Mirai

Mirai had all the ingredients to be an epic mythological fantasy - stunning visuals, big ideas, strong cast - but wastes its potential with weak writing, laggy pacing (169 mins feels stretched), forced comedy, and underdeveloped characters. The director focuses too much on spectacle and mythology references, ignoring emotional depth and logic. Antagonist and supporting characters start strong but get sidelined. Result: a visually grand but emotionally hollow film that drags in the second half.

Verdict: 2.5/5 - "Half-baked epic." Spectacle lovers may enjoy, but story seekers will be disappointed.

First of all, credit to the makers to dream of pulling off such a product within the limited budget. But the overall experience falls short of expectations.

Teja Sajja fits the bill, with no heavy duty acting required, Manchu Manoj brings in his unique mannerism and did well, although the character arc was predictable, Shriya looked tired on screen, lacking the divinity, rest of the cast just okayish, but the dubbing felt out of sync.

Technically, movie is solid, cinematography by Karthik is superb, once again proves his mettle as one of the DOPs from TFI, score by Gowra Hari is thumping and riveting, keeping the proceedings alive, editing by Sreekar Prasad could have been better, production values by PMF are very good and last but not least, the VFX department deserves good round of applause.

Coming to director Karthik Gattamaneni, though the script has got all the beats of a superhero movie, the staging and setup doesn't look organic and engaging, though the action blocks are well choreographed, the lead up doesn't induce any emotion. Also, the unnecessary comedic gags should have been avoided. First feels better compared to second half, in the latter the pace dips, only to pick up at the climax, which is, even though predictable, leaves a good impression. Overall, it's a decent one time watch.

BOTTOMLINE: What the hell was that post-credit scene? Totally unnecessary.

As a kid, when I used to see a lot of Hollywood adventure movies that infused some mythical element in the modern world, I would love watching that and would also start thinking about how awesome it would be to see stuff like that with Indian mythology. Mirai is exactly that, but maybe a bit too much of that formula, because even a lot of the stuff I used to like as a kid wasn't as great as I used to think. Now, I haven't seen Hanuman with the same actor, which seems to have followed this same formula, so this doesn't seem like it was repeating the same thing to me, but it might be the case.

When watching Kalki, I was put off by a lot of scenes of Prabhas and the kind of comedy they tried, but that movie had a lot more to offer besides that. The same issue is kind of present here, but there are a few comedy that lands, and overall it wasn't that bad, but then again this isn't as ambitious as it was either, so the toning down was at both ends.

The editing of the movie felt very clunky; sometimes there were continuity errors, sometimes it seemed like there were unnecessary cuts, and at least one dialogue definitely looked like it was muted. But after seeing a lot of issues, I started to wonder if that's an issue specifically with the Tamil dub, I'm not sure.

The way the villain is is pretty much the Killmonger Paradox; he talks about the issues with the system, his reason for retaliation is based on the right things, but then he goes way too evil for the cause to have any importance. But the way this movie presented those issues and what it represents with so little care, it almost comes off like they want to keep the unfair practices, at least they are pretty clear from the start that the whole thing is really about keeping the status quo.

Even though there were a lot of problems with it, both technically and thematically, I can't help but like it because this was something I really wanted to see as a child.

The movie's immersive storytelling stems from its seamless blend of human relations, core values, spirituality, and ancient lore. The story begins with Emperor Ashoka, a historical figure, and seamlessly connects his legend of the nine sacred books. A story finding its foot equally in history, spirituality, and mythology, binding it into a religious tale you would root for, is a fantasy most stories lack.

Mirai's strongest element is its invocation of Lord Rama. The narrative takes us to the Treta Yug and the land where Lord Ram picked up his weapon for the first time; the entire plot is surreal. And suddenly the film is no longer a simple hero-versus-villain story as it turns into Dharma vs Adharma.

Talking about performances, Teja has done a fine job, and his transition from an ordinary person to a soldier looks believable. Ritika Nayak did a decent job with her performance within the limitations of her character. Shriya Saran in the role of Ambika made her experience count and made her presence felt. Jagapathi Babu and Jayaram got very important roles and both of them performed well as usual. Manchu Manoj's antagonist avatar looked far from menacing and was quite disappointing.

The narrative struggles with character development and payoff. The heroine, introduced with promise, becomes increasingly sidelined and ultimately adds little to the story after the halfway mark. More critically, the villain-portrayed as nearly invincible throughout the film-receives a disappointingly abrupt resolution. After successfully obtaining all nine books, a single arrow ends his saga, undermining both his buildup and the audience's investment in his power.

A more satisfying approach would have been to extend his presence into a sequel. By allowing him to fully wield the destructive force of the nine books, the story could have explored darker consequences and raised the stakes considerably. The heroes' journey to uncover a meaningful strategy for defeating such a formidable enemy would have created a more compelling and emotionally rewarding climax.