Actor Bala, when he was debuting as a director with the Hitlist, had shot the trailers of the movie in such a fine perfection that everyone smelled something fine and different in it. But going by the film, it remains that Bala must have now realized that creating a impressive trailer is not that difficult when compared to making a film , safe and consistent. A hotch -potch of many Hollywood thrillers and more faithful replica of Jason Stathom's `Blitz'- the movie is all about the upright cop all set to go after a serial killer.
The movie has Bala as Vikram introduced in style ala the Mammooty of Big B. After the death of his wife (Sandhya) Vikram had been a loner, growing beard and hardly trying to smile. He had been following a wayward style of investigation and is more famous for being suspended once in a while. And when a killer who is having a hit list of eight policemen is on the rampage killing some, Vikram is called to crack the details and follow the culprit. And here we go on a cat and mouse game between the cop and the evil doer, as the villain is already introduced to us in the initial reels. Also in the side reels is the story of the second heroine Avanthika (Aiswarya Devan) who is having a liking for the protagonist and whose brother has been killed amidst the rampage.
The best of the honours of the movie must go to its cinematographer Madhu Neelakandan , who has impressively shot the flick ala Hollywood style, true to its original. But Bala who is producing, scripting and directing the film, seems to have made a costly mistake by taking the lead role. The star in him, apart from flexing his muscles once in a while cannot shoulder the responsibilities demanded of such a hero centric role, while the actor in him tries to look convincing, but fails to go deep into the nuances of a such a restrained role.
The other highlight of the movie is the performance of Dhruv (Kannada actor Dhruv), who has impressively managed to have some fans for him. Though the director has dealt with finesse in sticking to the shot making style of the `original', the script falters much with sequences defying logic ending in monotony. Aiswarya Devan does continue as in a ramp walk without emotions, while Narain and Unni Mukundan are seen in minuscule roles. In the final note, this `hit list' may partially satisfy the demands of the die hard fans of action films. Rating-5.5/10 |
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