Failed attempt at a character study but a good entertainer Cast: Vijay, Sanjay Dutt, Trisha Krishnan, Arjun Sarja, Gautham Vasudev Menon, ...
Failed attempt at a character study but a good entertainer
Cast:
Vijay, Sanjay Dutt, Trisha Krishnan, Arjun Sarja, Gautham Vasudev Menon,
Mysskin, Mansoor Ali Khan
Rating: 3.5/5
Leo gives the
kind of adrenaline rush that most action films hope to give to the audience. The
action choreography is simply top-notch and it looks real There are some
beautiful one-take shots, mostly action set pieces that are masterfully
directed choreographed, and acted.
Anirudh’s
music is good - it surely makes you energetic at times with how
hip-and-happening it is.
A
mild-mannered man becomes a local hero through an act of violence, but it
brings forth consequences with a connection to a dangerous world, one which
will shake his carefully constructed life to its very core.
Leo is a one-man
show. There are antagonists in this but do they really matter when it’s mostly
Thalapathy Vijay flexing his versatility as an actor? Despite the screen
presence of Sanjay Dutt and Arjun Sarja, it’s not them that makes the film
memorable, it’s Thalapathy Vijay. However, Thalapathy Vijay looks excessively
weak when placed in front of Sanjay Dutt, mostly due to the body structure.
The
flashback is not the high point. The references to the LCU seemed like they
were forced in this just for the sake of adding Leo to the cinematic universe.
None of the
characters except for Parthiban (Vijay) are fleshed out well. In fact, they all
seem two-dimensional. Trisha Krishnan’s character Satya doesn’t even have enough
screen time to actually make a mark, and neither does Gautham Vasudev Menon’s character.
Sanjay Dutt and Arjun Sarja bring the most out of their characters as well as
they can but simultaneously succeed and fail as they appear underutilized as
villains. Their characters rely on the actors completely and as they don’t seem
to have a backstory, we’re just shoved right into instances from their lives.
Vijay’s character is easily the best and the most fleshed-out character
The
cinematography is gorgeous as usual as is the case for any South Indian film
with wide-angle shots and extreme close-ups with wide-angle lenses.
Lokesh Kanagaraj’s
direction is good but it could’ve been better - especially in the second half
which is simultaneously the best and the worst part of the film.
The screenplay
is not bad but it does fall and succumb to the action genre tropes that have
been beaten to death by both good and bad filmmakers. The editing is top-notch
as the pacing is just perfect.
Leo
is a flawed but highly interesting film from start to finish. It doesn’t give
you a moment to breathe once the film “really” starts.
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