Animal Movie - Your Honest Review?

**TLDR*

Animal is certainly a film like no other mainstream Bollywood film, with the amount of gore and violence being present. But everything is ultimately bogged down by an extremely lengthy runtime, and eventually nothing can save the film from it. Not even Ranbir, who is in such a fantastic form after so long. He's the reason the film is watchable. Temper your expectations and you'll have an okay time with this decent one time watch.

(2.5 + 0.5 just for Ranbir) = 3/5

*Long review*

Sandeep Reddy Vanga promised to show what real violence looks like, and he does exactly that for most of the film, but is that ultimately enough? Gore fans are going to absolutely love it, but the thing is while it's exhilarating at first to see a mainstream Bollywood film be this bloody and violent, you get used to it by the second half and it gets old pretty fast. The second half gets riddled with scenes that felt like they were specifically made for shock value, and while it may work for some, it eventually brings out disgust from everyone else. And you can't blame people for feeling this way since the film is so long in the first place.

This is Animal's biggest enemy. The 3 hours and 22 minutes runtime. The first half starts off well as you get introduced to the characters and you get to witness the groundwork for the bloody stuff ahead. The runtime would make more sense if we had all that time being paid to character development, but Vanga provides superficial reasons and expects us to simply accept that the characters are behaving in a certain manner because that's that. Unfortunately this leads to Ranbir's backstory being just as illuminating as watching Papa Meri Jaan on YouTube. His chemistry with Rashmika, along with her performance as well, almost derails the film because everything about it stinks heavily of Kabir Singh/Arjun Reddy (Vanga just can't seem to let that story go I guess).

But it's Ranbir's portrayal of the psychopath son that saves this film from sinking in those moments. He is deliciously insane and his moments of anger and bloodthirst are relishing to see, which makes him the biggest highlight of the film. With no groundwork for how his character turned the way he is, except for neglect by his father, it's amazing how Ranbir still manages to create a memorable character out of someone who's written this thinly

Anil is as great as ever. -He nails every scene of his, and it's when his character gets shot, when the film suddenly switches gears and starts becoming more fun.- The Arjan Vailly Ne sequence doesn't disappoint, and it becomes instantly clear why the audio was the only part of the song that was released. It's the best part of the film. Bobby is the best right after Ranbir when it comes to acting, but his scenes are limited and you simply lament by the end regarding how much more of him you wanted.

Unfortunately, this was the last time someone has fun in this film until the climax, because the film is in a disarray once the second half begins. It's like the makers had planned the story till the interval, and they spontaneously thought of stuff as the second half went by. Tripti is ultimately wasted in a subplot of the film that doesn't do much except bring out more groans from us because the subplot is awful and the film just isn't ready to end yet. The climax pumps life back into the film but only if it had arrived 20-30 minutes early, as I already wanted to go home at this point.

Lastly, I'll say don't have huge expectations and don't get overhyped like the internet is telling you too. Temper your expectations and you'll have a decent time. Just make sure to make good use of that interval 😅

I'm going with a 2.5/5, with an extra 0.5 just for Ranbir, who made the entire experience worth it eventually.

Disclaimer* :- If you enjoyed Animal for what it is - a mass masala entertainer - in no way is my comment meant to offend you nor is it my intention to police what you watch.

Just watched two different, absolutely contrasting movies this week - Chithha & Animal. The former is a gut wrenching Tamil thriller-drama with incredible performances especially from the child actors who played Sundari & Ponni; the latter has an utterly garbage plot with some great performances & wonderful music. It's obvious Vanga caters to the Andrew Tate crowd with his movies & takes pride in his edgelord persona; the difference with Animal being there was absolutely no pretense with the trailer, his unapologetic interviews & the movie's rating conveying exactly what to expect.

Adding provocative scenes just for the shock value without organic flow of the story made it unnecessarily lengthy & made me roll my eyes. It remains to be seen with the final box-office verdict if Vanga editing his own movie will become his hubris. It also doesn't help that there's no other deep-seated context for Ranvijay Singh's daddy issues other than his father being negligent towards him. Show me the actual acts of negligence & how deeply it affected the kid & maybe then I might believe Ranvijay's constant craving for his father's validation & affection. I was expecting an almost reverse Oedipus Complex type bond but got stale characterizations instead and because of this, I had easier time suspending my disbelief with the violence than I had with Arjun Reddy.

Comparing Chithha to Animal is like apples to oranges and absolutely, there's a place & cinematic liberty for both in the movie industry but the sad fact of the matter remains one is a social drama & an absolute must watch for parents that can bring about a discernible awareness in the society while the other is a provocative, misogynistic drama that has the potential to create violent megalomaniacs under the guise of being cool in those **few* impressionable audience who lack the mental capacity to discern fiction from reality. Sadly, only one film will go unnoticed while the other will likely rule the box-office & even attain a cult status.*(3/5)**

PS not my words but my thoughts.

Film ka tckt hi afford ni kar saktey toh Ghar pey hi raho.