Review: Mersal is Thalapathi Vijay show all the Way! He’s on fire!

The story is simple and with so many reviews, there is no need to go into it more here. The story isn’t very complex, which is typical of ‘revenge action with a mass hero’. We have all seen and read this story before from MGR days. It works more like a tribute to MGR movies. Other than the basic plot that is similar to all ‘S.S. Rajamouli’ films we don’t see the presence of K. V. Vijayendra Prasad. And yes there is one scene taken directly out of ‘Vikramarkudu’.

Mersal is an effective revenge-action-drama. Forget about National Awards, plot twists, or coherence. There is enough action to keep you happy, there is enough comedy and songs to please you and then there’s Vijay to bring a smile to your face. Mersal is yet another mass flick from Atlee. Atlee has taken enough inspirations from various other mass films. Here we can see traces of S. Shankar and AR Murugadoss movies. Eg. If the first ‘incidents’ reminds you of Ramana, the very next scene will remind you ‘Sivaji’. More than anything if you have seen Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, you will start guessing certain shots, and you will be amazed to see the same thing coming without much change, including the ‘double role’ act.

Atlee and Vijay

Anyhow, the scenes which showcase Vijay’s mass appeal impress mostly, so are the few emotional moments such as the ‘auto driver portion’ (even though it was over melodramatic) and the flash back scenes of Nithya Menen. The heroism depicted in the movie etched a lasting impression in my mind. Hareesh Peradi and Vijay combination scenes in the first half are one of the highlights of Mersal which everybody is going to enjoy. The best part of the film is with Vijay’s Thalapathi avatar. He looks damn good during the serious scenes. The ‘vetti’ and ‘sattai’ suits him well.

What is impressive about Atlee! The points he daringly discusses in the film that includes of Hospitals, Medicines, and Doctors. Mersal is about the malpractices and greed in the medical sector. The positive rating of my review starts from this point.

Vijay is brilliant, and he executed his characters to perfection. Vijay is on great form. His portrayal of different characters with different mannerisms will stay up there as his best works. He pulls off action brilliantly. Mersal is Thalapathi Vijay show all the Way! He’s on fire! Watch out for the ‘Thalapathi’ character. His intro, the walk in the theatre! (Wow) that was awesome. Vijay keeps you transfixed every single second with his flawless performance. This is not the Vijay from Puli or Jilla! This is the Vijay you’ve been craving to see. But, sadly no other artists, except Nithya Menen, impresses. S.J. Surya is good.

AR Rahman

The soundtrack by AR Rahman is mind-blowing, especially the mixing. It is a treat to be in a theatre with great sound quality. And especially the songs which are so energetic and vibrant. He does not settle with just that, he makes you a part of it with amazing bgm.

Biggest weakness of Mersal is its cinematography, and then the length. I wonder why such a big budget film is filled with TV commercial like camera movements and lighting. AR Rahman’s songs are criminally spoiled with TVC visuals. Cinematography is a big letdown. Then there are useless characters like that of the ‘forgettable’ Kajal Aggarwal, ‘poor’ Sathyaraj & ‘comic’ Samantha, and the frustrating Vadivelu & Kovai Sarala. Nobody knows why they are in the movie.

Thanks to the high energy Vijay who makes you forgive the flaws. Despite the fact you know he’s going to win every fight, the movie still keeps you engaged. Without him it would not be meaningful, with him it’s watchable & special. The positives outweigh the negatives. It has a dozen of electrifying scenes for the fans. Mersal is one of Vijay’s most exciting movies.