Thunivu review: All guns go blazing but fire in parts

Cast - Ajith Kumar, Manju Warrier, Samuthirakani, John Kokken, Veera, GM Sundar, Prem, Mohanasundaram, Bucks and Darshan

Director - H Vinoth

Music director - Ghibran

Synopsis - A gangster robs a bank in the centre of the city. He puts forth his demands to the police and media but does he succeed in his attempt and what is the motive behind the heist?

Thunivu has grabbed the eyeballs ever since the project went on floors last year. The film is the third collaboration for Ajith with H Vinoth and Boney Kapoor after Nerkonda Paarvai and Valimai. The entire buzz was around Ajith playing a negative character for the first time in 12 years after Mankatha.

H Vinoth wastes no time in setting up the premise of the film and gangster Radha (Veera) and his men mask themselves up and enter a busy bank to loot Rs 500 cr from the chest. We are introduced to Ajith (name of the character not revealed), who is seen sitting in leisure and reading a book titled World View. He takes down the robbers single-handedly only to let people know that he is there to rob the bank as well.

Ajith floors us with his swag and anti-heroic traits right from the word 'go'. He seals the bank from the inside and places bombs on the doors. While police, media and the public gather outside, Ajith is seen giving instructions to people outside and inside the bank until Commissioner Dayalan (Samuthirakani) arrives at the scene. Meanwhile Kanmani (Manju Warrier) keeps a surveillance of what's happening outside the bank through CCTV cameras and updates Ajith.

While several people related to the bank are exposed, we come to know that the mastermind behind the heist, who is inside the bank is none other than the Dark Devil (Ajith) a gangster who has performed several heists with 100 per cent success rates.

Thunivu is a complete Ajith show and we do not know the motive behind robbing this bank until the first half. We also do not know where the story is headed too but we keep enjoying Ajith's charisma, body language and his performance in single-take stunt sequences in the first half.

The story travels back in the second half and we are shown the reason behind the heist and the tables turn. We are taken into the world of financial scams via mutual funds and that is when role reversals happen. Thunivu doesn't get preachy but the film slows down. Characters around Dark Devil become animated and Thunivu starts deviating from its core. This isn't a Mankatha where Ajith is completely in dark shades. However, he still keeps the film afloat single-handedly. The tempo certainly goes down

As time goes, the sets look too artificial just like the characters in the film. CG and execution of some scenes are a bit amateurish for a movie with high production value. Ghibran's music in the first half elevate the movie-watching experience. Manju as Kanmani is a treat to watch and she performs daredevil stunts in this complete action-packed role. Too many gunfires and bombings also make Thunivu a noisy affair. Though the film has layers to it, loose ends make it a bit too tedious.

Overall, Thunivu is all about Ajith and will be a decent one-time watch if you look through logical loopholes.