I might not be the right person to review this film, given my distaste for Mass Cinema, but I consider it my duty to save fellow cinephiles from going through atrocities like Animal. Misguided by glorious reviews from the masses and certain critics, cinephiles often make mistakes like these and then regret spending their precious time and money. So, in case you have an appetite for mass cinema, then you may go ahead and judge the film for yourself. However, if you dislike mass films and are having doubts about watching Animal due to peer-pressure, let me save you some time – it is not for you. Now, let us break this film down and analyse everything that’s went wrong with it, which is literally EVERYTHING except the 2 Kapoors of the film.
Animal Is An Abysmal Attempt With No Redemption
HOC Rating – ★★★★★
Let me start by saying that the film means absolutely nothing and leaves you with a massive headache, not just because of the BGM, but the sheer stupidity of the events that transpire throughout the film. Now, when a film is devoid of any meaning or depth, the next thing you expect it to be is an audio-visual spectacle. Unfortunately, Animal terribly fails in that department as well featuring amateur action sequences with poorly choreographed stunt work and cartoonish VFX, whether you talk about gunshots or blood and gore. If you want to watch good action in an Indian film, go for films like URI, Shershah, Lakshya, or more recently An Action Hero or Bloody Daddy. And if you want to watch blood and gore, go for any of the numerous such well made Bollywood OTT series.
Another thing which was hyped in the trailers and marketing campaign of the film was “the father son relationship” aspect of it. Well, except for killing hundreds in the name of his father, Vijay (Ranbir) clearly has no idea what the words “love” and “respect” mean. Acting like a typical angry immature brat, Vijay neither understands his father, nor does anything worthy of his father’s positive attention throughout the film. As for his father Balbir Singh (Anil Kapoor), maybe if he gave a little bit of attention to Vijay during his childhood, we could have been saved of this abomination of a film. However, credit where credit is due, both Ranbir Kapoor and Anil Kapoor gave terrific performances further showcasing their wasted potential.
Animal’s director Vanga and its script writers seemed to have no idea about the framework of the film which resulted in a mess of plot. Viewers would find themselves jumping in between various different narratives which often seem completely out of place. One moment you’re being shown father-son relationship, the next moment you’re witnessing the protagonists having sex mid air, before suddenly being transported to a battle arena. Adding to that, the films’ main villain (Bobby Deol) has exactly as many scenes as we were already shown in the trailer. In fact, once you are done watching the film, you’ll realize that you’ve learned or viewed absolutely nothing new about anything in 3.5 hours which you already didn’t in the trailers. Also, other than Ranbir’s character, we never truly understand why anyone in the film is doing anything. Trust me, I am still trying to figure out what the hell did they actually show us in 3.5 hours!
While I already feel exhausted and frustrated while writing this piece, I haven’t even begun talking about the highly misogynistic and morally flawed nature of the film. But being a Sandeep Reddy Vanga film, we already know what we’re getting into and so I’ll completely ignore that side of the film. The film has so many other glaringly obvious flaws, that I really don’t want people dismissing this review by tagging it “woke”. So, just like the director, I too must ignore all the female characters in the film (sorry, Rashmika, you deserved much better). Let us talk about the BGM for a moment as I really want to let the masses know that LOUD BGM is not equal to GOOD BGM. The score of a film is meant to represent something and all this film’s score represented was ‘Tashan’ (exaggerated style) and headache. Also unlike Kabir Singh, the song album of Animal was highly disappointing and none of the songs have a potential to leave any lasting impact.
Finally, it seems like Vanga has cracked the code to audiences heart; the code being talk as much about sex, private parts, male hair, and under-wears as you possibly can. Somehow the scriptwriters found a way to make almost every other conversation between characters unnecessarily and excessively profane. Unfortunately, it looks like this worked as I found the masses actually smirking and laughing at these scenes. Also, the director knows absolutely no limits to showcasing the deeds of his highly flawed characters. In one sequence, Bobby Deol’s character actually starts raping his wife in a room full of people right after brutally killing a man. Question needs to be asked – why is that required in a film like this from a character who barely has 15 minutes of total screentime? The protagonist himself does a lot of similar deeds throughout the film in the name of revenge for his father. But who’s to be blamed for this? The director or the audience that laughs and cheers at such sequences and dialogues?
Final Verdict – Hiding behind its loud BGM, violence, and profanity is an excuse of a film that does more damage to cinema and society than its protagonist does to his enemies. The worst part is that we’re apparently getting a sequel to this film with the worst title you can imagine. May the Lord save us!
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