lathi movie review and rating

'Laththi' movie review: Interesting ideas get lathi-charged in this actioner

Debutant Vinoth Kumar’s Laththi has a hero-elevation line said by a bad guy that goes: "Avan namba kita maatala da, namba dhaan avan kita maati irukom!” We have heard this a thousand times already, but here, the dialogue isn't so out of place because the story is of Muruganandham (Vishal), a lone policeman who takes on an army of goons.

While Kaththi’s Kathiresan used the help of a friend and a few coins to face 50 men, Muruganandham takes the game a level higher by increasing the body count to over 100, all alone. What’s his weapon though? The entire building, it seems.

The protagonist hides his weapons in several locations in the building and they range from an iron baseball bat, hand grenade to a water sprinkler-controlled machine gun! Oh, there is a catch. Muruganandham’s sick son is also stuck in the same building and the hero has to ensure the latter's safety. Everything points at a fun, engaging action-thriller on paper, but the end result is quite the opposite. Ads by

The bad men in the film are a problem. While Sunny PN’s Sura is a maniac who stops his traitor from getting electrocuted only to kill him with a less painful gunshot, Ramana’s Vellai, is a whole new level of bizarre He wears a yellow polythene bag on his face for a major part of the film, as a reminder to avenge the hero. Laththi is a treasure trove for such unintentionally funny content.

During one of the initial scenes, Sura asks his allies to list the crimes committed by his son. For some strange reason, the goons start performing a clumsy mime in an attempt to recreate the crimes, without just listing them out. Many such 'innovative' ideas come across as silly humour.

Laththi relies on its lead actort o do much of the heavy-lifting. However, Vishal falls terribly short despite showing effort--especially his Moondram Pirai-esque act in the climax that only ends up highlighting his limitations as a performer. Sunainaa is probably the only actor who doesn’t give in to the over-the-top tone of the film. She delivers a sensible performance as a doting mother and wife.

Right from the title announcement, it was clear that the film would be about a laththi-happy policeman, and the protagonist tries to do justice to the title by charging at way too many people on screen. But the film doesn’t take a clear stand on police brutality. Though there are stretches where Muruganandham dreads executing custodial violence, and mouths preachy dialogues like, “Kandika dhaan na adikanum, dhandika illa!” you also learn that he has always enjoyed beating the criminals to a pulp.

The much-hyped fight sequences of this film feel heavily rushed and the exciting weapon-reveal sequence too is force-fit into a background song. Though Laththi tries hard to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller, it's not a good sign that you're laughing for most of it.

Cast : Vishal, Sunainaa, Ramana, Sunny PN, Lirish Raghav, Prabhu

Director : Vinoth Kumar

Ratings : 2 out of 5 stars

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Laththi Review: A Dozen Concepts And Hundreds Of Henchmen Fall By The Wayside In This Year’s Dumbest Action Movie

Director: A. Vinoth Kumar

Writer: Pon Parthiban

Cast: Vishal, Sunaina, Prabhu

You may find a hundred issues with Vishal’s new action movie  Laththi  but a shortage of ideas is certainly not one. Starting with the concept of him playing an ordinary constable, that too facing suspension, there are efforts in every stage to give you the feeling that you’re watching a clever cop movie. When we first meet constable Muruganathan (Vishal), he’s enjoying familial bliss, waking up early to kiss both his son and wife good morning. It’s the kind of obvious mirth that shouts the dangers that lay ahead for this family. He’s a cop after all, so you imagine that either his wife is going to get killed or that his son might get kidnapped, perhaps by a villain seeking revenge. But no, this is not that movie. Even the obvious comes in the form of a new idea and what this does is present us with an assembly line of plot points that are either a hit or a miss. This makes the film ridiculously incoherent, but at least they’re constantly trying. 

I blame/thank Lokesh Kanagaraj for this departure from template action. So when Muruganathan’s son is thrown right back into action much later, we also get a ‘concept’ that is meant to add to the urgency. Instead of simply presenting the task of safely transporting this boy from place A to place B, the film gives him a breathing problem which requires that he gets his inhaler at the earliest. But when you choose to follow up a scene of a boy suffocating with that of timelapse that turns day into night, you sense that the film has no clue about what to do with that idea. 

This is pretty much the same with what it tries with  another  staple from the Lokiverse. We’re fed with some information about how Muruganathan gains access to a room in which the police safeguard confiscated arms and ammunition. The screenplay detours into a sequence that shows Muruganathan stealing one major weapon after another to plant a series of traps to take on an entire army of bad guys, that too in an abandoned construction site. With each of these weapons coming into full force soon, the film even transforms briefly into a mini  Home Alone.  Yet we’re never meant to ask why this genius didn’t think of keeping so much as a shaving razor to himself in case things do not go according to his plan. 

This is the kind of stuff that makes  Laththi  this year’s dumbest action movie and I genuinely mean that as a compliment. It’s unabashedly over-the-top, showing zero signs of remorse. The only thing left to do is to enjoy even as you force yourself to buy into farfetched concepts that include a water sprinkler made with two AK-47s (you need to see it to believe it).  

When these ideas click into place, you can see how cool it must have looked in the writer’s head. There’s a fun five-minute stretch where these bad guys are trying to look for their enemy just by listening to their ringtones. Even the idea of a senior police officer using a subordinate for personal revenge has meat for a bigger idea in another film. But how much of these are just too much. 

Take the villain for instance. In another kind of movie, there could have been a way to actually use his madness to great effect. In  Laththi , this dude insists on wearing a yellow plastic bag on his head, not because he’s aspiring to one day become a Marvel-style supervillain. But apparently, there’s a small hole in that bag and he  needs  to peep through to ascertain the identity of a police officer who beat the hell out of him. There are films in which such a character might not be too out of place. But in the universe  Laththi  takes place in, it’s just a bit too jarring to keep staring at a man in boxers, casually walking shirtless with a  manjapai  on his head.

The loftiness continues even into its second half where almost the entire action is restricted to one building. Hundreds upon hundreds of henchmen keep coming after Muruganathan but they all appear so dumb that you’re surprised they were able to stay alive until this fight. The other plot points from earlier keep coming back and they always feel like conveniences, meant only to explain one of the many doubts we’ve been holding on to for hours. With a hilarious emotional outburst towards the end and an even funnier resolution to the issue that got him suspended in the first place,  Laththi ’s strongest blows are those dealt to our intellect.  

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Laththi Movie Review: Interesting ideas get lathi-charged in this actioner  

Rating: ( 2 / 5).

Debutant Vinoth Kumar’s Laththi has a hero-elevation line said by a bad guy that goes: " Avan namba kita maatala da, namba dhaan avan kita maati irukom! ” We have heard this a thousand times already, but here, the dialogue isn't so out of place because the story is of Muruganandham (Vishal), a lone policeman who takes on an army of goons. While Kaththi ’s Kathiresan used the help of a friend and a few coins to face 50 men, Muruganandham takes the game a level higher by increasing the body count to over 100, all alone. What’s his weapon though? The entire building, it seems.

Cast: Vishal, Sunainaa, Ramana, Sunny PN, Lirish Raghav, Prabhu Director: Vinoth Kumar  The protagonist hides his weapons in several locations in the building and they range from an iron baseball bat, hand grenade to a water sprinkler-controlled machine gun! Oh, there is a catch. Muruganandham’s sick son is also stuck in the same building and the hero has to ensure the latter's safety. Everything points at a fun, engaging action-thriller on paper, but the end result is quite the opposite.

The bad men in the film are a problem. While Sunny PN’s Sura is a maniac who stops his traitor from getting electrocuted only to kill him with a less painful gunshot, Ramana’s Vellai, is a whole new level of bizarre He wears a yellow polythene bag on his face for a major part of the film, as a reminder to avenge the hero. Laththi is a treasure trove for such unintentionally funny content. During one of the initial scenes, Sura asks his allies to list the crimes committed by his son. For some strange reason, the goons start performing a clumsy mime in an attempt to recreate the crimes, without just listing them out. Many such 'innovative' ideas come across as silly humour.

Laththi relies on its lead actort o do much of the heavy-lifting. However, Vishal falls terribly short despite showing effort--especially his Moondram Pirai -esque act in the climax that only ends up highlighting his limitations as a performer. Sunainaa is probably the only actor who doesn’t give in to the over-the-top tone of the film. She delivers a sensible performance as a doting mother and wife.

Right from the title announcement, it was clear that the film would be about a laththi-happy policeman, and the protagonist tries to do justice to the title by charging at way too many people on screen. But the film doesn’t take a clear stand on police brutality. Though there are stretches where Muruganandham dreads executing custodial violence, and mouths preachy dialogues like, “ Kandika dhaan na adikanum, dhandika illa !” you also learn that he has always enjoyed beating the criminals to a pulp.

The much-hyped fight sequences of this film feel heavily rushed and the exciting weapon-reveal sequence too is force-fit into a background song. Though Laththi tries hard to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller, it's not a good sign that you're laughing for most of it. 

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Laththi Movie Review: Vishal's action drama is riveting with minor flaws

Director vinoth kumar's laththi, starring vishal, sunaina and ramana, is a compelling action drama with excellent stunt choreography. the film manages to hold your attention, for the most part, says our review..

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Release Date: 22 Dec, 2022

It’s been quite a while since Vishal gave a superhit venture. After Irumbu Thirai, Vishal has had a few films that received mixed reviews, while the others left without a trace. Now, Vishal is back with Laththi, yet another cop drama, which is aimed at being different from the films of the same ilk. Did he deliver what he promised?

A brutal rape occurs and the police are in search of the criminal. The police nab the accused and police constable Muruganantham (Vishal) is asked to give him a heavy bashing to confess the truth. Later, they come to know that they falsely accused a person of rape. Muruganantham gets suspended for a year following a human rights case. One fine day, Muruganantham accidentally encounters the criminal who committed the heinous crime. It changed the course of his life and career, forever. Does Muruganantham escape from the wrath of the criminal? Will he get justice for the woman who died a tragic death? Laththi has answers to these questions.

Written and directed by Vinoth Kumar, Laththi is a film that surprises the audience to a large extent. At a time when Kollywood is dominated by films about cops in better designations in the police system, this film is about a police constable, a character that is not largely explored in Tamil cinema. Vishal, as a police constable, is convincing. He brings in the vulnerability of the job and showcases how the system does not back employees in the lower category. He is known as the laththi specialist and that’s the reason why he gets suspended. The film also glorifies police brutality to an extent. Once he gets reinstated after six months, he feels scared about touching the laththi. These are some brilliant touches which make you engrossed in the first half.

While Vishal gets a non-heroic entry, the villain gets hyped throughout the film. In the first half, the villain is masked. But, those who follow Kollywood can easily make out who the villain is even before the big reveal. Laththi then becomes a cat-and-mouse game, an interesting one at that. Vinoth Kumar did an exceptional job of keeping the suspense for the most part.

However, Lathth is not a film without flaws. When films talk about rape, the director is solely responsible for making an informed decision about showcasing the brutality on screen. In Laththi, the rapes are too graphic and distastefully done. We get the point that she was raped, but no need to watch that on repeat mode!

Similarly, some of the dialogues are too childish and ridiculous. The climax, too, is stretched beyond a point. That being said, the film relies on terrific stunt choreography and they excelled and how! Kudos to Peter Hein who meticulously designed the stunt sequences.

Laththi also does a good job of showing a balanced relationship between a husband and wife. It also gives you good parenting lessons. When Muruganantham and his wife’s (Sunaina) son, Rasu, get panic attacks, they get the right help for him. This is a welcome change, especially when we are so used to seeing annoying kids in films.

For Vishal, Laththi is a departure from the underwhelming films that he was a part of in the past few years. In the film, Vishal did his best in giving a restrained performance. Sunaina, Ramana, Prabhu, Lirish Raghav and several others aided the lead cast in terms of performance. Balasubramaniem and Balakrishna Thota’s cinematography and composer Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music helped in enhancing the film.

On the whole, Laththi is a different cop film and engaging for the most part.

2.5 out of 5 stars for Laththi. Published By: K Janani Published On: Dec 22, 2022 --- ENDS --- ALSO READ | Thalapathy Vijay's Varisu or Ajith Kumar's Thunivu? Vishal reveals his pick | Exclusive

• తెలుగు

Laththi Review: Begins Well But Falters

Movie: Laththi Rating: 2.25/5 Banner: Rana Productions Cast: Vishal, Sunaina, Prabhu, Ramana, Thalaivasal Vijay, Munishkanth, and others Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja Director of Photography: Balasubramaniam Editor: N.B.Srikanth Producers: Ramana and Nandaa Written and directed by: A Vinoth Kumar Release Date: Dec 22, 2022

Vishal has aggressively promoted "Laththi" and has expressed confidence in the film's success.

Let's see if his confidence is justified.

Story: Constable Murali Krishna (Vishal) is suspended for beating an innocent person with his baton. He was accepted six months later on the recommendation of a higher-ranking officer (Prabhu).The notorious criminal Veera (Ramana), son of don Sura, harasses the officer's daughter one day.

Officer kidnaps Veera and contacts Murali Krishna and instructs him to beat Veera.

A video of a police officer goes online. However, the video conceals the officer's identity. Sura eventually tracks down Murali Krishna, the constable who beat him, and decides to take his life. How does Murali Krishna protect his family?

Artistes’ Performances: Vishal has acted out the role of Murali Krishna with conviction. He portrays himself as a conscientious police officer and doting family man. He gets to perform the actual action sequences in the latter part of the film.

Ramana is a natural as the villain Veera. As Vishal's wife, Sunaiana has little to do.

Technical Excellence: Cinematography, production values, and action sequences all meet regular standards. The two songs are forgettable, but the background score is fine. 

Highlights: First half Vishal

Drawback: Predictable narration Climax sequences

Analysis Vishal is given room in "Laththi" to showcase his talents. Maybe this is why Vishal put so much effort into this film. The director's approach to the story is what initially keeps us interested, despite the story's lack of originality.

In the initial portions, we learn why Vishal is taken off patrol and the moral quandary he faces after being reinstated. From there, the drama progresses to the essence of the story: the villains trying to track down the hero while the hero, using his cunning, manages to trap them.

Our attention is held throughout this long sequence in which the villain is trying to track down the constable who defeated him, and in which the constable (hero) demonstrates his superior intelligence.

When our hero and antagonist finally meet, however, the paper-thin plot falls flat. The director's skill, which was on full display up until the break, is completely gone.

While it's commendable that the director and hero Vishal keep the focus on the story rather than digress into duets and item songs, the dragging sequences in the film's middle act are wearing. Furthermore, the emotional monologue that Vishal performs during the climax is difficult to swallow.

Despite the fact that the police department is aware that their constable is fighting a don, no one has shown up to back him up. This makes no sense at all.

To sum up, "Laatthi" has a promising beginning but falls short of its potential. It has a decent premise and some interesting parts in the middle, but it falls flat in the end.

Bottom line: Mixed Material

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Tags: Laththi Review Laththi Movie Review Laththi Telugu Movie Review Laththi Rating Laththi Movie Rating Laththi Telugu Movie Rating

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Laththi Movie Review

Article by Nanda Gopal Published by GulteDesk --> Published on: 11:45 am, 22 December 2022 | Updated on 11:59 am, 24 December 2022

2 Hr 24 Mins   |   Action   |   22-12-2022

Cast - Vishal, Sunaina, Prabhu and others

Director - A Vinoth Kumar

Producer - Ramana and Nandaa

Banner - Rana Productions

Music - Yuvan Shankar Raja

Vishal’s claim to fame in Telugu was Pandem Kodi. He couldn’t recreate such magic again even with Pandem Kodi 2. But some of his previous films like Detective and Abhimanyudu had done moderately well in Telugu. And many of his recent films turned out to be disappointment. Despite all this track record, Vishal is keen on releasing his films in Telugu regularly. He is now back with a cop drama Laththi. Will Vishal make comeback? Check out.

What is it about?

An ordinary police constable Murali Krishna (Vishal) gets suspended in connection with an issue. Upon rejoining, he beats influential person (son of a don), not knowing his identity and again lands in trouble. The egoistic don and his son don’t want to leave Murali and family. Murali is forced to confront the goons and protect his family from them. However, Murali and his 10-year-old son get trapped inside an under-construction building surrounded by the villains. The two must find a way to escape with their lives.

Performances

Vishal justifies his role as an innocent constable. Vishal’s wife (Sunaina), a nurse and doting wife, is alright but only confined to the first half. She gets sidelined in this hero-centric film. Veteran actor Prabhu is seen in a small role which doesn’t have a strong connection to the story. Ramana as Veera is a proud baddie and son of Don Sura (PN Sunny). The villains are let down in Laththi as they’re not prominent faces in Telugu. Child actor Lirish Raghav is good as Vishal’s son. He is part of the crucial episodes in the film.

Technicalities

Laththi has a very thin point. It is usual cop drama between an honest cop versus dreadful villain. Director Vinoth failed to deliver an interesting story. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s songs are not appealing and they have a lot of Tamil flavour. Background music is good though. Visuals are effective. The film drags due to lack of a compelling story.

Thumbs Up Vishal Some Action Scenes

Thumbs Down Weak Conflict Over The Top Scenes Second Half

It is a cat-and-mouse game between the protagonist and antagonist. However, unlike many such films where usually the protagonist chases the antagonist, whereas Laththi is exactly the opposite. It is the antagonist who is searching for the protagonist Murali unaware of his true identity who had beaten in the station.

Director Vinoth Kumar chose a wafer-thin point and tried to weave a story around it. But it is a very old cop story that’s done to death. Basically, Laththi is around ego of the antagonist who decides to take revenge on the since constable.  The scenes were so predictable. The first half is a filler and the real story begins after the villain identifies the hero. Ironically, the clue comes from the mobile ringtone based on which the antagonist identifies Murali as the cop to take revenge on. 

The second-half is supposed to be a gripping and edge-of-the-seat thriller. Whereas the logics goes for toss when the protagonist and his son gets trapped in a building surrounded by hundreds of enemies. One and only Vishal takes on all the hundreds with some bruises on his body. This is unrealistic and filled with the over the top scenes. Laththi is marred by weak writing and too much cinematic liberties. The audiences lose the interest since they don’t connect much with what’s happening on the big screen. Lack of prominent faces as the villains is also let down in Telugu. 

This is another big fat bore commercial cinema with Tamil flavour. Even the action lovers doesn’t have moments to relish on. It is Vishal’s Laththi charge on the audiences. Better to stay away!

Verdict: Laththi Charge On Audiences

Rating: 2/5

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• What is the release date of 'Laththi'? Release date of Vishal and Sunainaa starrer 'Laththi' is 2022-12-22.
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‘Laththi’ movie review: Vishal’s cop thriller fails to push us to the edge of our seat

Despite a promising first half, vinoth kumar’s directorial debut falters post-intermission and becomes a generic action film.

Published - December 22, 2022 05:12 pm IST

Vishal in ‘Laththi’ | Photo Credit: U1 Records/Youtube

There’s a moment towards the end of Vinoth Kumar’s  Laththi , wherein the bad guys have buried alive the hero’s loved one and ask him to find the burial spot. It reminds us of Gautham Vasudev Menon’s  Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu . Another similarity between the two films is that they both involve a cat-and-mouse game between the hero, who is a cop, and the bad guys. But unlike  Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu  (and most other cop-thrillers), in  Laththi , it’s not the cop who is after the bad guys; the bad guys are after him (or at least that’s what we are led to believe up to a point).

A few refreshing bits like this in the first half make us sit up and take note. The hero, for instance, is not some testosterone-charged high-ranking officer whose punches weigh a ton and a half or who proudly proclaims himself a “porukki” (though his wife, played by Sunaina, affectionately calls him “pokiri”). Muruganantham (Vishal) is a middle-aged, middle-class constable under suspension, who is desperately trying to get back into his job – not only because he loves it but also because he has a family to run. 

He is an honest and upright cop but also fears authority. He clears his superior’s tea glass and cleans leftovers from his table. Upon rejoining, he begs his superior officer not to put him on ‘enquiry duty’ – basically beating the living daylights out of the custodial suspects with a latthi – which got him suspended (“I am even ready to do your domestic chores,” he tells his amused superior).

In other words, the hero, especially for a Tamil cop film, doesn’t seem larger than life. And, this works not only character-wise but also plot-wise. Because, when the antagonists surround him and his school-going son in a half-constructed building towards the end of the first half, it sets up the film beautifully. The audience will root for Muruganantham not just because he is the hero; he is also the underdog here. He has to overcome the overwhelming odds to save himself and his little son.

But all these good bits get undone post-intermission. Just as we prepare ourselves for the cat-and-mouse game to veer into the survival drama zone, the film takes a u-turn and becomes yet-another-Tamil-action film with the usual slo-mo fights and out-of-place melodrama.

As much as the protagonist’s character is fleshed out well, the writing is underwhelming with respect to the antagonists. The villains are just brawny, baritone-voiced men doing bad things. They are a father-son duo trying to harm another father-son duo – apart from this, there is nothing noteworthy. Just to make the audience hate one of the bad guys, the writer and/or the director resort to a vulgarly shot brutal rape scene. The writing misses the point: more than loathing the villains, we are supposed to be scared of them. But they hardly appear terrifying. 

The final act of the film seems stretched out just for Vishal to showcase his acting and action chops. It becomes a bit too long. Though it’s Vishal who single-handedly takes down over a hundred thugs, we are the ones who get tired of it. 

‘Laththi’ is running in theatres

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Lathi Movie Review: ‘లాఠీ’ మూవీ రివ్యూ

Published Thu, Dec 22 2022 4:31 PM | Last Updated on Thu, Dec 22 2022 5:54 PM

టైటిల్‌: లాఠీ నటీనటులు: విశాల్‌, సునైన, ప్రభు, మనిష్కాంత్‌,  తలైవాసల్ విజయ్, మిషా ఘోషల్‌ తదితరులు నిర్మాణ సంస్థ: రానా ప్రొడక్షన్స్‌ నిర్మాతలు: రమణ, నంద దర్శకత్వం: ఎ. వినోద్‌ కుమార్‌ సంగీతం: యువన్‌ శంకర్‌ రాజా సినిమాటోగ్రఫీ:  బాలసుబ్రహ్మణ్యం విడుదల తేది: డిసెంబర్‌ 22,2022

‘లాఠీ’ కథేంటంటే..  మురళీకృష్ణ(విశాల్‌) ఓ సిన్సియర్‌ కానిస్టేబుల్‌. భార్య కవి(సునైన), కొడుకు రాజునే ప్రపంచంగా బతుకుతాడు. ఓ హత్యాచార కేసు విషయంలో నిర్లక్ష్యంగా వ్యవహరించారని పై అధికారులు అతన్ని సెస్పెండ్‌ చేస్తారు. తిరిగి ఉద్యోగంలో చేరేందుకు మురళీ అధికారుల చుట్టూ తిరుగుతుంటాడు. చివరకు డీఐజీ కమల్‌(ప్రభు) సాయంతో ఉద్యోగంలో చెరతాడు. ఇకపై ఎవరిని లాఠీతో శిక్షించొద్దని భావించిన మురళీ...సిన్సియర్‌గా తన పని తాను చేసుకుంటూ ఫ్యామిలీతో హ్యాపీగా గడుపుతుంటాడు.

ఓ సారి డీఐజీ కమల్‌..తన కస్టడీలో ఉన్న ఓ నేరస్తుడిని లాఠీతో కొట్టమని మురళీని కోరతాడు. తన ఉద్యోగం తిరిగి ఇప్పించాడనే కృతజ్ఞతతో నేరస్తుడు ఎవరనేది చూడకుండా.. అతన్ని లాఠీతో కొడతాడు మురళీ. అయితే ఆ నేరస్తుడు పేరు మోసిన రౌడీ సూరా కొడుకు వీరా అని తర్వాత తెలుస్తుంది. తనను తీవ్రంగా కొట్టిన మురళీపై వీరా పగ పడతాడు. పట్టుకున్న డీఐజీ కమల్‌ని కాకుండా.. లాఠీతో కొట్టిన మురళి కుటుంబాన్ని టార్గెట్‌ చేస్తాడు. అప్పుడు ముర‌ళీ కృష్ణ ఏం చేస్తాడు? సూరా, వీరాల‌నుంచి త‌న కుటుంబాన్ని ఎలా కాపాడుకుంటాడు? అనేదే మిగతా కథ. 

ఎలా ఉందంటే..  ఓ సాధారణ కానిస్టేబుల్ కథే ‘లాఠీ’. పై అధికారుల ఒత్తిడితో ఓ ముఠాతో వైరం పెంచుకొని.. ఆ ముఠా తన కుటుంబాన్ని టార్గెట్‌ చేస్తే.. కానిస్టేబుల్‌ ఒక్కడే తన ఫ్యామిలీని ఎలా కాపాడుకున్నాడు అనేది ఈ స్టోరీ లైన్‌. పాయింట్‌ కొత్తగా ఉన్నా.. కథనం మాత్రం రొటీన్‌గా సాగుతుంది. ఎలాంటి ట్విస్టులు లేకుండా.. యాక్షన్‌ సీన్స్‌, ఫ్యామిలీ సన్నివేశాలతో  చాలా సింపుల్‌గా కథ ముందుకు వెళ్తుంది. ఫస్టాఫ్‌లో ఓ సాధారణ కానిస్టేబుల్‌ జీవితాన్ని చూపించారు.  నిజాయతీగా ఉండే ఓ కానిస్టేబుల్‌ పై అధికారి చెప్పారని ఓ నేరస్తుడిని కొట్టడం..అతను పై అధికారిపై కాకుండా కానిస్టేబుల్‌పై పగపెంచుకోవడం.. సెల్‌ఫోన్‌ రింగ్‌టోన్‌తో అతన్ని గుర్తించడం లాంటి సన్నివేశాల ఫస్టాఫ్‌ కాస్త ఆసక్తికరంగా సాగుతుంది. ఇక సెకండాఫ్‌ మాత్రం చాలా రొటీన్‌గా సాగుతూ ప్రేక్షకుల సహనానికి పరీక్ష పెడుతుంది. పోరాట ఘట్టాలు అయినా కొత్తగా ఉంటాయా అంటే అదీ లేదు. తండ్రి కొడుకుల మధ్య వచ్చే ఎమోషన్‌ సీన్స్‌ కూడా ఆకట్టుకోలేవు. క్లైమాక్స్‌ కూడా రొటీన్‌గా ఉంటుంది. 

ఎవరెలా చేశారంటే..  పోలీసు పాత్రలు విశాల్‌కు కొత్తేమి కాదు. గతంలో చాలా సినిమాల్లో పోలీసు పాత్ర పోషించారు. అందుకే కానిస్టేబుల్‌ మురళీ కృష్ణ పాత్రలో విశాల్‌ ఒదిగిపోయాడు. యాక్షన్‌ సీన్స్‌ అదరగొట్టేశాడు. క్లైమాక్స్‌లో ఎమోషన్స్‌ సీన్స్‌లో కూడా చక్కగా నటించాడు కానీ అది వర్కౌట్‌ కాలేదు. కవిత పాత్రకు సునైనా న్యాయం చేసింది. ఆమె పాత్ర నిడివి తక్కువే అయినా ఉన్నంతలో చక్కగా నటించింది.  ప్రభు, తలైవాసన్ పాత్రలకు పెద్దగా ప్రాధాన్యత లేదు. ఇక విలన్లు సూరా, వీరలుగా సన్నీ పీఎన్, రమణ జస్ట్ తెరపై విలనిజం పండించడంలో విఫలం అయ్యారు. అయితే ఈ తప్పు వారిది కాదు. ఆ పాత్రలు డిజైన్‌ చేసిన విధానంలోనే లోపం ఉంది. మిగిలిన నటీనటులు తమ పాత్రల పరిధిమేర నటించారు. ఇక సాంకేతిక విషయానికొస్తే.. యువన్‌ శంకర్‌ రాజా నేపథ్య సంగీతం బాగుంది. పీటర్‌ హెయిన్స్‌ పోరాట ఘట్టాలు పర్వాలేదు. సినిమాటోగ్రఫీ బాలసుబ్రహ్మణ్యం పనితీరు బాగుంది. నిర్మాణ విలువలు సినిమా స్థాయికి తగ్గట్లుగా ఉన్నాయి.  - అంజి శెట్టి, సాక్షి వెబ్‌డెస్క్‌

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‘Laththi’ review: An engaging action-thriller with flaws

Release Date : 22/12/2023 Platform : Youtube Cast : Vishal, Sunaina, Ramana, PN Sunny Director : A. Vinoth Kumar

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Laththi Twitter Review: General Audience and Families Shower Huge Support To Vishal’s Comeback Movie!

Vishal, who has faced a series of failures, is coming back with the film Lathi, directed by Vinod Kumar, with the intention of giving a much needed success. The film is releasing today and Vishal is eagerly waiting to make his mark with this film. His best friend and actor Rana takes a new avatar as a producer with this film.

#Laththi okish first half & very predictable second half !! Screenplay could have been much better... Yuvan music & BGM doesnt impress👎 Action sequences are good... Vishal have put more efforts👏 Overall below average #ABRatings - 2.5/5 pic.twitter.com/B9TmCMSMve — AmuthaBharathi (@CinemaWithAB) December 22, 2022

#Laththi Review A Action Thriller🍿Plot- Hero Gets Trapped By Villians✌🏾Vishal Dedication🔥 Yuvan Doesnt Help The Film😬Stunts & Last 40Mins Engaged💥Old Trade Style - Dialogues & Songs Lags🙂Vishal Needs a Winner✊🏾Might Be Much Better! Strictly Average!! Saloon Rating: 2.5/5 pic.twitter.com/LY0YQY67Qw — Saloon Kada Shanmugam (@saloon_kada) December 22, 2022

#Laththi - Rightly named. — Prashanth Rangaswamy (@itisprashanth) December 22, 2022

Recently the trailer of this film was released and it became a trend. Vishal is playing the role of a police officer in the film. In this, Vishal, who lives happily with a wife and child, loses his police post due to some reasons.

#Laththi Interval Asusual Commercial Treatment✌🏾Only Vishal Shines🔥 Ramana Characterisation Was The Biggest+ & Suprises💥 Yuvan Aaley Kanom🥲 Saturated Dialogue & Unwanted Love Track🤷🏽‍♂️ Villain Team Feels So Strong👊🏾 Overall Average First Half!Lets Wait For 2nd Half!! — Saloon Kada Shanmugam (@saloon_kada) December 22, 2022

#Laththi : Nothing Impresses Rather Than its Action Sequence! Strictly Average!! Vishal Dedication🔥🔥 — Saloon Kada Shanmugam (@saloon_kada) December 22, 2022

#Laththi : Over Dramatic with High Action sequences Sentiment scenes are too heavy to handle 1st Half Ok but Second Half too much lag some scenes tests patience Vishal Ok but Emotional scenes not good https://t.co/IBUamSRAbr — 𝐁𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐚 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 (@BheeshmaTalks) December 22, 2022

After that he rejoins the police department on his son's request. And in the film, he beats up the baddies with the lathi in his hand. Vishal shouts out the lines that if the higher officials ask the police to beat them with a lathi, it is not an order, but an offer. In this trailer, Yuvan Shankar Raja's BGM has worked out on another level. The film is releasing in five languages namely Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi.

wow லத்தி இன்டர்வெல் padam super vera leval screen play sema interest waiting for second off constable vs sura action block @VishalKOfficial bro unga acting super #Laththi #Thunivu pic.twitter.com/4blnQjCdaR — Sachinsenthil (@Sachinssenthil) December 22, 2022

Showtime #Laththi 🎬 Special screening for me with empty theatre😌 pic.twitter.com/Sz9px96s1e — AmuthaBharathi (@CinemaWithAB) December 22, 2022

So this movie will be a big turning point in Vishal's film career. Since Vishal's film Laththi is releasing worldwide today, he has been touring various states to promote the film. Actor Vishal, who toured Andhra Pradesh on the December 19th, received a huge welcome in colleges. Meanwhile, a new information has come out that Andhra Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has approached to meet actor Vishal.

#Laththi - 2.5/5 AVG 1st half & b.avg 2nd half ... @VishalKOfficial perf sema 👌 engaging factor major missing ! Padam fullah thedi pathen yuvan ah kanom 😤 Villan Character 🥴 Padu Mokka , DISAPPOINTED ! , Another flop for V pic.twitter.com/A9pvfWnlDB — MâDD¥ 💚😘 (@dir_maddy) December 22, 2022

#Laththi Interval - Commercial formula. Lets wait for the second half. — Prashanth Rangaswamy (@itisprashanth) December 22, 2022

#Laththi - In every film, Vishal’s utmost dedication is loudly visible, but choice of scripts remains fallible. Stunt team deserves 👏. Despite his toilsome efforts in action sequences & delivering emotional performances, feeble screenwriting makes Laththi a mediocre flick. pic.twitter.com/01hEQPk67m — Richard Mahesh (@mahesh_richard) December 22, 2022

Actor Vishal has been in cinema for the past 20 years. The 45-year-old actor got into a lot of controversies. Vishal's recent film Veeramey Vaagai Soodum, Enemy and Action films did not give the expected success. Thus, Vishal is hoping that the film Lathi will take him back to the path of success.

#Laththi - In every film, Vishal’s utmost dedication is loudly visible, but choice of scripts remains fallible. Stunt team deserves @PeterHeinOffl 👏. @VishalKOfficial satisfied title card " puratchi Thalapathy " #LaththiCharge @thisisysr pic.twitter.com/Nl4wKBeQOT — Esh Vishal (@Eshvishaloff) December 22, 2022

Wishing darling @VishalKOfficial and producer brothers @RanaProduction0 @nandaa_actor a huge success with #Laththi 🔥🔥🔥👍 Congratulations Team 👍👍 @thisisysr @TheSunainaa pic.twitter.com/NhNjDPswbj — Arya (@arya_offl) December 22, 2022

#Laththi May inspired from, Opening Fight Scene : #RRR Ram Entry Fight Revenge Reason : #Theri Climax Scene: #VettaiyaaduVilaiyaadu Story Outdated Screen play 👍 Father - Son Emotion @VishalKOfficial 👏 Watchable 🙌 Same templates for negative characters make irritating😣 pic.twitter.com/tHMoT2rxtd — Thanjavur Movies (@TnjMovies) December 22, 2022

He is very good actor who proved his mettle with brilliant performances in many films like Chellamey, Sandakozhi, Thimiru, Thamirabarani and Avan Ivan. But later he started concentrating more on commercial success rather than working on performance oriented films. Laththi looks promising like a good combination of both commercial elements and Vishal's performance. Hope he comes back to the track after 6 consecutive flops with this film. Let's wish actor Vishal and producer Rana for a great success with Laththi.

Positive Responses !!! #Laththi #Laatti #LaththiFromToday pic.twitter.com/z6CoRTeifH — Vishal Film Factory (@VffVishal) December 22, 2022

#LaththiTrailer is so intriguing, @VishalKOfficial ur going to rock it, best wishes to dear friend #Ramana for his first production & entire team of #Laththi . @dir_vinothkumar @TheSunainaa @nandaa_actor @RanaProduction0 @thisisysr https://t.co/fOguCp6v2s — Prashanth Neel (@prashanth_neel) December 21, 2022

Best wishes to #Ramana & @nandaa_actor for @RanaProduction0 ’s first film #Laththi Wishing big success @VishalKOfficial & team!! @dir_vinothkumar @TheSunainaa @thisisysr pic.twitter.com/ZOO12u6fzo — SR Prabhu (@prabhu_sr) December 22, 2022

Some of Half minded #pavankalyan fans are trolling... Spreading fake reviews about #laatti #laththi movie... because of political issues.. Ok lets troll First dup lakutha movies cahindi.. tarvta troll chaindi. Everyone knows who have better acting skills — kumar 𝙿𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚑𝚊𝚜 ™ (@pbKumar7575) December 22, 2022

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Laththi Movie Review and Rating

Movie Review:  Laththi

Director:  A Vinod Kumar

Producers:  Ramana and Nanda

Music Director:  Yuvan Shankar Raja

Starring:   Vishal , Sunaina, Thalaivasal Vijay, Misha Ghoshal, Prabhu, Munishkanth and others

  Release Date :  December 22, 2022

 Rating :   2.5/5

Laththi Movie Review:  Vishal, Sunaina, Thalaivasal Vijay, Misha Ghoshal, Prabhu, Munishkanth and others starrer action thriller drama Laththi has finally hit the theaters. Let’s see the story of Laththi.

 Story:  Muruganandam (Vishal) is a very dedicated constable and laththi specialist who is loyal to his job.  He is married to Kavitha and has a child. Murunganatham and his 10 years old son unexpectedly find themselves trapped in a building under construction in the hands of a terrifying gang.  Will Muruganandham and his son escape the wrath of gangster or fall prey to them? To get this answer, one should watch the movie Laththi on silver screen.

Plus Points:

·         Vishal

·         Action sequences

·         Performance

·         Twist

 Minus Points:

·         Predictable screenplay

·         Second half

·         BGM

  Performance:    Once again Vishal impresses the viewers with his marvelous acting. He performs superb in the action sequences. When it comes to acting, Vishal is one of the best actors  of Kollywood and it has been proved in many movies.  In this film he  is known as the laththi specialist and that’s the reason why he gets suspended.  The movie Laththi also glorifies police brutality to an extent. Once he gets reinstated after a gap of 6 months, he feels scared about touching the laththi. Sunaina gets limited screen presence but does her part well in the limited time. Pillodu, who played the role of Vishal’s son, impressed everyone. Along with Prabhu, all the other actors have done their part as much as the story required. 

  Technical:   The film has routine story.  Fight scenes are extraordinary. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music and background score doesn’t help to elevate the emotions in Laththi. Balasubramanian and Balakrishna Thotala’s cinematography are not up to the mark   The most of the scenes look too colourful. The technical aspects are decent, and stunt sequences are choreographed in a realistic way, salute to Peter Hein. Coming on the work of director  Vinoth Kumar , he does an exceptional job of keeping the suspense for the most part.  Production values are good.

 Analysis:  Laththi is  a commercial action Film with conflict between hero  and villain. The first half quite well and second half is filled with number of action scenes.   Vishal’ performance and his stunts are the major plus  points of the movie. The villain gets hyped throughout the film. In the first half, the main villain is masked. 45 minutes stunt sequence in the second half is one of the major drawbacks to the narrative.   Vishal delivers yet another stunner with his stunts.

• Laththi movie review
• Laththi review and rating
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Latthi Review - Promising Intent Goes In Vain Due To Weak Storytelling.

Published date : 22/dec/2022.

Latthi Review - Promising Intent Goes In Vain Due To Weak Storytelling!

Latthi is a cop action flick starring Vishal in the lead role. Directed by debutant A. Vinoth Kumar and the music is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Vishal is a Police Constable who is a specialist in lockup treatment. He is being ordered to lathi charge an accused by a higher official. Turns out the accused is a big shot and Vishal is in deep trouble. How he saves him from the menacing villain forms the remaining story.

Writing/ Direction

Simple commercial script, but there’s a sense to it. The setting is done well, though it is predictable, the director has tried to logically treat the happenings at least on a basic level. The initial portions seem to have no aim, but the knots untied in the flow make them convincing. The execution is sadly lame and cringe. Dialogues are poorly written, just to make sure every other word uttered is rhyming, especially the family and romance scenes. The action is extremely violent and involves needless bloodshed, the film should have actually been given an ‘A’ certificate from the censor board for its level of gore. Last 30 minutes before the halfway mark is genuinely gripping, especially the interval scene is solid and promises to offer a thriller in the latter. But the story goes in pause mode in the second half, stuck at one single place and suffocates to move forward. The thing is, strong foreshadowing was missing for such a second half, also the screenplay isn’t smart enough. The action driven storytelling demands believable writing and that was flat. We see Vishal stopping a mini-riot at the beginning, so how do we fear for the character, the tension was absent. The amateurish direction is evident till the very end, the pre-climax is staged like a theatre-play monologue and the whole emotional scene landed as a big joke.

Performances

Great efforts by Vishal in the stunt scenes, his physique is over beefed up, but he plays the raw action sequences to his strengths and has pulled them off superbly. No big role for Sunaina. Ramana is powerful as the main baddie, his character is more menacing than his performance, so the balance is prevailed. Other supporting characters and their acting don’t stand tall, there are too many artists, so crowded and the focus is missing.

Technicalities

Both songs and background score are very weak, if Yuvan Shankar Raja had worked hard, he could’ve easily elevated the fight sequences a notch higher. Decent cinematography, nothing exceptional but nothing bad at the same time. Editing makes the film very melodramatic at places, remainder shots have been added forcefully just to create an impact. Kudos to the stunt department, the entire team has worked so well on executing the action set pieces, the fights looked real on screen.

A simple yet a solid action script that is sufficient enough to make a strong commercial flick, opportunity has been wasted due to weak execution. If the direction and technicalities were better, this would have been Vishal’s comeback venture.

Rating - 2.5/ 5

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Laththi Movie Review, Vishal,‌ Sunaina

Movie: Laththi Director : A. Vinoth Kumar

Written by : A. Vinoth Kumar Produced by : Ramana Nandha Durairaj

Starring : Vishal, Sunaina, Prabhu

Cinematography : Balasubramaniem,‌Balakrishna Thota

Edited by‌: N. B. Srikanth Music by : Yuvan Shankar Raja

Production company : Rana Productions

Distributed by : Red Giant Movies Release date : 22 December 2022

2.5/5 The IBC News Rating

Vishal’s last few films have been a disaster and the actor pinned all his hopes on his upcoming mass entertainer Lathi. The film has hit the theaters today, and let’s see how the film is.

The plot revolves around Muruganandam (Vishal) who is a very loyal and sincere constable. He is married to Kavitha (Sunaina) and lives a happy life with his 10-year-old son. Twist in the tale takes place when he finds his son trapped in the hands of a terrifying gang. The rest of the story is what Muruga did to save his son.

What’s Entertaining & What’s Boring:

Laathi is a purely commercial and out and out action film. Throughout the film, the director aimed at the mass audience. Also Vishal’s performance was perfect in every frame. Conflict point in the second half is good.

However, there is nothing new in the movie plot and most of the scenes are very routine. Apart from this lengthy action sequence, the film looks pretty regular.

Performance of Cast & Crew

Vishal did complete justice to his character. He shines effortlessly in all the action sequences and his efforts as mentioned before was seen in every action scene. Sunaina is good in her role.Prabhu, Munishkanth, Thalaivasal Vijay and Misha Ghoshal have played their parts well.

The movie has decent technical values. Editing could be a little better in the first half as there are few unnecessary scenes. Production values are best. Cinematography by Balasubramaniam & Balakrishna Thota is good. Music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is just average. Coming to the director, he has just done an average job. He fails in delivering new and entertaining content, but he succeeds in offering some effective action sequences that keeps the audience engaged.

First Half & Second Half:

First half has nothing new to offer. It is only in the second half, where a conflict point engages us and makes us glued to the screens with the best designed action sequences.

Impressive:

Performances Second half Action sequences

Unimpressive:

Routine Story First Half

The IBC News take on Movie:

Overall, Lathi is not a story that has never been seen before. Just the fight sequence composed by Peter Hein and conflict points in the second half are the only highlights of the movie. Rest of the film stays utterly routine.

One-Line Review: Half-Baked Mass Entertainer …

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Review: Incarcerated fathers and their daughters dance in the heart-wrenching doc ‘Daughters’

This image released by Netflix shows a scene from “Daughters.” (Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Aubrey Smith in a scene from “Daughters.” (Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows, from left, Donte Brooks, Allan James, Leonard Smith, and Jeffrey Saunders in a scene from “Daughters.” (Netflix via AP)

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A group of incarcerated fathers are warned in the documentary “Daughters” that they’re about to go on “emotional rollercoasters.” A truer prediction has never been uttered.

In the film, directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton, the imprisoned fathers at a Washington, D.C., correctional facility, are given a rare gift: a few hours to spend with their daughters, who range in age from 5 to late teens. For one afternoon, they can be together to dance, hug and laugh.

For some of the girls, the program, called the Daddy Daughter Dance, will be the first time they’ve ever touched their father. Others haven’t seen their dad in years. The trend in U.S. prisons has been toward video calls and away from in-person “touch” visits. Even “in-person” visits are often through plexiglass and a phone.

The unspoken question that runs through “Daughters,” which debuts Wednesday on Netflix, is: Should it be this seldom that incarcerated men have real human interaction with their children? In this heartache of a documentary, the most plaintive plea is a basic one. Whatever else they are, one of the incarcerated men says, “We’re still fathers.”

“Daughters,” a prize-winner at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, first turns its attention to some of the young girls as they prepare for the afternoon. Aubrey, a chatty, immediately loveable 5-year-old, says, “When he says he loves me, I’m gonna say I love him more.” Aubrey’s father, Keith, will be in prison for another seven years, a time period that even a 5-year-old as bright as Aubrey simply can’t conceive. She’s learning to count.

Others have more complicated feelings before the dance. Santana, 10, vows not to shed a tear when she goes. “The only reason he ain’t here is he wants to keep doing bad stuff,” she says. Her father, Mark, didn’t hug his daughter until she was a year old. For Ja’Ana, 11, seeing her father is even rarer. Her mother didn’t want her to see her father behind bars. “I don’t remember nothin’ about my father, nothin’ at all,” she says.

On the day of the dance, the fathers, all wearing suits and a flower on their lapel, are sitting in a long row of seats when their daughters arrive. The filmmakers capture the moment almost like a fairy tale, with lots of light and little sound besides some music, a few shouts of “Daddy!” and a little muffled crying.

Inside a gym, the fathers and daughters play and dance. Some have a ball. For others, it’s clear that the gulf between them can’t be bridged in a day. When it’s time for the daughters to go home and the fathers to return to their cells, the parting is inevitably crushing. Before the girls depart, the fathers sign pledges to remain their life. In the 12 years of the program, 95% of participating fathers don’t return to jail.

We’ve had the good fortune of two exquisitely tender films this summer about the lives of incarcerated people and the paths they might take to redemption in “Daughters” and the recently released true-tale-inspired drama “Sing Sing.” In “Daughters,” the dialogue around the dance is cause for reflection, also, on the imprisoned men’s own upbringing and cycles of parental absence that can extend across generations.

Time is the fundamental metric of prison life, which makes a documentary like “Daughters,” filmed over years, uniquely, maybe even monstrously capable of capturing its passing. As much as “Daughters” can be an emotional rollercoaster, there’s no preparing for the film’s painful years-later epilogue. Aubrey is now 8. She hasn’t seen her dad since the dance. When she’s finally permitted to visit her father, she doesn’t recognize him through the plexiglass. On the ride home, Aubrey no longer looks like the bundle of optimism she was at 5. Make no mistake. This is tragedy, in very real time.

“Daughters,” a Netflix release, is rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and language. Running time: 107 minutes. Three stars out of four.

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‘it ends with us’ review: blake lively stars in serviceable adaptation of colleen hoover novel.

A young flower shop owner navigates a new romance and her traumatic past in a high-emotional-stakes drama directed by and also starring Justin Baldoni.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Lovia Gyarkye

Arts & Culture Critic

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Selling celebrity: the top 30 stars minting cash from beauty, booze and snack brands, lively-reynolds box office domination: 'deadpool & wolverine' stays no. 1 with $54m, 'it ends with us' soars to huge $50m, it ends with us.

Lily also makes a new friend, a perky woman who stumbles upon the flower shop before its opening. In the logic of contrived storytelling, Allysa ( Jenny Slate ) is, of course, related to Ryle. Double dates — with Lily, Ryle, Allysa and her husband, Marshall ( Hasan Minhaj ) — become regular occurrences. 

Because Lily’s life, as rendered in DP Barry Peterson’s intimate, golden-hued visual grammar, feels like a dream, the nightmarish details can be easy to miss. It Ends With Us is a portrait of domestic abuse tucked in the frame of a romance.

Hoover’s novel, which has spent more than two years at the top of the The New York Times best-seller list, drew criticism for its depiction of intimate partner abuse. Some readers found the focus on Lily’s relationship with her abuser, Ryle, to be manipulative. Others blamed the publicity machinations for falsely advertising the novel as a love-triangle romance. The plan to release an accompanying coloring book (eventually scrapped) didn’t help Hoover’s case, either.

Although there are early signs of trouble in the relationship — Ryle’s volatile temper, for instance, and the way he repeatedly pushes Lily’s boundaries — the film is effective in how it casts a chilling kind of doubt.  

It Ends With Us struggles much more in other places. The screenplay, by Daddio director Christy Hall, makes an effort with some early winking jokes that acknowledge the novel’s clichés. But the adaptation can’t be saved from the contrivance baked into the original text.

Details are scant when not focused on Lily’s struggle with abuse and the generational patterns she wants to break. Through flashbacks, we come to learn that a young Lily (an excellent Isabela Ferrer) routinely witnessed her father beating her mother.

Few people aside from her high school love interest Atlas (played by Alex Neustaedter as a youth and Brandon Sklenar as an adult) know about this traumatic period in her life. The depth of their bond is presented to us in fitfully poignant glimpses into the past. 

A later conversation between Lily and her mother (Amy Morton) is particularly frustrating because it’s a missed opportunity to engage with the complex web of reasons survivors struggle to leave abusive relationships. 

The pat treatment of these characters ultimately does a disservice to the broader themes embedded in It Ends With Us . Without understanding more of Lily’s broader community or getting a stronger sense of how she navigates the relationship with Ryle, the film can feel too light and wispy to support the weight of its themes. 

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The ‘borderlands’ movie debuts with a 0% on rotten tomatoes (update).

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Borderlands

This post was published on 8/8 and republished on 8/10.

I’m not sure I knew of anyone, Borderlands fan or not, who believed that the movie adaptation of the game was going to be good, based on everything from casting to trailers. Now as reviews come in ahead of its release tomorrow, those fears have been validated. And then some.

As I write this, the Borderlands movie has a flat 0% on Rotten Tomatoes . No positive reviews whatsoever ( Update : A single positive review has come in raising it to a 3%), and the ones that are in are not just negative, but brutal . Here’s a sampling:

• Discussing Film: “The fans deserve a lot better than whatever director Eli Roth is trying to do with Borderlands. This is the video game movie curse at its worst.”
• Men’s Journal: “If Borderlands doesn't stop studio executives from salivating at the sight of every single IP that comes across their desks, nothing will.”
• Next Best Picture : “It’s impressive how Roth can elicit the poor quality of 2000s video game adaptation energy yet somehow forget the discernable sense of fun or style that made even those terrible movies stand out.”
• IGN : “Borderlands is an abysmal waste of a beloved franchise that takes a kooky band of murderous misfits and drains the life out of their first adventure together.”

It’s true there are not many reviews in yet, and the score may tick up, but everything I’ve seen outside of some video game influencers who attended premieres (or are literally extras in the movie) has been relentlessly negative, and I would be surprised to find more than a handful of positive reviews come in when all is said and done. If any.

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A 0% on Rotten Tomatoes is of course as low as you can go. If we are looking at the worst-scored video game movies ever made, that list would now be (Updated list with the 4%):

• Alone in the Dark (2005) – 1%
• Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) – 3%
• House of the Dead (2003) – 3%
• Borderlands (2024) – 3%
• In the Name of the King (2007) – 4%
• Bloodrayne (2005) – 4%
• Mortal Kombat Annihilation- 4%
• Silent Hill Revelation (2012) – 8%
• Hitman Agent: 47 (2015) – 8%
• Postal (2007) – 9%

I put the year there so you can see that most of these ultra-terrible ones are in a decade or so when making a good video game adaptation was borderline impossible and the only people trying were directors like Uwe Boll half the time. As of late, we have seen very solid live action video game adaptations on both film (Sonic) and TV (The Last of Us, Fallout), and Borderlands seems to be a 10-15 year step backward.

I do expect it to rise above a zero percent. There are so many critics on Rotten Tomatoes of questionable quality and taste that probably someone will like it and knock it above some of these (I am one of those critics, so no judgement), but that has not happened at the time of this writing.

Who saw this coming? Everyone. Everyone did. And here we are.

Update (8/10): We have 92 reviews in now, and Borderlands has gone from 0% to 3% to now settling at around 10%. This puts it outside much higher on the “worst video game adaptations ever” list, which would now look like

• Borderlands (2024) - 10%

Of course there is absolutely no pretending a 10% is good. I do agree, however, that it does not deserve to be quite as low as that terrible decade of Uwe Boll movies and a few other very poor ones. Like no, this is definitely not on par with Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.

I have indeed now seen the movie myself, and a 10% is something I can get behind. My own negative review is now on Rotten Tomatoes, and here’s an excerpt:

“This is neither a good Borderlands movie or nor a good movie, period. It feels like Gearbox and Eli Roth tried to split the difference here, making a mass-appeal PG-13 action film but gesturing vaguely at the games to try to get that crowd to show up too.

But the end result is throwing the Borderlands games at a wall, watching them shatter, and gluing back together a handful of mildly recognizable pieces.”

I said in the piece that the casting of Kevin Hart and Cate Blanchett are big problems, as expected. Hart mostly acts like a barely toned-down version of his usual self, and is nothing like game Roland. Blanchett is of course normally a great actress but a 30 year or so age increase from Lilith is bizarre, and also makes no sense within the confines of the film as actresses close to her age appear to remember her as a child.

This is a franchise killer. Gearbox had big plans for a Borderlands cinematic universe that is clearly going nowhere after this. And given how this went, that is fully justified.

Follow me on Twitter , YouTube , and Instagram .

Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy .

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