It's `First Blood `territory and The `Force' villain, Vidyut Jamwal plays the super fit kick-ass hero, an elite Special Operation Commando Karanveer Dogra who crashes into Chinese territory and gets captured and tortured only to finally escape back into India and get waylaid by Simran(Pooja Chopra) a north-Indian girl who has runaway from home in order to escape despicable despot Amrit Kumar a.k.a Ak 74 , a white eyed pursuant who wants her as his wife at any cost.
The hero who has issues with politicians and lawless goondas is well-set to make the rescue of the damsel in distress but there are a few tough levels-including a Chinese double agent, the corrupt Police and forest guards, he has to overcome!
There was a time in the early eighties when homespun martial arts movies starring Vimal Model Audhendu Bose did the rounds of cinemas.Commando harkens back to that era with it's straight-forward action oriented approach showcasing a hero with skills of an ace(Kalaropayettu to be precise) and the agility and mobility to perform the most difficult stunts with the grace and litheness of a balletic impresario.
The hero and villain are distinct here and the motivation for the action is mainly systemic callousness and corruption and the winning prize being the beautiful damsel in distress who is pre-destined to go with the winner of the ultimate climactic showdown between the hero and the villain.
Helmer Dilip Ghosh's narrative traverses the traditional genre route without getting too sentimental or overwhelmed by the emotional undercurrents.
It's linear and uncluttered and demonstrates and single-mindedness of approach that allows for a play-out of a near two hour runtime with less lag than most experienced action directors exhibit.
The action is expertly and skilfully set-up for most of the narrative and Vidyut Jamwal, the lead, does a fabulous job.South African action director Franz Sphilhaus' stunt choreography is far removed from the over-the-top fantasy inducing ones that we've been subjected to in mainstream monstrosities.
Jaideep Ahlawat's villainy is standard issue caricature and Pooja Chopra's chirpy, talkative, sassy damsel-in-distress act is typically stereotyped.It's mainly because of the magnificently engineered stunts that this movie becomes bearable. Jamwal is of course at the heart of it all.
He doesn't have much reason to emote but he stays attuned to the requirements of the character he assays and does the needful with an effortlessness and style all his own. Hail the new action hero- Vidyut Jamval
Rating: ***
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