Retro Movie Review

As a filmmaker, Karthik Subbaraj is one who has asserted stories about lands and gangsters very well over his long filmography, and the director continues the same in his latest story Retro – which brings back Suriya in a form we all love, and gives him a very powerful role to carry.

Retro has an interesting tag of ‘Love Laughter War’ and the film too carries the same chapters forward. The first one in ‘Love’ is the best of the lot, as it has exciting episodes one after the other including a terrific 15 minute single shot sequence around the song ‘Kanimaa’. The second one in ‘Laughter’ is where Karthik Subbaraj begins experimenting, and the film gets a little slower here, inducing more comedy and story into the proportion, and that’s how it also brings us back stories and flashbacks of the lead characters and takes us into their new journey. Though the ‘laughter’ is not all out here, the film still moves at a very good pace and is enjoyable through the first half. In the second half, Karthik Subbaraj moves into the ‘War’ segment which is the most experimental and wacky part out of the 3, and this is where he puts the focus entirely on the story he wants to say, and brings in many elements closer to real life incidents. The film gets very subjective here, and it is upto the audiences to pick interest in the outlandish decisions of the filmmaker in telling his story. And that’s where Retro sort of loses its way in its screenplay, somehow finding a way back towards the end with some unique and interesting episodes involving a large support cast.

One thing is for sure – This is a big comeback for Suriya as an actor, it is lovely to see him onscreen again, and there are many scenes that fans will enjoy in the film for sure. The first half is filled with his starry moments while the second half dives deep into his acting skills and his stunt choreography.

Pooja Hegde offers great support and is at her best in the film, while Joju George also does a great job in a full length role. There’s also a very good support cast in the film, but it doesn’t entirely work out – the villain Vidhu is not menacing as he should be, Jayaram’s comics don’t work and Nasser doesn’t have something big to do. There’s good technical support in the film as well – Shreyaas Krishna’s work is excellent throughout and we also have Santhosh Narayanan’s superb songs, his BGM work being great in the first half and middling in the second.

Retro could have been even more better if Karthik Subbaraj had steered away from getting too experimental, as the film’s story-line in the second half traverses multiple platforms and sub-plots that could have been zeroed down a bit. It also has an overdose of action sequences which do not serve the purpose entirely. However, it is a film that has the energy to try out something different, and provides a good theatrical watch on the whole.

Retro Movie Rating: 3.25/5