Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
The hype surrounding director Lokesh Kanagaraj’s film with Kollywood star Vijay was tremendous, and expectations were sky high. Kanagaraj has made a name for himself with his films, especially Kaithi and Vikram. Though his previous film, ‘Master,’ with Vijay was decent, ‘Leo’ was expected to be the best among all. So, was ‘Leo’ the best Lokesh Kanagaraj film?
‘Leo’ is set in Theog, Himachal Pradesh, and we are introduced to the middle-aged coffee shop owner Parthiban (Vijay) when he is called in to rescue a wild hyena that has entered the town. Parthiban, who is also an animal lover and is known to rescue wild animals, is brought in by forest ranger Joshy Andrews (Gautam Vasudev Menon), and he helps capture the animal with aplomb. The café owner is a family man and has been living in Theog happily for two decades with his wife Sathya (Trisha) and two kids. But his life changes when he becomes a local hero and his photo is splashed across the media.
In this melee, Telangana tobacco business owner Anthony Das (Sanjay Dutt) and his brother Harold Das (Arjun Sarja) – who are in the illegal drugs business – see Parthiban’s photo and believe that he is, in fact, Anthony Das’s son, Leo Das. A fire in their tobacco factory 20 years back had killed many people, and Leo had vanished and was presumed dead. Was Parthiban really Leo or just someone who looked like him? Anthony comes into Theog with his gang of thugs to discover the truth, and this is when a war erupts in this quiet hill town. The rest of the story is about whether Prathiban is Leo and what happens between all these men.
At the outset, Vijay is superb as Prathiban, and the emotional arc that director Lokesh Kanagaraj has given this character really suits the Tamil star. Thalapathay Vijay plays the doting father and husband as effortlessly as he plays the ‘badass’ guy gunning for the gangsters to protect his family. The guessing game as to whether Parthiban is Leo or not is also intriguing. However, when it comes to the story and script, ‘Leo’ is disappointing. This movie is Kanagaraj’s weakest film so far, and this is a let-down for the audience. The movie is filled with violence from beginning to end, and in trying to show Vijay as an action star with some terrific fight scenes, the story seems to have been forgotten.
It is important to have a strong storyline that silently takes the narrative forward, but in ‘Leo,’ that is a missing piece. There are too many villains in the story, and none of them stand above the rest or are strong enough. The ultimate climax between the hero and villain is also a let-down, as is the sad VFX hyena. For a movie made on such a big budget, one expected the VFX to be far superior.
Kanagaraj says he has been influenced by David Cronenberg’s action thriller, ‘A History Of Violence,’ and one expected an action thriller in ‘Leo’ as well. But the mindless killings really can’t be deemed action, and the movie ends up being average fare due to the poor storyline. The cast list of the film is huge – Vijay, Trisha, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Sarja, Priya Anand, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Mysskin, Mansoor Ali Khan, Madonna Sebastien, Mathew Thomas, George Maryan, and others. But only some of the cast have impressive roles like – obviously Vijay – and Trisha, Gautham Menon, Arjun, and Sanjay Dutt – and they perform well. The rest of them just appear in a few scenes and don’t add much value. As for Anirudh’s music, it was par for the course except for ‘Naan Ready’ in the second half, which is foot-tapping and added some energy to the film.
Yes, Kanagaraj does bring in the LCU connection, and fans will be happy. So, was Vijay’s ‘Leo’ bloody sweet? Unfortunately, it was more bitter sweet.