मिखाइल

In case there's anything to take away from 'Mikhael' as a movie, all of it pertains to the first half. The minor redeeming factors would include Nivin Pauly getting to be his casual, relaxed self (in the flashback portions as Dr. Michael), a pretty intriguing neurotic angle displayed by Siddique's antagonist character, and the adorable Navani Devanand (who plays Mike's sister Jennifer). With 'Mikhael', Haneef Adeni reinstates that he is little beyond bland scripting, excessive application of slow motion, Biblical references, and mindless violence.

A number of inconsequential characters are portrayed by well-known actors. This list includes Suraj Venjaramoodu, J D Chakravarthy (this man was born for playing such meaningless, expressionless roles), Jayaprakash, Sudev Nair, Ashokan, Kalabhavan Shajon, Kishore, and more. It would be difficult to find a reason beyond a prompt paycheck that really urged any of these actors to want to take up a role in 'Mikhael'. Same goes for the women (except for Navani) - Reba Monica, Manjima, and KPAC Lalitha. No impact whatsoever! The second half, as I mentioned in the headliner, is just a barrage of incoherent fight sequences. None of it makes sense, because it's in a way, trying to undo the first half - a jolly Nivin Pauly is apparently a bad-ass doctor with prior training in martial arts; the two cop characters (played by Suraj and Chakravarthy) are mere watchdogs to Mike's doings; George Peter (Siddique) who we thought was shaping up to be a powerful antagonist, is killed off only to introduce his brawny brother Marco played by Unni Mukundan. Everything, I mean, everything is plain awful.

To say that there was a solid story to be told is an insult in itself. It's just a rehash of Adeni's earlier flicks - Nivin playing a character that Mammootty would have happily taken up (again) if written for an older man. The mass-hero antics are very much there, and Nivin struggles big time to pull it off comfortably. He looks like he's put on a little too much, and it never helps when the antagonist has an obvious advantage in terms of executing the fights better and also boasts an athletic build.

The ridiculousness that's inherent in Adeni films is retained in 'Mikhael' too. For instance, pay heed to any of Unni Mukundan's lines, and of course, how can I forget the glorious shower scene that was supposed to make viewers jittery but ended up making them laugh. For an action movie, the fight choreography (which has been credited to a number of veterans) looks astonishingly mediocre. The location choices for the fisticuffs too aren't exactly innovative either. The 'sanatorium' (the hideout of Jayaprakash's character) looked like it was made to drive people insane than a place where the mentally-ill would be taken to for treatment.

Mikhael is best forgotten from Nivin Pauly's filmography. I mean, viewers can forgive him for wanting to stay a little mainstream and action-oriented after Kayamkulam Kochunni. I'm confident that he'll strike back soon with 'Moothon' and the film with Rajeev Ravi. As for Adeni, he'll continue to bore us with more routine revenge flicks (please prove me wrong, man!). We're done with avenging daughter ('The Great Father'), brother ('Abrahaminte Santhathikal'), and sister ('Mikhael') already. Who's next? Brother-in-law (a.k.a 'Aliyan')? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I happen to hear something along those lines!

Mikhael is an absolute disaster. There's not a single good thing about this movie. Everything went wrong right from the start. Poor acting, poor direction, poor editing, poor music and much more. Siddique and Unni Mukundan did an okay job (apart from Siddique's character which had no sense and Unni Mukundan's dialogue in the hospital, which was serious but funny). Nivin Pauly didn't do a good job comparing with his previous roles. Manjima Mohan didn't have anything much to do. Haneef Adeni's direction style is so old and boring. The Great Father was much better than Mikhael. Please avoid Mikhael. We should not promote these kind of movies and movies like Mikhael should be terminated from Malayalam film industry.

Where do I start? Do I start with the absolute lazy acting displayed by Nivin Pauly or a director who just forgot the essence of making something with a good screenplay. Nivin Pauly can only pull of something like a Premam or other romantic films. Action is not his genre. Most actors are under utilized and I wonder why most even signed up for this trash. Unni Mukundan, you deserve better.

It's a thriller for the first 1 hr, once suspence is over it's a family drama and for the last 1 hr it's a underworld story. Even the hero has 3 different modulation in his character, a soft spoken and timid guys becomes a fighting champion.

The movie is good to watch with actors giving their best in each role, young girl Navani, Markos unni mukundan, JD Chakravarthy, Siddique all were at their best.

A good movie that gets draged by a long long story.

I mean , there's nothing special about this movie , there isn't anything vehemently wrong either. Average in it's truest sense I guess. Siddique was solid , Unni mukundan alright , Nivin was the weakest of the main characters, surprise since I thought he would atleast best Unni Mukundan but alas. Story alright , Action alright , Songs forgettable. Just average. Nothing much to talk about it , nothing I remember atleast. A kind of film that one forgets watching after 1 month or so.

Decent 5/10 , Watch it if you have time to kill.