MOVIE REVIEW: Director AR Murguadoss introduces us to Sudalai (SJ Suryah) with a brutal crime that happens under Shiva's (Mahesh Babu) watch. Murguadoss's main protagonist and antagonist and the conflict between them look inspired from filmmaker Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.
3.5 / 5 Stars
Director AR Murugadoss, the man with an extraordinary box-office track record, teams up with Prince Mahesh Babu for the very first time for a bilingual in Telugu and Tamil. The expectations that Spyder entices is massive after ARM's previous Tamil hits and has the film satisfied its targeted audience or not?
Mahesh Babu plays an Intelligence Bureau officer who goes against the government norms to protect people from harm's way. How one failure leads him to a menacing psychopath serial killer, and how he encounters him is all Spyder is about. Mahesh Babu's performance in his first straight Tamil film is decent, just that he could have been little more expressive. Though it looks fairly straightforward, the way it is narrated makes it look complex and dynamic.
SJ Suryah finds a meaty role with ample screen time and voluminous scope to prove his acting skills. ARM has made no compromise in establishing SJ Suryah's character knowing that it would be the USP of the film. SJ Suryah’s introduction scene, in particular, was terrifying and well-structured. Rakul Preet looks cute, and her romance portions with Mahesh works in parts. At places, it looked fresh, but at places, some may find it distracting.
The movie wastes no time to get going, as it grabs the attention of the crowd from the very word go. The narration doesn’t look to stagnate one bit, as the director keeps throwing in enough surprises one after another which is also layered with some riveting and pulsating action sequences for the audience to consume. But towards the end, it gets a little boring. With good performances and a brisk screenplay, this movie offers solid, no-frills drama that not contrived though it deals with a larger than life subject.
AR Murugadoss has manoeuvred his resources with utmost perfection creating both suspense and an emotional impact which result as a decent thriller, but has he completely satisfied his fans compared to his previous films is up for debate.
Spyder will be remembered for the breathtaking battle between Mahesh Babu and SJ Suryah. One of the sequences follows a similar pattern of 12 man shootout scene from Thuppakki but this one might appear artificial to a few sections of the audiences. Some CGI moments could have been done with more care, such tacky graphics could have been avoided in a big film like Spyder.
Santhosh Sivan's camera adds grandeur to the film. The roller coaster and the hospital fight scenes were captured well. Harris Jayaraj’s re-recording is effective and the highlight score would be the theme track for SJ Suryah. The stunt sequences composed by Peter Hein is another major attraction to Spyder especially the theme action scene, but the song placements is a concern. Beyond a point, the film gets a little too heavy with gore, and one might feel the climax could have been executed better. Apart from these minor issues, Spyder will entertain you decently if you are an action film lover.
Verdict: SJ Suryah's performance and AR Murugadoss' touch makes Spyder a decent thriller
