Rating – *** (3/5)
The Hindi film industry doesn’t need to ape or categorically learn anything from the South film industry per se, except one thing. Showcasing and loving your megastars in ways that are applaudable and unprecedented. You might be a resident Tamilian in the state of Tamil Nadu, who doesn’t just love Thalapathy Vijay but practically worship him; there isn’t any difference between you, the die-hard Thalapathy Vijay fan and the director of The Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T), Venkat Prabhu. The sheer audacity to not just metaphorically declare that Vijay is the GOAT and carve out an entire film surrounding the accentuation of it speaks volumes about the love and idolisation that Vijay enjoys from not just his fans but his directors as well.
Every frame in The GOAT screams of Prabhu’s love for his superstar, and what’s better is that he knows what to do with it unlike Nelson, who somehow just didn’t get the assignment right with Beast. Prabhu carves out a three-hour saga surrounding Vijay and manages to give you not one but two Vijays – what can be better than that? At its core, the story of The GOAT is formulaic and wannabe Mission Impossible in almost every instance. There is a sincere but visibly desperate attempt to achieve technical prowess and action excellence which you associate with the MI and other mega Hollywood actioners. It lands on a few instances but mostly, the shoddy CGI doesn’t help the case and you just want to move on from it so that you can be invested in the story and not the mishap. Using AI to de-age Vijay on a couple of instances, and even a special segment to remember and offer their respect to the late great Vijaykanth is so bad that despite understanding the intention behind it, you cannot help but notice the weakness of it.
Jumping a few timelines here and there, one of the biggest feats for The GOAT is never getting boring considering it clocks 3 full hours – which is the easiest thing to do when you have a formulaic story in your hand. Instead, infusing ample humor, great camaraderie between the ensemble cast and a truckload of twists and turns, the film keeps you hooked throughout – especially in the first half. As the second half begins and moves on, the predictability factor keeps sinking in more and more thus affecting the viewing experience to an extent. To the film’s credit, one twist (won’t spoil which one) does come as a huge shocker and has your jaw dropped thus pulling you right back in just when it begins to lose its grip.
Venkat Prabhu isn’t just in love with Thalapathy Vijay but also with the rest of the ensemble cast who aren’t just bystanders but are given key characters that propel the storyline further. The likes of Prasanth, Prabhu Deva, Yogi Babu and Jayaram add the right blend of a masala film with their character arcs and performances thus making Vijay look and feel better.
You cannot be asking for logic, and you shouldn’t because to see Vijay seamlessly become a young 25-something old and also be the 50 year old man he is impeccable (the horrible de-ageing sequence excluded). You can see why is this man loved by millions and millions, and to see a filmmaker present him in a way that attains a scintillating blend of machismo, swagger, cockiness, charm, good looks and fan service is a rare feat to achieve. Also, to see Thalapathy Vijay and Prabhu Deva dance in one frame is a treat in itself.
It also helps that the Hindi dubbing is actually well done and the punchlines aren’t lost in translation. But a huge drawback that the film just cannot get over of is the forgettable music and songs – another rare occurrence where you have about 3 to 4 dance numbers and not one of them is memorable even remotely. The bland music and soundtrack is compensated by Yuvan Shankar Raja’s thumping background score – lending good assistance to those whistleworthy moments.
In the end, The Greatest Of All Time is a passable watch for the ones who nitpick and deconstruct the story too intricately but is mostly a winner owing to being a fine example of how fan service is done but not at the cost of being a trainwreck. The mid-credits scene might just change your overall feeling of satisfaction as it is perhaps the most unnecessary cliffhanger to have, but you can move on from it and remember The GOAT for being a fun watch.