A brutal narrative with convoluted ideas disarms a potential concept

Weapon Movie Review: Being one of the first, the film had the potential to unfold an expansive world, but becomes a brutal film with no experience to remember.

Armed

Armed

Weapon history

Agni (Vasanth Ravi) and his team of YouTubers make videos about superhumans. Once they learn of an incident in Theni involving a young boy miraculously saved from a truck accident, the team begins investigating the area in search of the superhuman. Meanwhile, DK (Rajiv Menon), the leader of the Dark Society, a group of wealthy people notorious for exploiting power within their kingdoms, also seeks superhuman racing for their own gains.

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Weapon Review

At the beginning of Weapon, we are introduced to a prelude set in the period before independence, when Netaji Subash Chandra Bose and another freedom fighter reached Germany to gather support and strength from Hitler for the independence movement . We are also told how, after the latter offered them a serum to develop super soldiers, Netaji refused them citing its dangerous implications. However, the other takes the serum with him to India which somehow gets passed on to his son, who consumed it and became a superhuman with extraordinary abilities. While this narrative helps us know the premise, Weapon begins using narratives and voiceover explanations in multiples, rather than building a world that can be experienced by viewers.

In Weapon, which depicts a dark, gritty world where fantasy elements may be present, it inherently lacks the construction of a narrative that does not involve convoluted explanations. Given that it is a sci-fi action film and delves deeper into the fantasy aspect as its central element, Weapon takes a circuitous route to get straight to the point and introduce its new elements. We try to get acquainted with concept after concept, and subplots that devour each other, so that at some point, we no longer know which path the film is going on. For example, Agni, introduced as a famous YouTuber, gives a speech on environmental conservation. But at the same time, he is also projected as a character who has worked on the knowledge of superhumans. What was his past research and how did he get there? These questions remain unanswered. When the film attempts to introduce the concept, it skips the beginning and dives straight into the middle, assuming the audience is aware of the entity he's talking about with just one prelude.

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Nature also seems to be a recurring theme in Weapon. Sathyaraj, who plays a superhuman, is shown affectionate with a baby elephant and residing amidst the woods in the bliss of nature. Even though the film constantly recalls the opposing themes of nature and artificial inventions, it fails to capitalize on its genre-specific characteristics. The film feels like its heart is everywhere and it has set its ambitious heart high. But unfortunately, it bites off more than it can chew, which makes for a confusing space.

The weapon also seems to forget its responsibilities and the benefits that come from first-mover advantage. Having been one of the first films of its kind in Tamil cinema, Weapon could have explored in depth the human race it is aimed at. We are rarely given more to look at than to hear. Explanations and concepts are deployed as dialogues, which they barely register as a coherent narrative. When Weapon introduces us to a group of people from the Dark Society, the brief only seems to make us aware that they are the antagonists and not even a little more about who and what they are doing to make them so. In such cases, Weapon breaks down into superficial concepts and relies heavily on execution to convey the narrative.

Weapon Verdict

Weapon, being one of the first, had the potential to unfold a vast world built for audiences to experience. But with too many things cooked together, Weapon becomes a brutal film with no experience to remember.

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