Let me begin this review by saying if you are that diehard fan who would scream “Kadavuley Ajithey” despite your star requesting not to do that, you do not need any review to watch this movie, and this review is not at all for such an individual. A movie having fan service moments is a pretty understandable thing. When Karthik Subbaraj made Petta and Lokesh Kanagaraj made Vikram, we saw those subtle ways fan-boy directors showed their love for their favorite stars. In Malayalam also, we have seen Prithviraj do the same very neatly in Lucifer. The whole theater erupted hearing the Narcotics is a dirty business dialogue in Lucifer, and what was good about that is that it blends with the story of the movie seamlessly. The script of the movie (or I should say scribbles) Good Bad Ugly seems like a list of fan service references and names of characters and films in Ajith’s filmography and some hit songs. This is a movie where even the director does not give a flying f*** about having a script.
So the movie is basically about AK, aka Red Dragon. He was a dreaded gangster at one point in life, and he decided to surrender himself so that his family wont be in danger because of him. 18 years later, when he tries his luck at starting everything fresh with his family, the enemies he made decide to make life difficult for him. The new set of obstructions in AK’s life and how he handles them are what we see in Good Bad Ugly.
One movie that came to my mind while I finished watching this movie was the 2022 Malayalam film Aarattu. Even though it has a tacky movie status right now, I remember a lot of the initial response to the film is that they got to see the old Mohanlal in the movie. Good Bad Ugly was pretty much like an Aarattu for me. Aarattu at least had a story idea. But in Good Bad Ugly, there are an insane amount of Ajith Kumar references, from his personal life to the kind of films he does, I found myself waiting for the movie to begin. It’s like watching an unending number of introduction sequences for a single character. And whenever the movie tries to have some sort of drama in the script, the amateurishness of the writing reminded me of the fact that Adhik Ravichandran is the guy who wrote and directed Trisha Illana Nayanthara and Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan before his box office jackpot Mark Antony.
In interviews prior to the release of the movie, when Adhik was asked whether dialogues like the Mankatha reference would feel like an overdone thing in the film, he claimed that it comes very organically in the movie, and even people who haven’t seen Mankatha won’t find it pointless. But when you watch the film, those dialogues are added just for that moment. My philosophy about fan service packages is that they should be entertaining for the fans and should feel like a good endorsement for those who are either neutral or ignorant about the star. Adhik’s vision for a fan service movie is making something like a big-budget music video-like mashup video that goes on and on. The placement of certain moments, like that song from Kireedam in a mediocre film like this, actually feels like a disrespect to the original.
The writing is absolutely basic, and the character given to Arjun Das and the kind of drama around it can give you a headache thinking about how three prominent production houses thought this was a great idea. There is a part in the movie where a character describes the history of AK as someone who had associations with the Professor from Money Heist, John Wick, and Don Lee. I mean, how delusional does one have to be in order to make the worshipping of his favorite actor look like a “what the hell is this?” kind of a thing for others? Abhinandan Ramanujam uses these warm color frames similar to Mark Antony, and the saturated colors make the movie look like a music video in its entirety. The musical packaging is almost like a distraction tactic to give less time for people to think about what is happening on screen.
Ajith Kumar, as always, looks dashing on screen, and we have the movie showcasing him in de-aged looks in various flashy costumes. The performance is in that villain space, which his fans like a lot. Since the movie is basically people around him worshipping him 24*7 or people who hate him getting scary information about how dangerous he is, Ajith seems to be having a ball doing this role. Arjun Das, who had the reputation of being a solid villain thanks to his voice with extreme bass, is reduced to a mere clown-like villain in this film. Trisha, as Ramya, has pretty much nothing to do here. Prasanna, Sunil, Prabhu, Salaar fame Karthikeya Dev, Priya Prakash Varrier, and so many actors are there, including the ever-irritating Redin Kingsley.
Just to give you a context, I will talk about a supposed mass scene in this movie. Arjun Das’s character is part of a WhatsApp group that has a handful of bad guys that rule the world. The moment he puts the photo of AK in that group, everybody exits the group in seconds, and the admin even deletes the group. Now, if the idea of this scene is giving you goosebumps, then this movie is for you. I literally giggled seeing it on screen. If the movie had something worth appreciating in terms of a story aspect, I would have understood why Ajith said yes to this unending fanservice package. But as someone who runs out of paper in his notepad requesting fans not to call him Thala or Kadavul and who constantly urges them not to erect his cutouts, his decision to say yes to this narcissistic pleasure ride just doesn’t make sense.
The script of the movie (or I should say scribbles) Good Bad Ugly seems like a list of fan service references and names of characters and films in Ajith's filmography and some hit songs.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
