Thunivu Review (2023)

I am going to say it.

I give H Vinoth Full props for trying a risky genre, but..

Varisu is better than Thunivu.

Now see, I love H.Vinoth more than Vamshi Paidpally. I love Sathuranga Vettai and Theeran Adhigaram Ondru. 2 films which were definetly revolutionary in their respective genres for their Scorsese-esque level of detail and approach to the lives of the people who are involved in those stuff. Especially the Bus action sequence in Theeran is an absolutely brilliant piece of action filmmaking, where everything comes together both cinematically in terms of how it is presented, and also emotionally, in terms of how the how connects us. But Thunivu can be reviewed based on the single fact that there is not even a single memorable action sequence- for a film which is a heist action and also involving Ajith Kumar, a man who is really badass in action.

What we have here is a hotchpotch of narratives or “information” as H.Vinoth likes, which is supplied to us in this extremely too fast paced style especially in the first half. There is a certain lack of clarity and patience that Vinoth had previously. The interesting bits in the first half, apart from the scenes involving Ajith who is great even when the film turns him into message delivery machine, are the scenes which are commentary on media and their want for content to show people for their own ratings. The reporter character Mai Pa being the only one who is true to his job, tries till the last moment to milk news. The black comedy stuff involving him and Bagavathi Perumal’s Character Rajesh, are the ones which keep stuff afloat. The other thing which keeps things afloat is the mystery of Ajith’s character and why he does what he does. But it is only at the interval where something interesting takes place because upto that, the narrative seems so all over the place that despite the presence of a conflict, the film feels aimless.

I don’t exactly remember when Shankar last used the “Shankar Flashback” trope ( I think he did in 2.0 itself), but nowadays directors apart from Shankar have started using it more than Shankar itself. And the new guest to the list is H.Vinoth. We get an absolutely unnecessary and stupid and senseless flashback, with a song also. The action there is forgettable, in fact the flashback portion itself is forgettable. It is somehow randomly connected to another flashback that Ajith narrates during live news. ( Theri Padathoda flashback la microwave 5 mins vedikardha kalaicha vangaluku, intha flashback equal pannidum). Why does every anti hero need a good reason to evil? The only good and consistent thing in the film is the running commentary on the works of the media as mentioned above, and the practises of the info buying and their own greediness.

And what is up with that Bullshit pre climax man? How the hell can the government fire at a building which has civilians with launchers and rifles?

Enna thaan aagudhu namma directors ku? Sambal thoosigalum parakum cargalum? I really still cant believe H.Vintoth of all people directed this film man? There is nothing to talk about even in the action department especially one 360 degree camera fight which has some awkward blocking and framing.

Ajith, Ajith And Ajith is the only saving grace. There is no reason to not enjoy the moments involving him. The problem being that it doesn’t make sense why his character does what he does. And Also, Did Manju warrier Really have to accept this role? Asuran la Pachiayamma va, the woman kicked ass and here she gets a simple no characterisation role. Iam going to finish this review just like Ajith’s stupid last dialogue..

I really don’t know how to finish so I’ll just leave like this….