Here’s another first: my Grandma recommending a movie for me to watch! She’s as big of an action buff as I am, so if it wasn’t going to be something regarding a lot of balls-to-the-wall hand to hand combat, shooty-tooty bang bang was the next option. Her choice was “Eagle”, an Indian Telugu action film about a master assassin looking to rid the world of all illegal weapons.
This is no RRR, that’s for damn sure.
Going for a non-linear approach in stories like this that demand your attention and precision are tricky to pull off because while intentionally shuffling the chronological order can benefit the story you plan to tell, it also carries the risk of confusing the audience or disrupting the natural flow of the narrative. Any dramatic effect this story wanted to enforce with the legend of Eagle is understandable: pan certain stories out from people who oppose him compared to those who he considers allies to splice the full picture together. But unlike Pulp Fiction, the nonlinear structure doesn’t really pan out that same way because despite its simplicity, it still isn’t all that easy of a plot to follow, almost like the film’s trying to gaslight me into thinking it’s more linear than it promised.
If I had to summarize the narrative at play here in one word, it would be DRAINING.
Taut writing and fresh ideas are fresh out in this story fountain and it becomes abundantly clear once you get past the first act that while it doesn’t live the full cliche, it might as well be. Focus wains and slowly dissipates as we jump from location to location getting the exact same information delivered to us in different mannerisms and after a while, it just sort of gives up and becomes an extended music video that cranks the Saturday morning cartoon dial up to 11 and doesn’t come back down. The gap in pacing between all three acts isn’t that big enough to compensate for jack either, despite the lengthy runtime they utilize to their advantage. The last hour and a half of the movie isn’t much better either with certain plot threads being rushed, forgotten about or just pop up out of nowhere to crowbar certain information…..but that is where the dangling threads of the plot congeal and come together and some of the payoffs make sense, boasting derivative but still captivating commentary that’s screaming to be utilized in a sharper action drama, navigating issues from cotton weaving to bauxite mining and illegal weapon trading while exposing the ramifications such practices lead to when in the wrong hands.
However, the fact that you still had your trudge through over a FULL HOUR plus of truncated, repetitive exposition dumps and irritating dialogue exchanges to get there isn’t lost on me. Not to mention, the emotional moments we do end up getting kind of disrupt the pacing also and Eagle is the only character in this ensemble I actually grew attached to.
Speaking of, acting was pretty good for the most part; their chemistry falters between them depending on who shares the screen with who but at least the performances were solid enough for the story presented. Humor however is mundane at best when it’s not focused on the wacky physics of the action sequences; said action set pieces are well-choreographed and stylish enough to wake the audience up for those who were bored by the first hour.
I feel like they tried to do a little too much with the cinematography. No shaky-cam is present thankfully and it’s easy to pick apart what happens but it’s nowhere near as dynamic as it think it looks or feels and the editing comes off as incredibly rudimentary when it isn’t involved in an action sequence. When things do slow down, we do get a chance to take in whatever distinct landscapes are present and I will say the production design does hold some distinct importance to the events that transpire.
Costumes were appropriate, atmosphere was lively and bustling even when not much was happening (which is a godsend, trust me) and the musical score is overly dramatic with how over the top and overused its sonic backdrop can be. Yet even that gets repetitive after a while. The songs themselves aren’t as memorable as RRR but still make for fascinating eardrums.
Yeah, I can see why some people like this; I especially see why my Grandma had such a blast with it. Maybe one day, I’ll revisit it and give it another try. But for now, this is content enough for me.
