Cobra Movie Review: Chiyaan Vikram film hisses and misses

That Chiyaan Vikram is an excellent and dedicated actor is a known fact. With every film and every getup he dons in his films, he has proved his mettle. But, is that enough to save his latest offering, Cobra? The answer is a big NO.

Madhiazhagan AKA Madhi (Chiyaan Vikram) is a genius mathematician and an assassin. He is so skilful that he doesn’t leave a trace, yet has contacts all around the globe (don’t ask how! You have to believe it). He kills a British king and escapes unhurt. He dons multiple getups and has multiple passports so he can travel and kill people. Fascinating, isn’t it?

Meanwhile, Scotland Interpol official Aslan Yilmaz (a surprisingly good Irfan Pathan) is after the assassin who killed the British king. Also, there’s Judy, a mathematician and a criminology student, who finds a common link between the Odisha Chief Minister’s murder and the British king’s killing. This lets Aslan and Judy go on a mission to find the genius who hasn’t left a trace. Will Aslan and Judy succeed? Does Madhi have a past? These answers are addressed in the three-hour-long movie.

Director Ajay Gnanamuthu is a promising filmmaker. He has some fascinating ideas in every film of his. However, the execution is where he falters. With a storyline that seems to be ripped off of old MGR films, Villain and Manmadhan, he could have delivered a decent thriller banking on an interesting screenplay. However, Ajay Gnanamuthu ends up over-complicating it with a larger-than-life canvas.

With Cobra, Ajay thinks that he has weaved a complex and intelligent story. But, all he does is state the obvious which is already shown in the visuals. Before a so-called ‘banging’ interval, we see Judy finding out the suspense element even before the Interpol officer could. But Judy, you are late, because we (the audience) could guess it even before you did. This is a recurring problem in Cobra. The director ‘tells’ us instead of showing us.

Even the introduction sequences in Cobra are underwhelming. Nellaiappan (KS Ravikumar in a wasted role) unnecessarily hypes the hero’s entry. And so do other characters who are introduced simply to do that one job. Another major grouse with Cobra is that it is pretentious and logic-less. The sequences are not organic and everything feels forced. Take, for example, the fact that Vikram’s Madhi is diagnosed with schizophrenia. With no consequence to the plot itself, this element seems to have been included only to provide the actor with a canvas to show his acting chops.

Chiyaan Vikram is an actor par excellence. No doubt about that! But, how long can we watch him slap on makeup for hours to get into a get-up that remains on screen for barely 10 seconds? It’d be interesting to see him in solid roles like Saamy and Dhool, which are right up his alley. That said, he has nailed a particular sequence in the second half which will remind the audience of Anniyan. It is his acting that makes the movie bearable.

Here’s the trailer of Cobra:

KGF’s Srinidhi Shetty as Bhavana Menon appears in an insignificant role and she doesn’t make it better with her performance either. Meenakshi Govindarajan gets a meaty role, but she is ineffective as well. Mirnalini Ravi and KS Ravikumar’s performances are adequate. Cricketer Irfan Pathan was totally a surprise package and he did a neat job in his debut flick. Among all, it is Roshan Mathew as the villain, who stands out. He gets screentime of probably half an hour or so, tries to make the most of it and succeeds.

Cobra, which has music by AR Rahman, has no silent moments. Every scene is heavy with Rahman’s pulsating score. Cinematography by Harish Kannan was perfect for the film, which is mounted on a huge canvas.

On the whole, Cobra is an underwhelming watch that solely relies on Chiyaan Vikram’s acting chops. So, yeah, it hisses but misses.

2 out of 5 stars for Cobra.

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