Animal

If you squint, you can kind of see where Sandeep Venga's Animal is supposed to go. It's a character study about an unhinged man born into privilege but lacking in the most important qualities, obsessed with his father who never showed him the love he needed. He's drawn into a world of violence and crime, in a desperate attempt to impress him. That's an interesting concept; throw in some of the Successionesque business politics, and you could've had an incredible film. The movie certainly has the talented names - Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kappor, Bobby Deol - to make it work.

Yet, Animal fails on basically every level. It feels like the creation of an annoying 14 year old Indian boy than a film, and can only be described as TOO MUCH. This 3 hour and 24 minutes feels like an eternity as we zip from scene to scene, moment to moment, without much time to breathe. Not to mention, the film just feels excessive and it's not entertaining. It's honestly an exhausting affair.

TOO MUCH brutality and gore. It's completely unnecessary, off putting, and difficult to watch. We're supposed to like our protagonist (more on him later), yet he's needlessly cruel and violent, like everyone at a certain point in this film. It feels really "off" tonally, and comes out of nowhere. The scene where Bobby Deol was introduced started off nicely, but then goes off the rails with the blood and gore, and it ruins it completely. Not to mention the unnecessary...sex scene. Yeah. More on THIS later too.

Ranbir Kapoor's Vijay is a psychopath, who is as mentioned before, cruel and violent, but unstable, rude, callous, condescending, misogynistic, and difficult to empathize with. We have to spend a bulk of the film with this man, and the movie is constantly asking us to sympathize and respect him, but he deserves none of it. I like films with "unlikable" protagonists, but a film has to give us a reason to connect with them from time to time. I don't want to hear anyone complain about Leo's Jordan Belfort ever again; a guy we know is terrible, but you can't help but like him. Vijay is not that.

The film is supposed to be about who is trying to kill Anil Kapoor's Papa (that's not his real name, but it might as well be, and to be fair, he's really good in this), and lead us into some corporate and maybe political intrigue. But the film wastes it with a paper thin, poorly told plot and villain's whose performers give it their all and are compelling via performance, but definitely terribly written. They're two dimensional and their motives feel rushed, and not to mention, the film can't help but be a bit Islamophobic as well. (There's subtext to these Modi era Bollywood movies).

But frankly, the worst thing about this movie is its celebration of toxic masculinity and misogyny. I'm no Bechdel Test wielding feminist, but my God, this movie really hates women. They're either doeish sex objects or lack any agency at all. There's a really dark and twisted attitude towards sex and relationships this movie portrays, glorifying domination, fear, and abuse, all whilst desperately trying to convince us the main couple have a happy and successful marriage. Vijay can't help but undermine and demean every other woman he sees, treating them as sexual objects, intimidating them, or insulting them. And what's disturbing is the movie seems to want to paint him as "the man men want to be, and the man women want to date."

There's legitimately a stretch of this film towards the end where I genuinely worried we'd see explicit violence against women, like some wife slapping or choking or worse, SA or the R word. I'm not joking. I saw this with three women. You can imagine how they felt.

Yeah, I'd maybe watch this high and laugh at with friends again, but for anyone else, PLEASE avoid this trashfire.

Such a bogus movie at 600 cr. What are we up to? We have Sam bahadur and kadak singh in parallel which not even able to manage 100 cr.

Basically people want drugs over ghee is such a true analogy. Sad but truth.. There is only violence and bad story in animal which you can't even ask your family to watch.

I am against any boycotting but Indian cinema needs to come out of the 'break the skull with hammer' approach. In fact bollywood is now not able to make their own script or movies so no they are copying South Indian movies.

Jawan was good movie but what was there in Tiger3(total waste).

We need good movies with stories, acting, songs...

This absolute disaster of a movie easily clinches a spot in the bottom 5 films I've ever subjected myself to. It's a train wreck of a narrative, drowning any semblance of storytelling in a sea of mindless violence and gratuitous sexuality that serves no purpose other than to shock. The complete lack of coherence or meaning makes it an exercise in frustration, leaving me more confused than ever about why this abomination was made. The actors, shamelessly taking on roles that should have come with a warning label, only add to the misery. Watching this film was akin to reliving the regrettable experience of enduring "Rockstar" by Ranbir Kapoor, a true testament to the depths of cinematic disappointment. Do yourself a favor and spare yourself from this excruciating journey into the abyss of terrible filmmaking.

"Animal" is a cinematic travesty, epitomizing the nadir of modern filmmaking. Its narrative is a convoluted mess, utterly devoid of coherence or purpose. The film's relentless indulgence in gratuitous violence and misogyny is both abhorrent and indefensible. Ranbir Kapoor's performance, though earnest, is squandered in this vile spectacle. Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga's obsession with toxic masculinity renders the film a reprehensible glorification of brutality. "Animal" is an assault on the senses, leaving viewers repulsed and questioning the very state of cinema. I can't believe I wasted 3.25 hours on this steaming pile of diapers.

Ranbir Kapoor's introduction as a "superstar" in the film initially raised skepticism for me. However, as I reached the halfway point, it became evident that he truly deserved the title.

Sandeep Reddy Vanga's promise to showcase genuine violence in cinema was effectively fulfilled. In an era dominated by high-budget action films and contrived flashbacks, Vanga dared to create a world where everything is heightened to the maximum, making the violence seem normal and the behavior even more unsettling. One particularly striking scene involves Ranbir, who, after discovering a mole, compels the individual to lick his shoe as a bizarre demonstration of love. It's a level of intensity reminiscent of something Quentin Tarantino might appreciate.

Addressing the question of logic, it's acknowledged that the film, like many others, is inherently illogical. Drawing parallels with films like Vikram, KGF, and Bahubali, it's recognized that crafting a movie with absolute logical coherence is a formidable challenge.

However, the film does have its drawbacks. The character arcs of certain individuals, such as the mother, sister, and villain, felt underdeveloped. The hero's revenge arc could have benefited from more nuanced writing, and Rashmika's character, while an improvement from Vanga's previous works, still warranted additional depth.

In summary, while I wouldn't classify it as a masterpiece, the film has its merits, particularly in exploring the dynamics of father-son and husband-wife relationships alongside the intense action sequences. It's a unique cinematic experience that some may appreciate for its visceral yet somewhat polarizing elements.