Minnal Murali Movie Review: Yup, that’s the X’mas release!

Minnal MuraliOn NetflixDir Basil JosephCast Tovino Thomas Guru SomasundaramRating 45This film starts off with the hero topclass Tovino Thomas a tailor by profession dressed in fake AdidasAbibas LacosteLowcoste tees with George Michaelrsquos cross for ring in one ear and public gathered around Doordarshan on TV Giving a sense that we are comfortably placed inaround 1980sWhich also sort of coincides with superhero origin films becoming quite the thing in Hollywood mdash gluing young children into the genre thatrsquos been impossible to wean them away from once theyrsquove turned into doddering old adults stillMinnal Murali is very much a superhero movie But the lead character here whose accidental rise as a man with superpowers we are to witness knows nothing about white people whorsquove saved the world before himAmerica is where he wants to go in search of a better life But hersquos essentially situated in a remote village in Kerala called Kurukkanmoola A kid gives him a refresher course on American superheroes insteadTalking about how the three main ones came to be the child says SpiderMan got bitten by a spider unsure what happened to Batman and nothing on Superman What the kid should know from the three Superman was the only one already born with the powers that hersquos told to conceal from public all his life so as not to cause panicIn the adorably minimalistic Minnal Murali mdash thatrsquos still more than adequately snazzy in terms of special effect firstrate by way of scale and general worldbuilding mdash the ordinary man transforms into a superhero struck by lightning on a particular night when planets have uniquely aligned But he discovers his powers along the way And isnrsquot particularly interested in showing off eitherThat adds to the allure yes But also the gradual discovery turns this into a really enjoyable childrenrsquos film packed with humour foremost Which all families hope for a good one during the holiday season this is that film and you ought to hook kids first because itrsquos not like Minnal Murali has a written comicbook history already that at least I know of Making him if not mistaken the first Malayalam superhero although he has a few HindiBollywood counterparts namely Krissh Hrithik Roshan Flying Jatt Tiger Shroff etc Whatrsquos the key difference hereQuite simply the frickinrsquo script Arun Arunidhan Justin Mathew mdash smoothly leading from characters to scenes seamlessly establishing a wider arc for both throwing in a bit of psychology and science MillerUrey experiment for a believable base Eventually landing at a point that there isnrsquot just the rise of a superhero simultaneously also an equally powerful supervillain Guru SomasundaramAnd this is pretty much what separates so many Malayalam movies from films from anywhere in India at the moment The fact that they stick to a writing thatrsquos deeply thought through mdash at no point overwhelmed by any kinda starsystem or a global audience that films from Kerala have begun to attract latelyNever losing sight of the playfulness mdash the soundtrack in particular is kickass mdash that audiences expect from motion pictures still If you sense a subconscious bias here well the reasons are all there in your OTT librariesHence the filmmakers on board starting from the presumably young director here Basil Joseph totally untouched by the sheer magnitude of the Spielbergian genre hersquos dealing with Speaking of which watch the ease with which they pull off the tremblingshaking glass scene immortalised in Spielbergrsquos Jurassic Park for instanceIn terms of ambition neither protagonist nor antagonist is really interested in saving the planet to start with The love for a woman unites their immediate concerns Somehow their fantastical worlds rooted in rural reality mergeWhat plays out is a smartly derived wholly original story laden with baseline emotions Playing out way too patiently at over two and half hours you could argue And I certainly do Therersquos enough happening here that you can forward to the following scenes as well But you donrsquot Because yoursquore sufficiently investedIn Minnal Murali And the fellow pretending to be Minnal Murali Slowly and steadily as per genre convention counting down to the final showdown that will inevitably be the filmrsquos climaxThe long setup was worth it because the payback is complete Not that therersquos much competition but trust the Malayalis to pull off the best brown superconventional franchise worthy mainstream desi superhero film that Irsquove seen so far

Minnal Murali Movie Review: Yup, that’s the X’mas release!

Minnal Murali
On: Netflix
Dir: Basil Joseph
Cast: Tovino Thomas, Guru Somasundaram
Rating: 4/5

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Home / Entertainment / Regional Indian Cinema News / Article / Minnal Murali Movie Review: Yup, that’s the X’mas release!

Minnal Murali Movie Review: Yup, that’s the X’mas release!

Minnal MuraliOn: NetflixDir: Basil JosephCast: Tovino Thomas, Guru SomasundaramRating: 4/5

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Minnal Murali
On: Netflix
Dir: Basil Joseph
Cast: Tovino Thomas, Guru Somasundaram
Rating: 4/5