2.0 Movie Review: A Visual Delight

After waiting for almost a decade for the sequel to Robot (2010), Rajinikanth’s fans went into a state of frenzy as 2.0 hit the theaters on Thursday. Chitti is bigger, better and reloaded this time and whether the film was worth all the wait or not, let’s find out.

2.0 Movie Still

A strange force has taken over the city and is snatching away everybody’s cell phones and is uprooting mobile towers. Soon people encounter a huge angry bird made of mobile phones, who is killing mobile phone users, network chiefs and corrupts ministers and destroying the city.

2.0 Movie Still

To fight this evil power the government takes Dr. Vaseegaran’s (Rajinikanth) help who suggests to bring his creation Chitti (Rajinikanth) back. Chitti fights against Pakshirajan (Akshay Kumar) however something goes awry and Chitti gets destroyed. A new version of Chitti, 2.0 is created to fight Pakshirajan with the help of another humanoid, Nila (Amy Jackson). What happens then forms the rest of the plot.

2.0 Movie Still

Rajinikanth is in top form and has essayed all his avatars with much aplomb. While he is good in all his roles, he displays his inimitable style as he plays 2.0. The man is 67 now however, no once does his energy level dip.

2.0 Movie Still

Akshay Kumar is playing Pakshirajan and he is fantastic. He also has two looks in the movie, one of an old ornithologist and other of the mutant bird like creature and he is very convincing in both his roles. Though he is playing the antagonist, he is fighting for the right cause and thus. you never hate him. In fact at times you even root for him. His look is interesting and the makeup artists need to be applauded for that.

2.0 Movie Still

Amy Jackson is playing Nila, another humanoid robot created by Vaseegaran. Her character didn’t require her to emote much but she has an important role to play in the movie and she is also looking very pretty on screen. Sudhanshu Pandey is playing the son of the previous film’s antagonist and though he is a good actor, he doesn’t have much to do in this sci-fi.

2.0 Movie Still

The film carries forward the story of Robot however, even if you have not seen the original, you will easily understand 2.0. The first half of the movie is intriguing however, the second half is dragged. The message that the film conveys is important but it's very preachy. They could have made it more interesting with a better narrative.

2.0 Movie Still

Director Shankar is guilty of self-indulgence as he has dragged many scenes unnecessarily and several sequences also look repetitive. That said, Shankar’s opus is a visual spectacle. VFX and CGI are good in most of the scenes and the 3D effects are also nice.

2.0 Movie Still

While Robot’s songs went on to become chartbusters, this film doesn’t have any song and it was a good call. Action sequences are top notch and when two superstars like Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar come face-to-face, the audiences are bound to get an adrenaline rush.

Cinematography is outstanding but the screenplay is very weak and so is the editing. This film could have easily been trimmed by 20-25 minutes and that would have made it very crisp and delectable. The story is quite predictable and that’s disappointing. Also 2.0 doesn’t hit you emotionally, you don’t connect with any character and that is one of the weak points of this movie. The film is a crowd-pleaser and has some ‘seetimar’ dialogues.

Watch this film for some great visual effects and of course to see the epic face-off between Akshay Kumar and the Thalaiva.