Cobra: "Routine run of the mill latter half belittles Vikram's efforts!!!"

Prior to the release of PS-1, Vikram had a major release in the form of "Cobra" that was helmed by Ajay Gnanamuthu. I happened to see it only by the time it was released on SonyLIV which happened within a month of its release. Well that was ample proof that it had failed to bring in footfalls in the theatres that was required to recover the 100 C that the makers had invested. To be fair, I felt the first half was pretty entertaining but what panned out later was pretty damn ordinary.

The script has been the creation of Ajay along with a host of other individuals like Neelan Sekhar, Kanna Sreevasthan etc. Based on how the movie eventually got made, it would be fair to say that too many cooks spoiled the broth. The movie is about the assassin, Cobra / Madhi (Vikram) who had carried out assignments with immaculate perfection that the Interpol had no clue regarding the whereabouts of this mastermind. The contracts predominantly came from the MNC Rishi Corporation which was headed by Rajeev Rishi (Roshan Mathew) & when the Interpol closed in, the former decided to finish off the protagonist before the trail led to him. However, Madhi had more cards up his sleeve.

The first half focuses on the thrill factor & the multiple characters that Vikram dons which despite giving a vague sense of Anniyan was still very much enjoyable. However, the interval block which was supposed to be a wow moment failed to provide that impact & the movie never quite rose after that. The emotional drama that was staged was well performed by Vikram but the story as such turned out to be rather stagnant & boring with the flashback turning out to be predictable & quite bland. On the technical side, Harish Kannan's visuals were impressive & AR Rahman's music though not quite off the top drawer was still fine. But the VFX was pretty mediocre at times & the editing could have been far more sensible. 

Coming to the rest, Srinidhi Shetty did have a meatier role than "KGF" & along with K S Ravikumar and Meenakshi Govindarajan (as Judy) has done a decent job. Irfan Pathan was good in parts while Roshan Mathew was wasted in a poorly written role. Though it was good to see a couple of other Malayali artists as well like Mammukoya & Miya George (as Madhi' mother), they didn't have anything substantial to do.

Verdict: Well it isn't surprising to see as to why the movie tanked as the latter half was devoid of all the thrills that made it engaging early on. In short, if interested give it a try for the first half!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben