline, deliriously cinematic spectacle that should be celebrated. If this all sounds like it is just too much, you wouldn't be wrong, but somehow it all just works and, that's a testament to Rajamouli's visionary direction.
Her Gond tribe responds by sending their #1 warrior, Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao, Jr.), to find & bring her home. We know he's able because he successfully faces down a wolf & a tiger in his introductory scene. Buxton gets wind that 'someone' is after him, so he & Catherine offer to promote the officer who can identify & catch Bheem. The brave man who volunteers is Rama Raju (Ram Charan), a fearsome fighter who has a secret reason to get ahead. Real-life revolutionaries Bheem & Raju have a chance "imagined' encounter when they join forces to rescue a young boy in peril. A close bond develops, although Bheem has no idea that Raju is hunting him ... and Raju doesn't realize that Bheem is the man he is looking for. Chaos ensues.
What a sensational, emotional blast of a movie and, a staggering achievement in filmmaking. This 'Tollywood' {Telugu-language, akin to Bollywood} import runs 185 minutes, yet as is the case with the very best, I didn't want it to end. The proceedings are jam-packed with so much goodness {action, humor, tragedy, spectacle, joyful dance numbers, heartrending emotion, etc} that it makes you feel like you've been on this journey right alongside the characters. Speaking of characters, I love that this film imagines a fictional meeting/friendship btwn. real-life figures Raju & Bheem; revolutionaries who fought against the British Raj. They likely never met in real life, but the script is ingenious in the way it joins them up.
An early action scene where Raju quells a furious mob threatening to overthrow the British government is one of the best-choreographed sequences I've seen in a lonnnggg time. The camerawork moves kinetically in some spots, employs slow-motion in others, and executes action/violence/gore in unique & inventive ways that allow us to easily follow each blow as they come. Despite the visual effect-augmented surroundings, the characters regularly interact with physical objects so that nothing looks phony; there is a wonderfully tactile nature to the effects. The scene where Raju & Bheem meet involves a train that derails into a river, which subsequently explodes, catches on fire, with a boy stranded on floating debris. Raju & Bheem telepathically come up with an insane plan to save the boy; which involves them diving off opposite ends of the bridge & swinging on a rope through flames to grab the him.
After a blossoming bromance music video sequence {yes, you read that correctly, haha} ... the two have a dance-off so unabashedly joyful & powerful that it manages to wreck the dance floor. All of this is to woo some women away from their overbearing British suitors. Gosh, there's also a palace siege/rescue attempt in which a host of wild animals are unleashed upon the unsuspecting crowd -- I rose out of my seat from excitement while watching it. There is an intense whipping scene. There are flashbacks to Raju's loss of innocence. Once these two men realize who the other is, the plot conflict involves whether they can reconcile their true identities before killing each other en route to their mission. And the final battle is just mind-blowing.
This movie truly has it all. And yet, none of that would mean a hill of beans if we didn't care for the characters or the story at hand. Sure, the likes of Alison Doody & Ray Stevenson play broad villains to the hilt, but sweetly goofy N.T. Rama Rao Jr. & strong-as-an-ox Ram Charan PERFECTLY balance the inherent humor & fantasy elements of the story with the more serious, emotional beats; their chemistry together is the big beating heart of the film. Alia Bhatt & Olivia Morris play their love interests with sweet sincerity. And a topper to the superb production values is M.M. Keeravani's sweeping music score {+ a handful of energetic songs}. 'RRR' is the kind of pure-adrenaline, deliriously cinematic spectacle that should be celebrated. If this all sounds like it is just too much, you wouldn't be wrong, but somehow it all just works and, that's a testament to Rajamouli's visionary direction.