Vikram review: Tamil action legend returns to take down drug dealer in thrilling Kollywood hit

If Hollywood can justify making sequels to "Rambo" and "Top Gun" over three decades later, Why can't Kollywood do the same? In "Vikram", a secret agent first introduced in 1986 emerges from deep infiltration to thwart the biggest drug trade in Indian history. He's a grandfather now, but that doesn't stop the main character (Kamal Haasan) from throwing people across the room in this three-hour turbocharged action bonanza, which pairs Vikram with a young agent named Amar (Fahadh Faasil). The two have at least one thing in common: rules and regulations don't matter, which means they're free to fight crime as creatively as they (and director Lokesh Kanagaraj) hear it.

Taking a page from "True Lies" by James Cameron, with his go-big-or-go - home approach from set pieces, Kanagaraj made a memorable blockbuster and the highest-grossing Tamil-language hit of the year (at $53.7 million and counting). There's at least one other trick the director learned from Hollywood - though the whole project can sometimes feel like an epic parody of studio hyperbole - and that's the strategy of connecting the film to past and future projects (so far only 2019's “Kaithi”) through overlapping storylines and characters: call it the Lokesh Cinematic Universe.

In a way, that's how the Vikram renaming also works, linking this new film to one of its star's previous successes without worrying too much about their relationship. Beyond the dozens of side-splitting jokes, the two films have little in common as Kanagaraj ushers the character into the 21st century. Cue one of the catchiest tunes you'll hear all year, composer Anirudh Ravichander's amped-up reworking of Ilaiyaraaja's 1986 theme for the original "Vikram," which plays to a backlit battle royale designed to evoke the iconic title sequence from the previous film. /p>

Although Kanagaraj relies heavily on music to fuel the action - mostly guitar riffs intense electric and drum 'n' bass explosions – it features just one traditional number: at the start, an open-shirted Haasan leads a crowd of wanderers through a series of dance moves in the style of a Dad around a dilapidated railroad yard. A moment later, the same character is executed on camera by a squad of masked terrorists, a shocking crime that leads to police chief Jose (Chemban Vinod Jose) unleashing the Amar cannon on the case. Amar is due to be married in a few days, and he has sworn to his fiancée (Gayathrie) never to question him about his work, which involves everything from torturing suspects to interrogating prostitutes.

It will take the film the next hour and a half to reveal what everyone in the audience assumes d enter: that Haasan's character - a constantly inebriated, brothel-going buffoon who goes by the name Karnan - was not actually murdered. Nor was he the deadbeat his family and servants had been led to believe. He is, in fact… Vikram, leader of the Black Squad spy team, elite government agents betrayed and left for dead by their double-crossed superiors. The real mystery, which the film likes to tease, is whether this seemingly contradictory man is a hero or a villain – a question ultimately answered by a lengthy anti-drug speech and the sight of Haasan blasting everyone with a Browning machine gun. vintage. /p>

Kanagaraj loves his complicated characters, which makes the otherwise cartoonish film much more interesting. The way "Vikram" isn't fazed by American body ideals is also welcome: The film's Pablo Escobar-like drug lord Sandhanam (Vijay Sethupathi) is a massive beef. And aside from the ankle-cutting little person (Jaffer Sadiq) who leads his team, Faasil is often the shortest person on screen. Like a Jack Russell terrier, however, Amar compensates for his stature with sheer ferocity, intimidating everyone he meets. (Haasan isn't a bodybuilder either, but fights hard, throwing his guts into every punch.)

A shipment of two tons of an experimental crude substance (one gram of which is one kilogram of cocaine) has disappeared and Sandhanam wants it back. Could he be the masked terrorist? Uncertain, since he operates so much above the law, he doesn't need a disguise to kill with impunity. Sandhanam is...