After the resounding success of Pathaan and Tiger 3, the YRF Spy Universe returns with War 2, touted as one of the biggest action spectacles of the year. Directed by Ayan Mukerji, the film reunites Hrithik Roshan alongside NTR Jr., Kiara Advani, Anil Kapoor, and Ashutosh Rana. With such a stellar line-up and the promise of a Hollywood-style spy thriller, cinephiles were buzzing, considering the success of War and hoping for a bigger and better sequel. Amidst its box-office clash with Superstar Rajinikanth’s Coolie, how does this edition of the universe fare?
The story picks up five years after Kabir (Hrithik Roshan) eliminated Saurabh and Rizwan Ilyasi. Now a freelance mercenary, Kabir eliminates a notorious gangster in Japan, only to fall into the trap of the Kali syndicate. Forced into a shocking mission to assassinate his mentor, Colonel Sunil Luthra (Ashutosh Rana), Kabir finds himself on the run. This sets the stage for a cat-and-mouse chase with Agent Vikram (NTR Jr.), Air Force Wing Commander Kavya Luthra (Kiara Advani), and the new RAW chief Vikrant Kaul (Anil Kapoor).
On paper, the premise has all the ingredients for a gripping thriller—betrayal, loyalty, love, and espionage. However, the execution falters. Aditya Chopra’s outdated story, Shridhar Raghavan’s uninspired screenplay, and Abbas Tyrewala’s cringeworthy dialogues make the narrative sluggish and unconvincing. The first half trudges along with cartoonish action set pieces and forced emotional beats, redeemed only slightly by a decently staged interval twist. The second half attempts to add depth by rewinding to 1999, exploring young Kabir’s past. Yet, instead of enriching the story, the flashback drags the pace further, with random events stitched together incoherently. What should have been a character-driven exploration ends up as yet another stretch of melodramatic writing weighed down by childish dialogues and implausible action. Ayan Mukerji, once credited for films like Wake Up Sid and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, seems to have lost his storytelling touch. After the bloated Brahmastra: Part One, War 2 continues in the same vein. The film leans heavily on over-the-top action sequences as a crutch to push the narrative forward, which are let down due to unrealistic choreography and overblown execution. Sadly, many of these sequences are poorly staged, with Hrithik’s slick charm undermined by unbelievable choreography and NTR Jr.’s grand introduction scene descending into unintentional comedy.
Hrithik Roshan, reprising his role as Kabir, has continued from where he left off in War and has done what was required of him, be it the action sequences, emotional scenes or his dance steps, for which he’s often adored. NTR Jr., having established himself as a Pan Indian sensation with RRR and Devara: Part 1, makes his Bollywood debut with War 2 and has been a strong counterweight to Hrithik, but his performance is marred by weak dialogue delivery at certain points in the film and poor writing. Kiara Advani fares a decent mix of glamour, action and emotional beats, but the writing does not give her much scope to shine. Anil Kapoor delivers another fine performance in this genre after Fighter as is expected of his great standard.
Technically, the film falters as much with uninspired VFX, which makes it resemble a video game rather than cinema and Benjamin Jasper’s cinematography does very little to elevate the experience with very generic shots. On the musical front, Pritam’s songs are passable but nothing memorable, as some of the ones in the previous instalments in the universe. The background scores, composed by Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara are loud and jarring, which amplify the film’s flaws rather than conceal them.
War 2 is a film which falls flat on its primary front, being the storyline and the screenplay. Despite its ensemble cast and being in the YRF spy universe, a weak script, poor direction, questionable VFX and forgettable music make it a jarring and cringe-inducing experience where the actors can do very little to save. It leans heavily on the star power of Hrithik Roshan, NTR Jr. and Kiara’s glamour without giving them scope to shine.
Rating: 1/5