Cobra, one of the most awaited Tamil film from Vikram and Ajay Gnanamuthu (Demonte Colony and Imaikka Nodigal fame) released amidst mixed reaction last Wednesday. Most of them criticized the length of the film initially. Infact some of the reviews were so bad that the makers decided to trim the film the very next day. by 20 minutes. I couldn't watch the full version. This review is based on the trimmed version which is around 163 minutes.
Basically the story is about twin brothers Madhi and Kathir, who thankfully don't get separated in the young age. But they have a flashback story to justify the enmity between them. One of them is an assassin and another a Mathematics genius. Amidst this we have a villain Rishi who kills everyone opposing his rise in corporate world. Irfan Pathan (Aslan) is an Interpol officer investigating the assassinations. The story is out in wiki and hence not repeating the same. Lets get into other aspects of the film.
There were many reviews that the film is confusing, not good, boring, sentimental etc. But this trimmed version has all of it in equal proportions. Yes, its not as gripping as how such films should be. However, I felt it was a decent attempt from the director. The movie has been shot in several foreign locations too and some shots were exceptional, the Russia episode for example. Vikram has given his best for the film and has several scenes to excel in his performance. The scenes where we see Vikram hallucinating is shot interestingly and it culminates very well in the interrogation scene. (A tribute to Anniyan actually)
Tamil films have been struggling to find a good villain. For a change, instead of regular bollywood imports, Roshan Mathew (as Rishi) is a breath of fresh air. He excels in his role. Same with Sarjano Khalid (as the younger Vikram), who manages to pull-off a decent performance. However, not sure what was Mamukoya (another malayalam veteran actor) doing in this film. Irfan Pathan does emote well, but did not have a great role. While the female leads have something to do with the story, their characters are not developed well for us to connect with them.
The film has been in the making for more than 2 years and that shows (covid impact included). There is no continuity even in the looks of Vikram towards the climax. Its understandable that he was acting in multiple films at the same time (Mahaan and Ponniyin Selvan). May be some scenes which were cut could have added more clarity to the proceedings. Vikram's different roles were hyped enough during the initial days of shooting as well. However, only two roles (the priest and cameraman) stand out, but it did look very artificial. AR Rahman's BGM is loud and there is no much scope for songs in this plot. Cinematography by Bhuvan Srinivasan (and Harish) was good.
Honestly, I agree with the director here. A film with this kind of concept and execution could not be told in 150 minutes. It deserved more time to develop the characters and connect their emotions with the audience. However a tight script is also required (the directors earlier film Imaikka Nodigal is an example). The mathematics angle to the assassinations was interesting, however this concept is not explored or used towards the second half of the film. Same with the concept of hallucination (remember the classic Beautiful mind?). The other drawback of the film is the climax which was very cinematic. The search for a good climax (height of excitement) for Tamil action films continues. To make it worse, the film ends abruptly without any post-credits scene leaving us empty.
Overall, Cobra is a decent attempt from Ajay Gnanamuthu and deserves a watch for the efforts put in by the team. But it definitely falls short on the expectations. I hope the makers released the full version in OTT.
Rating - 2.5/5
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