War 2 Movie Review: Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR clash head-on in a headless actioner

Why do we lap up action flicks? A biological reason would be mirror neurons. They fire up inside the brain both when an action is performed or when you observe someone executing the action. So, for instance, if a movie hero performs a somersault kick, it feels like you are making the flip yourself. Or, if he suffers a bloody gash, you flinch a bit. You would have felt these things while watching War 2 if your brain cells would have survived. The hackneyed actioner is capable of corrupting your intelligence files. Error! neurons.

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana, Anil Kapoor

Directed by: Ayan Mukerji

Written by: Shridhar Raghavan and Abbas Tyrewala

Rating: 1.5 stars

War 2 is an unnecessary addition to an already bloated YRF Spy Universe. It is a factory-line product, assembled purely to cash-in on an established franchise. You take a good-looking Bollywood star, add a South Indian superstar to make things ‘Pan-Indian’, mix it with multiple foreign locations and action sequences in a car, atop a train and even a plane and finally garnish it with a glamorous actress and voila! Blockbuster is ready. Only that it is bland, because neither food nor film can yield an experience by mere compilation.

Hrithik Roshan reprises his role as India’s best soldier/ best agent Kabir. From rogue operative in the previous installment, now Kabir is a mercenary, executing kills purely for money and not ideology. He is soon recruited by the “Kali cartel”, an illuminati-like crime-syndicate consisting of powerful figures from India, as well as neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and Sri Lanka. They don’t have a clear mission, except for installing puppet governments in various countries. Even for a film looking out for the lowest common denominator, it’s quite unimaginative. After Kabir kills the R&AW chief, another “best” super-agent is given the job to bring him to justice. Enter Jr NTR as “special unit officer” Vikram, whose only noteworthy trait is a penchant for abbreviations. So, if somebody asks him why would an operative betray his country, his answer would be M.I.C.E (Money, Ideology, Compromise, Ego), or if you try to open up to him, he will ask you to not tell your L.D.B.D (Lambi Dard Bhari Daastan (Long-drawn boring drama). I also have one, S.T.O.P.

But Vikram and Kabir won’t. They will fight it out atop a running train, slide on a flying plane (Newton be damned) and have a showdown in an ice cave. The locations are inventive but the action itself is flaky, like out of a comic book. There is no propulsion, no threat, no urgency. You can choose to focus on Hrithik’s striking looks but that will wear out soon and even his toned biceps can’t lift this slog. The narrative can be defined as action set-pieces loosely tied together, riddled with flashbacks and multiple location jumps to leave you nauseated.

As a new addition to the franchise, Jr NTR, as the hot-headed Vikram gives a laboured performance. The Telugu superstar finds himself directionless, either frowning or fighting or frowning while fighting. Hrithik, on the other hand, holds his own. His presence can hold a viewer but multiple slo-mo shots overdo it. Kiara as agent Kavya gets a half-baked role, the inevitable destiny of female characters in a film with two men on the poster. She gets to shoot some guns in case you were ready to write her off as just an eye candy.

War 2 lacks the star-is-the-character ingredient of its predecessors Pathaan (2023), Tiger series (2012-23) and even War (2019). When Kabir exited the helicopter, hair-swaying, muscle-flexing, you weren’t looking at a secret agent, but at Hrithik Roshan in his full Greek-God glory. That charm is fizzled out in War 2. I have never been so desperate for a cameo. Somebody should come and save this one.