War 2 Review, Rating: Hrithik Roshan-Jr NTR Bring Fire But Ayan Mukerji's Spy Thriller Runs Out Of Bullets

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War 2 Movie Review: War 2, starring Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR and Kiara Advani, disappoints with a formulaic plot and poor execution, despite grand action sequences.
War 2 Movie Review: Caution: If you're going to watch War 2, we urge you to forget about War for the next few hours. If there's any way you can sit through this Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR and Kiara Advani starrer, it's only through selective memory loss. Because if you keep comparing it to War, you'll be disappointed. Don't get us wrong. War 2 has almost all the ingredients to make a quintessential YRF Spy Universe film. It's ambitious too and ambition is good but it's the execution where the film falters.
The template is so formulaic that War 2 emerges as a jaded, done-to-death, globetrotting actioner. An espionage thriller is supposed to have a hero, a good guy-turned-arch-nemesis who feels that he has been wronged by a compatriot and a beauty-with-brains kind of a female spy, with dollops of gravity-defying action and a sexy dance number. But where's the novelty? Where are the layers of storytelling? And most importantly, where's the thrill? Sadly, War 2 is all style and no ammo.
The film opens with a sequence in Kamakura, Japan, where we're reintroduced to a pumped-up Kabir. He engages in a fight sequence with sword-wielding men dressed up as Nightwalkers. He then walks out of what looks like a tavern and the action shifts to the skies. He flies alongside a helicopter (yes, you read that right) and manages to get hold of his target and kills him. Later, Kabir befriends his werewolf pet and they walk out like royalty with a slow-motion effect and a pulsating score playing in the background.
Following this mission, Kabir has to now work for Kali, a Manticore-esque syndicate (remember Citadel?) comprising some of the wealthiest businesspersons and politicians to bring down India's democracy and it's 'old-fashioned deshbhakts'. And their first mission requires him to kill his mentor, Colonel Luthra. Here, we're introduced to his daughter, Wing Commander Kavya Luthra. RAW sets out to finish Kabir but the question is, is Kabir really working for Kali? Will this 'perfect warrior' shift his allegiance? You know the answer.
To get hold of Kabir, RAW hires Vikram, an over-confident, narcissistic and badass spy. But there's something else dating back to their teenage years that ties Kabir and Vikram, who was then known as Raghu. How will Raghu's resurgence in his life change his destiny? Are they brothers or nemeses? The story is thin, not lean in a sleek way, but hollow in a 'was there a draft two?' kind of way. The first half drags through exposition that tries to feel mysterious but mostly feels padded. The second half takes an abysmal dip and never completely comes back to the surface.
At 2 hours 50 minutes, War 2 tries to go full throttle but often skids into chaos. A thriller of this scale definitely needed crisper editing. Instead, what we get is a bunch of long-drawn flashbacks that dilute the pace, stripping the film of any solid edge-of-the-seat, nail-biting moment. But what needs to be truly spoken about are its action sequences. One thing is clear – Kabir and Vikram/Rahu are immortal. Nothing can kill them. Bullets, swords, fire, icicles, nothing. Most importantly, they can fly. They fly over land and water.
The action is grand, as expected. The action team orchestrates set-pieces that span continents. There are breathless chases through narrow European lanes, close-combat duels dripping with intensity and aerial stunts that push the limits of plausibility. In the first half, there's a sequence that takes place inside a private chopper. It's stylised for sure but is also unintentionally funny. However, there's one truly well-executed sequence.
It starts from a mall road in Spain and then moves over the bridge and then eventually on a train over a sea. It's largely one that involves a car chase with the vehicle flying down a bridge. So potent is this car that it bears the power to fight and crush the train engine. But in all honesty, it's extremely well-choreographed and is laced with originality.
Vikram/Raghu's entry scene is remarkable. He fights the bad guys in a warehouse with a pair of iron chains. While 'India first' is a motto War 2 lives by, this time around, the clash is more of ideals than geopolitics. Vikram may be a sincere soldier but his Raghu only believes in 'Raghu first' and is willing to go to any extent to get his way – a trait that distinctly separates him from the principled, patriotic Kabir.
Maybe this shift is courtesy Ayan Mukerji. However, the director who does nuance, modern masculinity and women with agency really well doesn't get to explore his full potential with War 2. What should have been an interesting amalgamation of Ayan and YRF Spy Universe's contrasting sensibilities gets overpowered by the latter. But, well, technically, it's a sound film. The cinematography is spiffy, the background score is bang-on. It's also a visually stunning film that hops from Japan to Germany to India to the picturesque locales of Spain and Switzerland.
What further makes War 2 an elaborate affair are its songs – Aavan Jaavan and Janaab-e-Aali. They don't drive the narrative ahead but just get reduced to unimportant plot hurdles. And they aren't memorable either. As for the performances, Hrithik and Tarak do a good job. Hrithik is in his comfort zone and he gives it his all to make Kabir earnest and charismatic. Jr NTR seems like the perfect fit for Vikram/Raghu as he gets to play to his strengths. He needed a larger-than-life image and a back story to justify his ambitions, and the makers provided him so.
He matches Hrithik's intensity in equal measure, creating a magnetic interplay that turns every shared moment into a collision of tension and charm. Their chemistry is the kind that sparks scenes alive, making even dialogue-free sequences throbbing with unspoken energy. In a nutshell, Jr NTR's foray into Bollywood territory is nothing short of electric. And Anil Kapoor and Ashutosh Rana render ample support to them.
It's Kiara Advani as Kavya who suffers due to an underwritten character. While she gets to lock horns with Kabir and engage in a hand-to-hand combat with him and which is great to watch, she doesn't get to contribute anything substantial to the plot. It's sad to see a woman getting relegated to the periphery and just being reduced to a 'there should be at least one woman in this story about testosterone-pumped, brawny men' token. But hopefully, there are good times ahead as Alpha will be YRF's next offering in their spy-verse franchise.
Watch War 2 if you're a fan of Hrithik and Jr NTR. The script offers not much else.
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