Mission: Chapter 1 Review: Archaic and rudimentary narrative makes this mission a failure 

It is the season to tell the stories of Jailers. After we saw Shah Rukh Khan as a hyper-masculine cop on duty in Jawan, an ageing and retired Rajinikanth as Muthuvel Pandian who has tricks up his sleeves to defeat henchmen half his age, we have a couple of jailers in director Vijay’s Mission: Chapter 1 tackle a prison break. The idea of jailers, outnumbered by convicts, makes it a fascinating arc to tell a cop story. But Mission: Chapter 1, through its bland, unconvincing, and incredibly taxing narrative, fails to deliver on the premise. 

Cast: Arun Vijay, Nimisha Sajayan, Amy Jackson, Bharath Boppana

Director: Vijay

A complete actioner, with tinges of emotional drama, Mission: Chapter 1 has some well-known names across industries. Guna (Arun Vijay) goes to London along with his daughter Sana (Iyal) for the latter’s operation. The film, at no point, attempts to understand its protagonist who seems to be uptight and honest but adapts a Hawala method to get money for the medical procedure. And from there, takes off the journey of undeveloped character arcs. Nimisha Sajayan as a benevolent nurse from Kerala is a criminally under-utilised talent, especially after we had seen her in two of last year’s best films. When she makes an apparent joke that she and Guna are neighbours simply because they come from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the recipient of the joke is perplexed and laughs awkwardly. It mirrored my reaction as well.

We see Amy Jackson’s jailer Sandra unable to take a grip of the premise she is in-charge of for many years now, and it is disappointing to see a man take charge, especially when he is new to the land and law that governs it. And if this is not enough, there is a forced Tamil connection that Sandra gets to make her speak the language. There is never a moment where Sandra can manage the crisis that breaks in her prison. Rather, we have the similar trope of being a damsel in distress requiring the hero to jump in and save the day. 

Archaic camera shots, and stoic characters make Mission: Chapter 1 even more than a hard watch. Furthermore, the antagonist, played by Bharath Boppana, is visibly grappling to even take on his opponents. Probably the only fun I had watching Mission: Chapter 1 is when the film displays unintended humour. The film wants to completely ride on its action elements, and even that doesn't help Mission either. In an era when the technical prowess of films are evolving, the stunts seem visibly dull.

Director Vijay, who is known to base his stories on emotional and parental bonds, fails to showcase the same between Guna and Sana. The dialogues aren’t helpful either. Mission: Chapter 1 may have a bundle of talents and an interesting concept of a stranger in a foreign land. It might sound interesting on paper, but let’s say, the launch pad isn’t enough to make this mission successful. A dull start and duller second half, makes the mission dead on arrival.