The Greatest Of All Time: META-morphosis

Star Cast: Thalapathy Vijay, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan, Ajmal Ameer, Jayaram, and Laila
Music Composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography by Siddhartha Nuni
Edited by Venkat Raajen
Directed by Venkat Prabhu 

If a hero turns into a mass action superhero on screen, there will always be limits on what they can attempt and how they can do it. When it comes to “how” – you expect them to be ideal, philosophical, cunning, funny, handsome, a techno-expert, a political ideologist, a chauvinist, a non-chauvinist, highly educated, uneducated yet an all-rounder, intelligent, sharp, a teaser, and a patriot. Just remembered the famous Vadivelu line – “Hmmm podhum podhum list perusa poyigitradhe” [Stop, stop… the list seems to be going on and on]. So, if an Indian superhero, sorry, mass hero, has to adhere to everything on this unending list and not showcase any special powers to really justify it, then he has to follow an unwritten rule book. With that rule book hanging over your head like “Shasanala Grandham”, it is a challenge for any filmmaker to break the delusional image of the “mass hero” and draw you into the story. Kabali [2016] and Kaala [2018] failed, yet Jailer [2023] succeeded in this aspect. The reason being the director’s determination to present the massive Superstar as a down-to-earth commoner for at least 40-45 minutes. Similarly, Vikram [2022] succeeded in offering something new while adhering to all that the “Hero” has to achieve on screen. Venkat Prabhu became a sensation because of his ability and audacity to ask such a “Hero” to become a “Villain” in Mankatha [2011] breaking all the rules. He literally broke every norm to present Ajith as a “Super Villain”. In contrast, he tried to keep the “Superhero” and “Supervillain” intact for Thalapathy Vijay’s The Greatest Of All Time. So, on one hand, he is trying to break rules, and on the other hand, he is strictly adhering to them as well. And that’s where you’re left unsatisfied.

Watch Out: Spoiler Mines Ahead

In a way, Superstar Rajinikanth’s films have always set norms for the next generation of superstars in picking scripts and attempting “commercial” films. The Greatest Of All Time (The GOAT) has a plotline that closely resembles Jailer, but Venkat Prabhu has already addressed that the film also resembles Vijaykanth’s Chatriyan [1990]. We can say it is a mix of both. The son is the ultimate villain in his father’s life, and the father tries to save everyone, including his son, from the villain. In the end, it ends up being a mix of both but lacks a solid plot for Vijay to take over. Jailer and Vikram have allowed both larger-than-life characters with big stars to be celebrated, making each move an event. The energy the big stars brought to the screen mesmerized almost everyone in the theatres. Hence, they both ended up as big theatrical experience films, while their popularity is not the same on OTT platforms. The same can be said for SRK’s two biggest blockbusters of 2023 – Pathaan being a theatrical experience, while Jawan achieved equal appreciation on digital platforms and in theatres. Thalapathy Vijay needs a film like Jawan that repeats the success of Thuppakki [2012] or Kaththi [2014] for him before he takes an extended political break from films, with the energy possibly propelling him to huge political success.

As he announced that he is going to do only two more films before The GOAT, writer-director Venkat Prabhu, who likes to be “META” in his films, tried a “META-morphosis” of sorts by mixing different themes while trying to stay true to his genre and Vijay’s genre. Thuppakki could break the image of Vijay as a dim-witted, high-octane mass hero who transformed himself from being a lover boy on screen by giving him a cool, calculated head and a proper character graph. The character doesn’t always have to change its behavior, but if it can grow wiser and smarter to achieve the final aim of the mission, then that equates to proper character growth too.

Mission Impossible films stay true to that principle, which allowed Ethan Hunt to grow on us. But Tom Cruise’s daredevil spirit took over Ethan Hunt as a character as Mission Impossible films became an excuse for him to try weirder and life-threatening stunts. The same with Vijay too. He found commercial success with Kaththi, which resonates with his political aspirations and ideologies. Now, he wants that to be repeated in every other film, and that has become Vijay’s genre. Even in Master [2021], Beast [2022], and Leo [2023], there are always hints at him working for the betterment of society or being patriotic to the nation. But Venkat Prabhu doesn’t belong to that school of thought. He loves to serve a good commercial entertainer with an innovative plotline or character to follow. So, can the metamorphosis of two polarly different genres work?

Venkat Prabhu had the same thoughts and fears. At least, the movie suggests that he did have second thoughts for every scene and ambitious plot point he attempted. For example, Vijay as Thalapathy, or more accurately as Gandhi, decides to blast a train, not just a compartment, as part of his escape plan. Venkat Prabhu of Maanaadu might have thought, “Let’s not make this the accident that kills the villain’s family as well“. He would have asked himself, “What other way can I achieve the same impact but with even greater effect”? He would have easily understood the loophole behind the “cinematic liberty” he was going to take. No RAW mission, especially a ‘Snatch Mission’, would allot a budget to conduct blasts. With geopolitical issues raising huge concerns, he would have tried to go the Captain America: Civil War [2016] way, with a forced blast happening on a passenger train, unintentionally caused by the villain. But the GOAT film director Venkat Prabhu did not have such time to really think about this cinematic liberty and dissect it. He needed to “assemble” – a script, an ensemble cast, a VFX crew, and also execute it all in a fixed time. Well, at least the movie shows how the team overworked a few things and undercooked a lot in a rush to meet deadlines. For example, Venkat Prabhu of Mankatha did not give a reason for the “villain” to be a “villain.” In GOAT, he tried to justify his psychotic behavior with a lazily stitched flashback. While the intention is sincere, even in a film like Slumdog Millionaire [2008] that majorly concentrates on the hero’s vast journey, the flashes of past trauma are not handled in such a manner. Venkat Prabhu of Mankatha might not have cared for a reason, but VP of Maanaadu would have twisted it to showcase how manipulatively Mohan’s Menon character built on the trauma over years rather than what looked like months. You don’t forget 5 years of parental love in a few days, and the trauma needs time to grow into hatred. Venkat Prabhu could have shown this in 3-4 minutes if he had concentrated on it. Also, a father, who is an ex-RAW agent, doesn’t want to confirm whether the burnt child is his son or not, at least through a post-mortem, or double-check what his estranged son did before welcoming him into his house. If his son had been a criminal with records, he could have easily investigated them before Nazeer. Why doesn’t he want to activate those senses? Gandhi discovers that his son has been behind the crimes along with Mohan. Why doesn’t he try to convince him to flip? What made him think that his son wouldn’t listen to him? It’s better not to talk about the Gandhi-Bose-Nehru comic angle.

