Rocky Handsome movie review: Despite an earnest performance by John Abraham, the action flick FAILS to hold our interest!

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The film is directed by  Nishikant Kamat.

If Batman fighting with Superman is not enough, we now have Rocky Handsome in the fray as well. This is the big Bollywood movie of the week, and stars John Abraham and Shruti Haasan. Here’s our review of the movie…

What’s it about

A sketchy remake of the South Korean film The Man From Nowhere, Rocky Handsome has John Abraham play a man with a murky past who tries to battle his demons by rescuing a girl, caught in the crossfire between the police and the drug mafia. It’s an action film with very little scope for storytelling. Nishikant Kamat tries his best to make John menacing yet mysterious, but fails. The problem lies in the writing than the execution. Perhaps trying too hard to stay true to the original the film never rises above the ordinary.

What’s hot

John looks the part and yes once that shirt comes off, you can tell why he’s cast in the role. He emotes well during the climax and is perhaps the only redeeming factor in an otherwise dull offering. The camera work is impressive especially in the action scenes that have a touch of style to them. Sharad Kelkar in a small yet significant role as part of the police force stands out.

What’s not

Rocky Handsome falls in the trap of making everything too complicated. Sometimes less is more and Kamat fails to realise that. His story and the format of switching between the past and present gets annoying. Also the baddies never really manage to scare us. These bad guys are shown to be capable of doing the worst thing imaginable yet they never really hold our attention. Diya Chalwad who plays the little girl and is a very important part of the film fails to create any emotional connect with John. Her one scene where she breaks down looks too rehearsed. An important action scene that happens in the restroom of a club is edited so badly that you almost get a migraine. Nora Fatehi gyrates to the Bombay Rockers track while John beats up some goons in the washroom. The climax is too rushed and doesn’t really give us a closure of any sort.

What to do

Get the original South Korean film instead. Rocky Handsome fails to hold our interest despite an earnest performance by John Abraham.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Reviewed by Tushar P Joshi

* Poor

** Average

*** Good

**** Very good

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***** Excellent