RRR

The overblown, silly Indian hit never stops for believable character development, nor takes a breather from the relentless action and melodrama.

For some reason Indian epic RRR has taken the filmgoing public by storm this year but you won't find me singing the picture's praise.

Even if director S.S. Rajamouli displays some visual flair, it's the kind of overblown, CGI-heavy spectacle critics usually rightfully chastise Hollywood productions for. He also botches the narrative rhythm of the film more than once, lingering on meaningless sequences, adding unnecessary flashbacks and never stopping for believable character development or just taking a breather from the relentless action and melodrama.

With a script stuffed with every cliché in the book and pantomime British villains even the energetic leads are powerless against the indulgent silliness of RRR.

Perhaps the film more or less works if you look at it as an elaborate parody of the action genre - some scenes would definitely not look out of place in a Hot Shots! film - but for me the picture was an overstuffed, overlong, undercooked mess.

release: 2022

director: S. S. Rajamouli

starring: N.T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan Teja, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Olivia Morris