War 2 Review: Hrithik Roshan & Jr. NTR Cook Spy Universe's Worst Dish Ever

RATING - ⭐✨1.5/5*

War 2 Review Movie Talkies:

The YRF Spy Universe was never known for James Bond–level sophistication or the gritty, realistic charm of a film like Baby, but it had, at one point, become a massive money-spinner. That momentum, however, seems to have died after Pathaan. Tiger 3 dented the franchise’s credibility, and now War 2 drags it to a new low. This sequel stands out not just as one of the weakest entries in the Spy Universe but also as one of the most underwhelming follow-ups in recent Bollywood memory. Hrithik Roshan and Jr. NTR team up here, but instead of fireworks, what we get is a chaotic mess that quickly turns into a patience test. Ayan Mukerji’s handling of the material is shockingly poor, stretching the runtime into something nearly unbearable.

War 2 Story:

The plot centers around R&AW agent Kabir (Hrithik Roshan), who appears to have gone rogue but is, in reality, still working undercover for the country. A new threat emerges in the form of the mysterious antagonist Kali, forcing Kabir to infiltrate dangerous territory. To do so, he has to work against his mentor, Colonel Luthra (Ashutosh Rana), thereby becoming a national enemy in the agency’s eyes. The R&AW forms a new elite team that includes Luthra’s daughter, Kavya (Kiara Advani), and one of their top yet ego-driven agents, Vikram aka Raghu (Jr. NTR). Kabir and Raghu share a complicated past, making their eventual face-off more personal and intense—or at least that’s what the film wants us to believe. Unfortunately, the execution falls far short.

The problems begin with the writing. Aditya Chopra’s story is a jumble of half-baked ideas, while Shridhar Raghavan’s screenplay unfolds like a patchy TV soap—episodic, repetitive, and often cringe-worthy. Plot holes pop up every 10 minutes. The flashback to Kabir and Raghu’s childhood is a prime example of misguided storytelling, derailing whatever narrative momentum the film had. The casting of Kabir as a “browny” teenager who magically transforms into a Greek-god-level handsome man is unintentionally hilarious. Worse still is the absurd idea of an army officer recruiting India’s “best” future soldiers from a juvenile detention center for underage criminals. Who approved this? Logic clearly took an extended vacation during the scripting process.

The Kabir–Raghu rivalry never progresses; their confrontations repeatedly reset to square one, killing any sense of escalation. Kavya’s character is practically a decorative piece, and the threat posed by Kali is underdeveloped to the point of irrelevance. The film also raises absurd questions—how is it so easy to join R&AW, turn rogue, and then conveniently assemble your own team? Kabir broke up with Kavya because of his job, but he romanced Naina without any fear; how? The franchise had already stretched believability in Ek Tha Tiger and Pathaan with a R&AW agent with an ISI agent, but War 2 disregards basic narrative coherence altogether.

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War 2 Cast:

On the performance front, Hrithik Roshan still looks like a million bucks. His swagger is intact—even a casual walk oozes style—but his character lacks the gritty edge promised in the promos. Colonel Luthra’s claim about Kabir becoming “extra violent” is laughable, given the almost sanitized action on display. Jr. NTR is a miscast from the word go. His accent and over-the-top attitude quickly become grating, and instead of easing up, they get more irritating as the film progresses. Kiara Advani’s role is tiny and underwritten, adding nothing substantial to the plot. Anil Kapoor gets a supposedly high-octane gun-blazing sequence, but it’s staged so embarrassingly that it’s hard to watch. Ashutosh Rana is serviceable in his cameo, while the rest of the cast barely registers.

War 2 Movie Review:

Technically, War 2 is a mixed bag. The color grading is overly glossy, and while the cinematography is passable, it offers some outdated, lifeless visuals. Editing is a serious flaw—the film becomes sluggish soon after Hrithik’s introductory sequence, with the second half and especially the final quarter being outright punishing. The production design is competent, but the VFX work is shockingly poor, especially for a film of this scale.

Ayan Mukerji, whose strengths lie in rom-coms and slice-of-life dramas, seems out of his club here. His approach to action and sci-fi was already shaky in Brahmastra, but that film at least had commendable VFX to mask its issues. Here, with no such saving grace, the flaws are magnified. It’s baffling how a director entrusted with back-to-back ₹400 crore projects could deliver such back-to-back disappointments. War 2 is more than just a stumble for the Spy Universe—it’s a full-blown collapse that will require a massive creative overhaul to recover from.

In the end, War 2 is a waste—of money, time, and talent. What was marketed as a high-octane face-off between two megastars turns into one of the most tedious, logic-defying, and poorly crafted big-budget films in recent years. For a franchise that once promised adrenaline-pumping thrills, this is the equivalent of serving a gourmet meal with stale leftovers.

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