GOAT MOVIE REVIEW
Cast: Vijay, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Sneha, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Jayaram
Director: Venkat Prabhu
The Greatest of All Time (GOAT), Vijay’s latest cinematic offering directed by Venkat Prabhu, is a sprawling, indulgent action-thriller that serves as both a showcase for the star’s enduring charisma and a reminder of Tamil cinema’s occasional excesses. Clocking in at a hefty three hours, the film is a tale of two halves – and two Vijays – that will delight fans and casual viewers alike.
Vijay plays M.S. Gandhi, a highly skilled operative in the Special Anti-Terrorist Squad (SATS), leading a team that includes his colleagues Sunil (Prashanth) and Kalyan (Prabhu Deva). The film opens with a high-stakes mission in Kenya, where Gandhi’s team successfully thwarts a terrorist attempt to acquire enriched uranium. However, their victory is short-lived. During a subsequent mission in Bangkok, tragedy strikes when Gandhi’s young son is apparently killed in what seems to be a terrible accident. This loss breaks Gandhi, straining his marriage and leading him to question his commitment.
Sixteen years later, we find Gandhi living a quiet, unremarkable life as an airport passport control officer, having turned his back on his former career. But the past comes calling when a friend lures him to Moscow under the pretext of a simple training mission. There, Gandhi encounters a younger man who bears an uncanny resemblance to himself – a de-aged Vijay who exudes the same charisma but with a darker, more ruthless edge. As the plot unfolds, we learn this young man is Gandhi’s long-lost son, now grown and twisted by years of manipulation at the hands of the very terrorist Gandhi once pursued. This revelation sets off a series of intense confrontations between father and son, each trying to outmaneuver the other. Their conflict reaches its peak during a crucial CSK cricket match at Chennai’s Chepauk Stadium, where the personal and the public collide in a thrilling finale.
VP’s direction is slick if occasionally unfocused, peppering the narrative with references to Vijay’s extensive filmography and nods to Tamil cinema history. These callbacks, while catnip for devoted fans, may leave uninitiated viewers feeling adrift. The action sequences, particularly a car chase in Pattaya, are impressively staged, even if the camerawork occasionally struggles to keep up.
The film’s greatest asset is undoubtedly Vijay himself, who tackles his dual roles with gusto. As the world-weary Gandhi, he brings a gravitas that contrasts well with the swaggering bravado of his younger counterpart. The de-aging effects, while not flawless, are generally convincing enough to maintain the illusion, though a brief glimpse of an even younger Vijay veers into uncanny valley territory.
GOAT’s plot, revolving around terrorist threats and family betrayals, treads familiar ground. Prabhu attempts to inject some novelty through the psychological interplay between the two Vijays, but the film’s predictable trajectory undercuts any genuine suspense. Supporting players, including Prashant and Prabhu Deva as Gandhi’s fellow agents, are competent and good support for Vijay. Others including Sneha, Jayaram, Ajmal, Meenakshi, and Laila contribute what they can from their limited screen space. Yogi Babu’s comedy works well, and we’ve got a couple of delightful cameos including Sivakarthikeyan and MS Dhoni. While Yuvan Shankar Raja’s songs are a miss, the backgrounds thankfully are top-notch.
At its core, GOAT is less a coherent narrative than a vehicle for Vijay’s star power, culminating in a bombastic finale set against the backdrop of a CSK cricket match. It’s a fitting metaphor for the film itself: crowd-pleasing spectacle that prioritizes moments of fan service over narrative cohesion.