For a long time, the star John Abraham has been stuck inside the box of the most patriotic hero of Bollywood. He lifts bikes with his bare hands, kicks butt, elucidates loud punchlines on nationalism, and creates a headache not just for the villains but for the audience too. Thankfully filmmaker Lakshya Anand Raj brought him back to his forte without the usual soaring patriotism.
Arjun, a courageous soldier gets paralyzed in a terrorist attack that cost him the most important part, the love of his life. Filled with agony and pain he finds a way to get back on his feet and that’s where scientist Saba steps in. The artificial intelligence program designed by her gives him super soldier strength and how the hero becomes the savior of the nation forms the rest. Director Lakshya Anand’s vision of a combat superhero borrows its core from several Hollywood and some Bollywood action films. But what truly stands out here is the slick execution and crisp edits backed up by John Abraham’s fierce presence. Attack’s clever inclusion of the Ai interference hit bullseye made the film look more believable; it even takes the form of a video game at parts. The film never delays and fast-forwards its procedures with the backing of strong technical support. The effort is evident and the makers have created a film that stays true to its title.
But I must say in spite of all the ambitious effort the real turbulence is the half-cooked writing and sloppy initial moments. There’s a love, at first sight, happening between John and Jacqueline that felt like a mishmash of some North Indian reels. The romance never takes off; somehow the director quickly switches into kill mode and saves us all. Attack’s writing is empty, you could clearly guess the forthcoming situations from a mile. At times along with the characters, the narrative too wanders off aimlessly causing the events to appear bland. Bollywood is still not yet over the typical self-proclaimed mastermind terrorist whose fate is the same in every action thriller. If you’re someone who’s very adamant about a strong plotline kindly stay away from this film.
John Abraham with a beefed-up physique plays to his strength and comfortably shifts the gear during the stunt sequences. He is aware of his ability and anchors the film single-handedly with elan. Rakul Preet Singh and Prakash Raj provide ample supporting duties while Jacqueline Fernandez is another wasted, dummy version. Superior Visual quality from the lens of trio Will Humphris, P. S. Vinod, Soumik Mukherjee supply the necessary mood to the narration. Special mention to the VFX team for not making a joke out of it. Editor Aarif Sheikh and musician Shashwat Sachdev’s efforts are visible in keeping the film under control.
Attack is easily John Abraham’s most appreciable work after a while despite its set of errors. I felt so relieved to see him away from all those cringe acts and hope to see him do more fun, acting-oriented stuff soon. This mindless action extravaganza hits its target and won’t disappoint if you keep your expectation meter low.
Review by© Rahul Babu
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