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Attack movie review: John Abraham's super-soldier opens an unexplored avenue for Indian action movies, albeit with a few bumps

Attack revolves around Indian Army special-ops officer Arjun (John Abraham), who's handed the opportunity to metamorphose into the country's first super-soldier, with the help of highly advanced AI, after a near-fatal attack leaves him debilitated

By Russel D'Silva
| Updated: April 1, 2022 10:01 AM IST

Movie: Attack
Attack Cast: John Abraham, Rakul Preet Singh, Prakash Raj, Jacqueline Fernandez, Rajit Kapur, Ratna Pathak Shah, Kiran Kumar
Attack Director: Hitesh Bhatia
Where to Watch: In Theatres
Review by: Russel D'Silva Also Read - Sulochana Latkar death: Bollywood's onscreen maa loved playing mother to these three actors the most

The moment the Attack trailer dropped, it certainly met expectations in more ways than one, with a terrific amalgamation of futuristic sci-fi elements and slick action against the backdrop of neatly crafted and more importantly, believable VFX, plus, obviously, a brawny John Abraham doing what he always does best – pummeling bad guys to a pulp. However, if cinema has taught us anything, then it's trailer than have astronomically raised expectations only for them to be fizzled out in the actual film. Plus, the central character of a super-soldier that Attack has John playing will be extremely familiar with action junkies raised on a staple diet of Hollywood as it's been repeatedly peddled with varying degrees of success in movies like the Universal Soldier franchise, Marvel's Captain America and Avengers tent-poles, Bloodshot, Outside the Wire, the Robocop series and so on and so forth, making the task of Lakshya Raj Anand's directorial debut all the more daunting. Also Read - Sulochana Latkar Death: Veteran actress passes away at 94 due to age-related issues

There's also the small matter of the lead star coming off a trio critical and commercial duds in Pagalpanti, Mumbai Saga and the utterly bitterly disastrous Satyameva Jayate 2. Given all that's at stake, does Attack prove to be a much-needed comeback for John and help usher in something novel for Indian action movies? Thankfully, the response to both those questions is an emphatic yes even if Attack itself isn't without it's fair share of attacks (pun intended) on the script along the way. Also Read - Sharwanand ties the knot with Rakshita Reddy at Leela Palace in Jaipur; Ram Charan wishes the newly weds [View Pics]

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So, are you excited about what to watch this weekend or what to watch this week and wondering whether Attack is worth your time? Scroll down for my full Attack movie review...

What's it about

Attack revolves around Indian Army special-ops officer Arjun (John Abraham), who's handed the opportunity to metamorphose into the country's first super-soldier, with the help of highly advanced AI, after a near-fatal attack leaves him physically, psychologically and emotionally debilitated.

Watch the Attack trailer below:

What's hot

Kudos to the team for attempting something groundbreaking as fas a ls Indian cinema goes, and even more kudos for pulling it off at least in the portions that matter – the action, the VFX, the futuristic techno talk and the simplification for the common masses to grasp the concept without dumbing it down for those with a better comprehension for such ideas. Three major highlights of the movie – a bike-chase sequence, with John Abraham going full throttle like only he can – a stunt where (spoiler alert) said bike crashes into an oncoming plane, and the technology explained to set up John's super-soldier mode, which makes it all look believable if not achievable in the near future – are enough to give you a bang for your buck on the big screen as is the leading man himself who can by now sleepwalk through such tailor-made roles.

On the other hand, Rakul Preet Singh, Prakash Raj, Rajit Kapur and Ratna Pathak Shah admirably lend their talent to the more dramatic portions. It's also a pleasure to see veteran actor Kiran Kumar in a mainstream Hindi film after eons, more so in a role that suits his personality. Aarif Sheikh's editing and the camerawork by Will Humphris, P. S. Vinod and Soumik Mukherjee also get the job done despite never standing out.

What's not

Though the action works well for the most part and some moments really stand out, it's also a sort of mixed bag at a few times that matter, especially in the parliament scene that constitutes half the climax as also the first time John is in action as a super-soldier – both highly imperative junctures in the narrative that could've done with more planning and far less fast, jump cuts. It's high time action-movie Directors both in Bollywood and Hollywood learned that the key to making action scenes memorable, especially when it comes to engaging neutral viewers, are long takes or at least fewer cuts in order for the audience to get caught up in the flow. There's a reason old-school action worked so well, there's a reason Mad Max: Fury Road and the John Wick films work so well among modern-day action, and there's a reason this film's aforementioned bike chase and final stunt, too, come across so well.

Of course, it's writer-Director Lakshya Raj Anand's first feature, so I'll cut him some slack in this department, but it's difficult to cut him as well as John Abraham and their co-writers, Sumit Batheja and Vishal Kapoor, the same slack when it comes to glaring plot-holes, particularly those that stick out like a sore thumb during the terrorist attacks at an airport and at the parliament in Delhi. The romantic track between John and Jacqueline Fernandez is also extremely cheesy – as the latter aptly albeit inadvertently puts it in one of her lines – and borderline caricaturish, adding zilch to the emotional quotient of the plot when it's supposed to act as a catalyst for our hero's character graph later on. Both the songs and background score are also below average. Finally, many of the dialogues are too artificial and at times cringe to be taken seriously.

BL Verdict

Watch Attack for its attempt at something truly novel within the purview of Indian cinema; its slick VFX; its ability to seamlessly present the futuristic techno elements of its concept; the bike chase during the climax, followed by a clap-worthy stunt with an airplane; and finally, John Abraham doing what he's tailor-made to do. These portions combined are enough to tide over the bumpy bits of the movie. I'm going with 3 out of 5 stars.

Rating : 3 out of 5

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ByRussel D'Silva
| Updated: April 1, 2022 10:01 AM IST

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