The GOAT is a 2024 action thriller drama film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu. The film has Thalapathy Vijay & Sneha playing the lead roles while Prashanth, Prabhudeva, Mohan, Jayaram, Laila, Ajmal Amir, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Parvati Nair, Vaibhav, Yogi Babu, Premgi Amaren, Yugendran V, VTV Ganesh, Akilan, Komal, Anjena, Ajay Raj, Aravind, Dileepan & others are seen in important supporting roles. The music is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja while the film is produced by Kalpathi S Aghoram, Kalpathi S Ganesh & Kalpathi S Suresh under AGS Entertainment banner.
Story:
Gandhi (Vijay), a member of the elite Special Anti-Terrorist Squad (SATS), successfully completes a mission in Kenya, where he eliminates a notorious terrorist gang led by Menon (Mohan). Years later, while on a mission in Bangkok, Gandhi discovers his son, Jeevan (also Vijay), dead. To his utter disbelief, he later encounters Jeevan alive in Russia and brings him back home. Upon their return, a series of strange events begin to unravel, all involving the members of SATS. Driven by a need for answers, Gandhi embarks on a dangerous journey to uncover the truth. Did Gandhi succeed in his mission? Is Jeevan truly his son, or not? Needs to be seen in the film.
What about on-screen performances?
Thalapathy Vijay brilliantly showcases his versatility by excelling in the dual roles of Gandhi and Jeevan. His portrayal of Jeevan’s villainous side is especially gripping. At the same time, his calm, composed demeanor as Gandhi, accentuated by a stylish salt-and-pepper look, brings depth and gravitas to the character. Vijay’s seamless ability to balance both roles with finesse stands out as the film’s greatest strength.
Apart from Vijay, Prashanth and Prabhudeva get meaty roles as the co-officers besides Vijay. They both deliver excellent performances and are part of some crucial turns that come in the second half of the film.
The film features two female characters, portrayed by Sneha and Meenakshi Chaudhary, who are paired with the dual versions of Vijay. Unfortunately, both characters suffer from minimal development, leaving them with little to contribute and nothing particularly noteworthy to mention in the narrative.
Mic Mohan is the wrong choice to play the main villain. His role is weak and a more known face could have been better to play the part.
Jayaram, Laila, Ajmal Amir, Parvati Nair, Vaibhav, Yogi Babu, Premgi Amaren, Yugendran V, VTV Ganesh, Akilan, Komal, Anjena, Ajay Raj, Aravind, Dileepan & others are neat. They all perform their roles without complaint, but none of them stand out.
What about off-screen talents?
The story by Venkat Prabhu is very predictable and follows an old-school format of telling an action thriller with a revenge backdrop between a father & son.
The screenplay by Venkat Prabhu is good in parts and is utterly boring in a few others. All the subplots needed better writing and the way the female characterizations are written is very poor. Also, the villain track is pretty weak and doesn’t add good value to the proceedings.
The whole first half is a complete misfire as it doesn’t have the high moments that are needed in Vijay’s film. The interval portion is where the film actually gets interesting and the second half has an equal share of engaging and boring moments.
The twists that come in during the latter half are decent and the face-off scenes between the two Vijays are well executed. The whole climax scene with the CSK match backdrop looks fresh on screen but it is too lengthy. The post-credit scene comes as a shocker that paves the way for A Venkat Prabhu’s Villain.
Director Venkat Prabhu does a neat job with his presentation but his narration has a lot of shortcomings. The writing & slow pacing, especially in the first half along with the lengthy run time are the biggest drawbacks in the film. Also, there are no proper high moments in the film (apart from a couple of scenes) that are essential in Vijay’s film. But the way he used technology and AI in this film is appreciable.
The cinematography by Siddhartha Nuni is top-notch. His framing is on point and he gives the film the much-needed scale through his brilliant camera work.
The music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is another big disappointment in the film. All his songs are underwhelming, especially in the Telugu version and his background score also doesn’t help the film much.
The edit by Venkat Raajen is inadequate. Almost about 30-40 minutes in the film can be easily chopped off.
Special mention to the VFX team. The de-aging of Vijay is done pretty convincingly. By employing the de-aging technique, Venkat shifts the audience’s focus from suspending disbelief to embracing the power of visual effects, making the technology a crucial element of the storytelling experience. Apart from this, a few scenes look too shoddy, especially the green screen portions.
The production values by AGS Entertainment are first-rate.
What’s Hot?
* Vijay’s Performance In Dual Roles
* Prashanth & Prabhu Deva’s Performances
* Decent Interval Part
* Engaging Second Half & Good Twists
* Climax CSK Match Action Sequence
* Cinematography & Production Values
* End Credits Scene
What’s Not?
* Utterly Predictable Plot
* Too Much Of Lag & Lengthy Run Time
* Poor Background Score
* Boring First Half
* Too Badly Done Songs In Telugu
* All Female Actor’s Characterizations
* Flat Humour & Routine Sub Plots
* Weak Villain Role
Verdict: Overall, The Greatest of All Time (The GOAT) is an underwhelming action thriller that heavily relies on an in-from Vijay but crumbles under the weight of an outdated formula that runs on a one-dimensional concept. The boring first half and the indefinite lag throughout the film play spoilsport. It surely is not The GOAT we wanted or expected from this combo.
Telugubulletin.com Rating: 2.25/5