Violence-packed drama, with intrigue, turns and twists

Johnson Thomas

Lokesh Kanagaraj’s ‘Leo’ opens with an acknowledgment that the film is a tribute to David Cronenberg’s 2005 actioner ‘A History of Violence’, based on a graphic novel by John Wagner. While using violence as the key theme, Lokesh makes his storyline play to a different beat keeping Tamil aesthetics in mind.

The narrative opens with a scene similar to the one in ‘Delhi Crime Season 2’, highlighting a group of vicious hoodlums ransacking a home after killing, raping and bludgeoning all its inhabitants. Cut to a sequence where a wild hyena runs amock in snow-capped Theog in Himachal Pradesh, where Parthiban (Vijay), a mellow family man and animal rescuer, runs a plush cafe. When forest officials fail to capture the rampaging hyena, Vijay is called into action by his friend Joshi, and after an elaborate action-packed CGI heavy run around, manages to get the hyena into a cage.

After becoming national news, Parthiban finds himself in a piquant situation. Notwithstanding the vicious attack on his cafe by the hoodlums, he has to also come face-to-face with a tobacco and drug mafia family which claims him as their own. They threaten his loved ones and become the reason for his aggressive reawakening. And that’s a fine excuse as ever for a steady escalation of blood-thirsty, brutal violence.

The core storyline follows a somewhat conventional ‘seen before’ track. However, director Lokesh and his writing team manage to infuse some intrigue into the narrative through niftily-executed plot turns and twists. There’s plenty of story packed into this long-drawn narrative with a view for future franchise off-shoots. There’s an entire flashback segment where we are introduced to Leo’s twin sister, and their father Anthony Das’ (Sanjay Dutt) obsession with animal and human sacrifice meant to appease an unhappy God. The entire occult bit feels rather underdeveloped though.

One of the crucial characters is done away with way too swiftly for comfort. We don’t get any time to register the character or her influence on what happens thereafter.

While much of the CGI is top-notch, there are some moments which don’t quite measure up to the high standards that Lokesh has himself set. The car chase sequence doesn’t quite work up-steam as it feels rather sloppy. Even the opening sequence with the hyena has its good and bad moments.

Most of the action sequences are superbly executed. They feel convincing even when they are logically impossible to achieve. While the action choreography is visually appealing, there’s a measure of tedium that creeps in because of the hyper-carnage that it recedes into. The cinematography by Manoj Paramahamsa is visually compelling, with Kashmir’s scenic vistas standing in for HP’s Theog. The editing could have been way more snippier. The background score lends beat and bite to the narrative. Aniruddh’s off-beat musical compositions offer uniqueness to the incrementing mayhem that plays out here.

Vijay is stellar in the lead role and the supporting cast does well to keep the conviction going. Even Sanjay Dutt appears to have shrugged off his sluggish ways and appears more energised as the chief villain here. The cameos of Anurag Kashyap and Medona Sebastian are wasted. Ultimately, this is Lokesh Kanagaraj’s film and he seems well in command of all the variables here.

Given the first day, first show celebration by Vijay’s fans, this film appears to be all set for a good run at the box office.