Jailer Review: Rajinikanth Entertainer Locks in All Action Elements
If you missed catching Rajinikanth’s 2023 movie “Jailer” on the big screen, the action-thriller is now available on Prime Video and damn, watching it in the theater would’ve definitely been worth it. I knew what to expect from the film, and was a little worried about the long 2h 48m runtime, but was thoroughly entertained for most parts!
Written and directed by Nelson Dilipkumar, “Jailer” follows the trials of Muthuvel Pandian (Rajinikanth), a retired jailer who embarks on a mission to hunt down his son’s killers. As he takes on goons who are part of a criminal organization specializing in temple thefts, the hero must also ensure the safety of his family, which includes his wife Vijaya (Ramya Krishnan), daughter-in-law Swetha (Mirnaa) and feisty grandson Rithvick (Rithvick Jothi Raj). Vasanth Ravi who was last seen in “Asvins”, plays Muthuvel’s son Arjun Pandian, a honest cop who was investigating an elusive gang of temple thieves.
Nelson Dilipkumar and his team deliver some great camera work, complemented by terrific lighting, settings, and smooth, stylish transitions. You might find yourself losing track of dialogues while trying to absorb all the details of a particular scene. The opening scene, with a temple priest lying in a pool of blood inside the sanctum sanctorum of a temple that houses a beautiful ancient deity, sets up the primary theme of “Jailer” perfectly. While a lot of gory action scenes take place in the night, all such sequences are well-lit and viewers can understand what is happening and are not left in the dark. In another wise decision, there aren’t many songs in the film, except for one featuring Tamannaah Bhatia, who plays an actor. This track is seamlessly woven into the story as part of a movie shoot and doesn’t feel like a random number playing out of nowhere.
Actor Vinayakan plays the primary antagonist in the film called Varman, the ruthless ringleader of a gang that smuggles stolen Indian temple artifacts and idols across the world. While his portrayal of Varman works well, he lacks the intimidation factor needed to go up against Rajinikanth and comes across more as a small-time thug who could be brushed aside with a flick of a finger. “Jailer” also features several big actors making small entertaining cameos, but I won’t mention their names to preserve the element of surprise in case you haven’t already seen the full list of actors appearing in the film. Telugu comedian Sunil also has a hilarious little role, he plays a character called “Blast Mohan”, a wealthy generational brat & actor, who is a trustee of a temple from where Varman wants to steal something exceedingly precious.
“Jailer” begins to flounder a little in the second-half, with silly comedy scenes that could’ve been chopped off, especially because a while bunch of new characters make their way into the plot. From a revenge-drama, the story shifts gear to become a heist flick, which actually should’ve given writers more fodder for an even more gripping second-half. Regardless, Rajinikanth eats up with screen with his grand dialogue delivery and stylistic action moves. Nelson Dilipkumar even slips in an iconic cigar flip scene for Rajinikanth and if I were watching Jailer in a movie theater I would’ve hooted and cheered at the scene. There’s lot of threatening, stealing, gunning, knifing and killing, so action fans will definitely not be disappointed by all the blood and gore.
What sets “Jailer” apart from many recent action-thrillers is the fact that, despite being quite exaggerated, it doesn’t portray Rajinikanth as a one-man army or a lone killing machine. Instead, Rajinikanth’s character, Muthuvel, relies on as many allies as he can to seek vengeance. The story also introduces a moral dilemma for his character: Should Muthuvel resort to the same tactics as the thieving, murderous goons who killed his sons, or should he uphold his honest cop ideals?
There are not one, but two unexpected twists in the climax. Instead of concluding with a typical cliché, “Jailer” ends with an emotionally triumphant yet tragically natured conclusion. Definitely watch the film if you are a Rajinikanth fan.
You can stream “Jailer” on Prime Video.
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