Directed by:Lokesh Kanagaraj
Produced by:S. S. Lalit Kumar,Jagadish Palanisamy
Starring:Vijay,Sanjay Dutt,Trisha,Arjun
Cinematography:Manoj Paramahamsa
Edited by:Philomin Raj
Music by:Anirudh Ravichander
Production company:Seven Screen Studio
Release date:19 October 2023
Language:Tamil
Leo is a Tamil-language action thriller film,directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by S. S. Lalit Kumar and Jagadish Palanisamy. It stars Vijay as the titular character, alongside Sanjay Dutt, Trisha, Arjun, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Mysskin, Mansoor Ali Khan and Priya Anand.
What works
The most satisfying factor in the Lokesh Kanagaraj directorial movie Leo is the one and only Thalapathy Vijay.Without any usual Vijay formulas or templates, director Lokesh paid more attention to the characterization of the titular character, Parthi.We can call Parthi in Leo the best Vijay of the last decade just because the story got the success it needed. Leo also offers one of the best emotional scenes of Vijay’s career. Thalapathy Vijay and his physique and behaviour as a middle-aged man are terrific.Trisha Mathews, Gautam Menon, Myshkin, etc. have also done their characters very well.
Anirudh, Just one of them needs makes more high with his western touch back ground score.. some retro songs are also worked well.Talk about Anirudh ,I must say that you should try to watch the movie in a theatre that provides good sound quality.
Lokesh Kanagaraj‘s vision and execution in the first half are terrific. The stage setting until the interval is terrific in making sense. From the hyena fight scene to the interval portion, the film gave a high with twists and turns.The action scenes in the first half of Anbu-Arivu action choreography reach the pinnacle of intensity.
Another backbone of Leo is Manoj Paramahamsa‘s camera. Kashmir-Himachal out-door portion and the camera angles in the action scenes are a testimony to the perfect cameraman’s vision.
What doesn’t work
While the film delivers more than enough theatrical moments, some problems with the writing make the second half more difficult. The hyped Leo character also needed more detailing for the back story or the story being told. But Lokesh has avoided the said detailing. The bond between the Sanjay Dutt-Arjun characters and their lack of proper characterization affects the emotional connection through the said backstory.The audience may feel that something more is needed.It felt necessary to build up the negative characters a bit more.So it felt a little lacking in perfection.The most resounding negative In casting
When people are cast in such a film by putting down a poster saying Onboard All this should be considered in terms of the screenspace and performance potential of the character.Otherwise, the expectation and the character will die at odds.That’s not good for the movie.I can’t say a few more things because it would be a spoiler.
The built-up car chase scene goes through VFX limitations without impact. The unnecessary LCU connection also served to increase the length of the film. Leo could’ve been a better film without those forced LCU references, that one long VFX sequence, and those mid-flashback portions.
Bottomline
Expansion of ‘History of Violence’, offers Fresh Vijay.
Decent!!
3.25/5
