Tamil star actor Vijay’s latest action thriller, The GOAT (The Greatest of All Time), directed by Venkat Prabhu, features Meenakshi Chaudhary as the female lead. Sneha, Laila, Prashanth, and Prabhu Deva play key roles. The film employs de-aging technology. (The GOAT Movie Review)Since it is rumored to be Vijay’s last movie before entering politics, there were high expectations surrounding it. How did the movie turn out? How well does it engage the audience? Has it given Vijay another unforgettable hit? Let’s explore in this review.

Cast: Vijay, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Prabhu Deva, Prashanth Thyagarajan, Kokila Mohan, Jayaram, Sneha, VTV Ganesh, Aravind Akash, Vaibhav Reddy, and others
Direction and Story: Venkat Prabhu
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography: Siddhartha Nuni
Editing: Venkat Rajan
Producers: Kalpathi S. Aghoram, Kalpathi S. Ganesh, Kalpathi S. Suresh

The Story

Gandhi (Vijay) works as an officer in a special anti-terrorism squad. Alongside his teammates Sunil (Prashanth), Ajay (Ajmal), and Kalyan Sundaram (Prabhu Deva), he successfully completes several missions. However, Gandhi never shares details about his work with his wife Anu (Sneha). During a mission abroad, Gandhi’s five-year-old son dies. Believing Gandhi is responsible for their son’s death, Anu distances herself from him.

Grieving, Gandhi leaves the force. Years later, he travels to Moscow for work, where he unexpectedly finds his son Jeevan (also Vijay), whom he thought was dead. Overjoyed, Gandhi brings Jeevan back to India. But soon after, Gandhi’s close associates start dying one by one. Who is behind these deaths? How did Jeevan, thought to be dead, return? How does Gandhi stop the murders? To find out, you’ll need to watch the film in theaters.

Performances

Thalapathy Vijay plays a dual role in this film. As Gandhi, he delivers a stellar performance, as expected. However, his younger, digitally de-aged version as Jeevan feels a bit awkward and unconvincing. Vijay shines once again in the action and emotional sequences. Meenakshi Chaudhary, the heroine, doesn’t have much of a prominent role, appearing more like a guest star. Prashanth, Ajmal, and Prabhu Deva, who play the special squad members, are decent in their performances.

Jayaram, as the squad leader, leaves a mark with his acting. Sneha, who pairs with the senior Vijay, impresses with her performance.(The GOAT Movie Review) Tamil young hero Sivakarthikeyan makes a brief appearance, while Trisha appears in a special song. The remaining cast members perform well within their limits.

Direction

Director Venkat Prabhu’s story doesn’t offer anything particularly fresh. Movies about heroes working in defense forces or villains raising the hero’s son to seek revenge have been seen many times before. However, the scenes showing the hero’s son taking revenge are engaging. The first half mainly introduces the hero and other characters. Up until the pre-interval, the story unfolds predictably. The interval scene sets up an intriguing second half. Although much of the second half is predictable, the director manages to make the climax interesting. The twists in the second half also surprise the audience. The Tamil-style humor and dialogues might not resonate well with Telugu audiences, but the film is likely to entertain Vijay’s fans.

Technical Aspects

On the technical front, Yuvan Shankar Raja’s songs fall flat and are not memorable. However, the background score is excellent, elevating the action sequences. The graphics department could have done better, especially with Vijay’s de-aged look, which could have been handled with more care. Editing is satisfactory. (The GOAT Movie Review)The production values are top-notch, with no compromises made in terms of budget.