Weapon review: A promising premise smothered with too many ideas

This seems to be the time for superheroes to rise and shine in Tamil cinema!

Despite our mass masala heroes doing everything that a superhero can, and more, Tamil cinema mostly shied away from taking up this genre. Of course, we had Batman-esque superheroes in the form of Guru (1980), Mugamoodi (2012), and Hero (2019), but the idea of superpowers wasn’t explored enough.

Last year, we had Hip Hop Adhi harness electricity in Veeran, and Sivakarthikeyan listened to a ‘voice’ in Maaveeran.

This year, director Guhan Senniappan brings us Weapon, a “superhuman saga” featuring an almost “saagavaram petra” superhumans.

Synopsis

Weapon begins interestingly with a story involving Adolf Hitler, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, a certain Chezhiyan, and a serum that makes super soldiers. Did anyone say, Captain America?

Nevertheless, the story ends with giving us the information that a particular super soldier is continuing to live amongst us, albeit in hiding. Is it just me, or did anyone say X-Men?

Anyway, we enter the not-so-interesting realm of Agni, a YouTuber who creates content about such superhumans amongst us. Now, one might think the film is about this YouTuber searching for this one superhuman. But wait.

We also have an Illuminati-esque group, who call themselves Black Society Division Nine. They are led by DK (Rajiv Menon having a blast), who is this megalomaniac who needs to get his hands on the super-soldier serum. They are also in search of that superhuman.

Now, one might think Weapon is about how the superhuman vanquishes this covert society that is up to no good at any point in time. But wait.

Another member of this Society sends in a group of assassins to kill this superhuman with a kryptonite of sorts in the form of a toxic green-coloured gas.

Then, there is another group of assassins out to kill DK’s daughter Avantika (Tanya Hope), who is also an important part of Agni’s YouTube channel.

But wait. There is another set of assassins called the Skull Squad. But wait. There is another foot soldier, who unwillingly is out to kill the superhuman. And then, there is a masked man who acts as the audience’s conscience by saying things like, “Get to the point”.

Also Read: Sathyaraj and Rajinikanth to team up after 38 years

Where does Weapon go wrong

Now, individually, each of these plot points has the potential to be something. Weapon could have been a gripping origin story if the focus was on Sathyaraj’s superhuman Mithran and not on the assembly line of villains, and a weak exploration of eco-terrorism.

There is a wonderful story to be told about a lonely superhuman who stays in seclusion because he doesn’t want the full extent of his powers to be misused.

What does he do when he is sad? What happens when loneliness becomes too overwhelming? Does he wish he had someone to call his own? Imagine the possibilities!

But then, the makers decide to cram in so many plot points that Weapon acts as a two-hour-long exposition to a film the makers probably want to make as Weapon 2.

Efficient use of AI and VFX

Where Weapon works is in its usage of technology to narrate a few of those plot points.

The efficient use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to tell a flashback is an important flashpoint in the growing argument about the usage of AI.

Even with the VFX, there are a lot of efforts that have gone in to lend a sense of authenticity to the outlandish proceedings. The makers might not be on top of the game on this front, but they are very much in it.

Ghibran’s score gives a sense of urgency to the proceedings, even if the narrative doesn’t always aid it.

But it is slightly disappointing that Weapon wasn’t strong enough to do away with songs that act not as speed breakers but as those walls constructed to crash test a vehicle.

There is no doubt that Guhan treats Weapon as an origin story, and has no intentions of playing the cards close to his chest. He has laid it all on the table for everyone to see.

Now, he has shown his potential strengths and could do better with the right set of cards. But he has also exposed his weaknesses, and there are one too many.

Also Read: All is well between me and Rajinikanth, clarifies Sathyaraj

Verdict

Sometimes, discretion is indeed a warrior’s strongest “weapon”!

(Views expressed here are personal.)