Neither here nor there

Movie Name: Vidaamuyarchi

Directed by: Magiz Thirumeni

Streaming on: Netflix

This one's a real mixed bag - like two different movies stitched together. Anirudh's killer soundtrack tries its best to hold everything together, but even those epic beats can't fully save it.

The concept is actually brilliant, and the first half totally works - tight screenplay, great setup that gets you pumped for what's coming. But then... it kinda loses its way. Is it trying to be a slick genre film? A masala entertainer? A serious drama? It never really commits, and that's the problem.

That said, the pre-interval and interval blocks are genuinely engaging - I was hooked! But the second half? Things start falling apart. Ajith feels oddly absent in parts, and while there's one killer car chase sequence (boosted by Anirudh's score), most of the action falls flat.

Biggest missed opportunities? Arjun Sarja and Regina's characters - they could've been so much more interesting. And yeah, there are some completely unnecessary side characters that add nothing to the story.

On the plus side: the cinematography is gorgeous, and the technical execution is top-notch. Major props to Ajith for resisting the usual mass hero tropes - no slow-mo hero shots, no forced mass dialogues, no pointless hero songs. It's refreshing to see a star actually trying to serve the story.

At the end of the day, this could've been THE perfect Ajith film, but it settles for being just okay. Maybe 'Good Bad Ugly' will finally nail it. And Anirudh? My man deserves a better movie for scores this good.