To say that War has a wafer-thin plot is an understatement. War has a lot of visual appeal but the all style and no substance approach makes this 2 hours 36 minutes film a real drag. DISAPPOINTING!
It isn't completely unwatchable, but it certainly tests your patience. How many times have you ordered a dish that looks terrific photographed in a menu but disappoints when it shows up on the table? War is that kind of meal and a golden opportunity lost. It has two handsome leads, some eye-popping stunt scenes (Paul Jennings, Franz Spilhaus, Oh Sea Young & Parvez Shaikh) and a slew of beautiful locales. It would take an especially awful script & an incompetent director to deliver a mess out of those ingredients. Everything here is laid out crystal clear at the lowest common denominator. Sure enough, the film packs enough twists & turns. But those particular twists are so ludicrous that it is hard to imagine someone could still be thinking in such formulaic ways. Abbas Tyrewala's dialogues are so clunky, they make you cringe. Director Siddharth Anand, the man who gave us such excruciating films as Tara Rum Pum, Anjaana Anjaani & Bang Bang, applies the same pedestrian sensibilities to what could've been a slick enjoyable romp.
Siddharth Anand & Aditya Chopra's story rests on the assumption of suspension of belief. The film is weighed down by a teary familial back-story and a major twist that anyone who's watched even three masala potboilers can predict from a mile away. It's a pity to see a production house of the stature of YRF go down the same path again and again. And yet if there's one reason to watch War, it's Hrithik Roshan. He's charming, charismatic & appears to be having a good time. Here's a movie star who actually looks like he could pull off those action scenes for real. Vaani Kapoor is wasted. Soni Razdan is Perfect. Ashutosh Rana is dependable as always. Arif Zakaria, Swaroopa Ghosh (Sherna Patel), Dipannita Sharma, Anupria Goenka are just fine in their respective roles. Tiger Shroff can dance effortlessly, fight in style and charm the audiences. But what one really needs to applaud is the way he carries the film. His role in War seems to be a hundred notches ahead of what he did in his previous movies.
For the most part War is all action, no talk. Its pace remains inconsistent. At times, it runs very slow but catches up with the action sequences that follow. Overall, the star cast will ensure that the movie sails through comfortably at the box-office. Skip it!
