Movie Review: Jawan

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent action film from India. 

This movie stands out from many other Bollywood action films, hugely because of its main characters. These are not your typical Bollywood action heroes because they are a little more complex than that. While you are never in doubt that what they are fighting for is the right thing, there are times when we are not sure whether the way they are going about it is morally right. This makes it so we are always rooting for them, while at the same time we don't always know what they will do next. This also adds a real sense of suspense to the film as we never fully know what will happen next. This is especially true with how many well-done twists and turns there are here. This movie also works in some good political commentary into its action-packed story. While this commentary is (like many Indian films) very patriotic, it is also a bit more complex than the average Bollywood film. While this is more complex than the average Bollywood movie, it is no less fun. The action scenes here are excellent. They are wonderfully staged, very exciting, over the top (in a good way) and quite tense. The humor in this movie is also often excellent. The song numbers are also simply a lot of fun. 

This film is admittedly longer than it needs to be and there are times when it can drag. This is especially true in a flashback that goes on much too long. This movie also has a very boring villain. 

While not perfect, this is definitely one of the better Bollywood action movies of recent years.