24

Only a very few movies made in India have succeeded in the science fiction fantasy genre. Directed by Vikram K Kumar, the Suriya starrer 24 isn’t an impressive movie on the whole. Trying desperately to be a sophisticated science thriller fantasy, the film never really manages to take us to that zone of a fantasy movie. With only a few instances in the plot trying to be innovative, 24 is a film that has efforts but no results.

It focuses on the discovery made by a scientist named Sethuraman in 1991. It was a time travelling technique and the discovery created issues between Sethuraman and his brother ending up in a tragedy. Now in 2016, the watch is in the hands of a watch mechanic Mani and the movie shows us how he discovers the power of the watch, how he uses it and what all troubles he faced after that.

The one thing which is really striking about 24 is the overdone feel of many scenes. The cricket match sequence, the one romantic scene where the couple is repeating the postal address and a few more scenes are there that sort of annoys with its lengthy nature or illogical feel. The cheesy dramas that unfold at many areas are also not completely convincing. Having said all these negatives, there are a few plot points in the movie which kind of makes you feel that the movie is going to be interesting from now on. But the development doesn’t have that much of a charm to its credit.

Suriya, the man of multiple get ups has performed really well in the triple role. The three of them had entirely different nature and he gave each of them an identity. Samantha doesn’t have much of a significant role to do and is more of that unavoidable heroine. Nithya Menen looked good in her brief role. Saranya Ponvannan was really good as the cool and caring mother.

From iron man suit kind of watch to the cradle that looked like the spaceship which brought Superman, the references used in the movie by director Vikram Kumar lack innovation. Film is highly dependent on the visual impact of the written fantasy. And because of the unrefined visual effects, it isn’t that completely convincing. The typical Tamil film formula of inserting romance without much blend to the main story is happening here as well. And the awkward part is that it consumes a hell a lot of time in the 163 minutes long movie. It is not like this movie is an absolute dull one, there are moments but they were all isolated. Thiru’s cinematography was nice. A R Rahman’s tracks hasn’t created that impact for me.

24 has ambition to be a better sci fi film, but the deliberate usual elements and the lack of a completely novel theme drags the movie backwards. 24 is an average entertainer. Minimizing the expectations would be a good idea I guess.

Rating 2.5/5