Hence, Ilayathalapathy Vijay did not really need a reason to turn to the dark side. He could have easily taken the other side for many other reasons. He could have been religiously motivated, money wise manipulated, ideologically disturbed or grows a hatred towards his father due to the suffering he had to face. If none of these excite, at least him being a terrorist for his psychotic reasons and suddenly, finds his estranged family to carry out his plans. At least this could have made sense. Thus, the revenge angle looked forced and unjustified. Even the majority of scenes and their execution seemed to have a rushed feel. Except for sone comic scenes and a few action episodes, everything looked calculated to fit into a genre that Vijay specializes in.

Like this, there are many undercooked good ideas laced with overcooked terrible ones. Thalapathy Vijay is a good actor, but he’s not known for being a cruel person on screen. Except in Azhagiya Tamil Magan [2007], he did not try negative characters, to an extent Kaththi has him in a selfish dark shade. In this one, he had to think about de-ageing and also complexities related to his character. He did his best to carry the negative character. But his image is not constructed around him being a great actor. Rather his fans like him for his simple gestures and mannerisms that suit only his style. As a negative character, Jeeva, he has to break those streotypes or at least add something new for them. So, when he breaks such a carefully created image, he needs even stronger writing to elevate the scenes to a believable level. Cliched and slightly random scenes don’t do justice. Prabhu Deva’s evil sub-plot made more sense than the random, rambling psychotic acts of Vijay. Because the character has random ambitions rather than a focused goal. A negative person, even a psychotic and sadistic evil like SJ Suryah from Spyder [2017] has a better reason for doing random acts. Here, Jeevan is going after his biological family just because of a random reason. At least the scenes are randomly placed for us to really feel anything. The difference lies in Venkat Prabhu trying to balance fans expectations, aspirations, and his penchant for showing Vijay in a different light. He wants Vijay to completely open up like Ajith in Mankatha and be a shocking blast for audiences. Ajith tried something similar in Varalaru [2006], where one son goes against his own father. His character has a constant emotional need to take revenge and his suffering is visible. Jeevan becoming Sanjay has no such strong connective factor. In a simple revenge story like in Valaru, the focus was on the emotional turmoil the two boys had to go through because of their parents. One grows with mother and hence, his distance from his father hurts him and turns it into hatred. On the other hand, father’s love turns the other son a little more matured and happy go-lucky guy. Him visiting their mother and his brother visiting their father showcases difference between both the characters. Here in G.O.A.T, the story has an even bigger goal – national security from terrorists is at stake. Hence, Ilayathalapathy Vijay did not really need a reason to turn to the dark side. He could have easily taken the other side for many other reasons. He could have been religiously motivated, money wise manipulated, ideologically disturbed or grows a hatred towards his father due to the suffering he had to face. If none of these excite, at least him being a terrorist for his psychotic reasons and suddenly, finds his estranged family to carry out his plans. At least this could have made sense. Thus, the revenge angle looked forced and unjustified. Even the majority of scenes and their execution seemed to have a rushed feel. Except for comic scenes and a few action episodes, everything looked calculated to fit into a genre that Vijay specializes in.

Lokesh Kanagaraj and Nelson Dilipkumar tried to stay true to their genres with some forced “Vijay” elements. Venkat Prabhu tried to stay true to his style and Vijay’s style too. In the second half, when Venkat Prabhu had to take over, he still looked in dilemma and tried to think about how he could give “Meta” references rather than a real experience. It almost felt like he wanted something to work rather than everything. He tried to throw everything he could at the wall to see what would really stick. With that approach, the “superhero” with no powers, in trying to become the “Father of all heroes”, ended up not being “The Greatest of All Time”, missing every possible chance to deliver a solid experience at theatres. In trying to reach the mountain’s peak, Venkat Prabhu’s “Hero” ended up hanging upside down mid-trek with no “Villain” to save him in the name of “revenge”. Adding to the absence of a strong villain, Yuvan Shankar Raja’s mediocre music, patchy VFX with occasional decent outputs – Vijaykanth’s AI, slightly de-aged Vijay, random editing patterns – worked in tandem to halt this “Hero’s” journey, whose ambition did not line up with his skills. While the efforts are visible and appreciable, the scripting needed much more focus. On the whole, like a chess game between a champion and a noob, the movie ended up being a champion in regular stuff and a noob in “real interesting stuff”. If you want to take your pawn to the other side, you need all others also to strategically help the King to safety. If you just concentrate on King and a pawn, you will anyway end up losing.

PS: Venkat Prabhu, navigating through time, amalgamates countless inspirations to construct a meta-narrative in the spy genre. His creative vision is shaped by an eclectic mix of works, including The A-Team [2010], Gemini Man [2019], Final Score [2018], The Dark Knight [2008], Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. [2003], Resident Evil [2002], Fast and Furious [2001], Dhoom 2 [2006], Race [2008].. etc.

Theatrical Trailer: