Attack Review: John Abraham, Jacqueline, Rakul Preet Singh film is a good mix of entertainment with reasoning

The supporting cast of the film includes Prakash Raj, Kiran Kumar, Ratna Pathak Shah, and Rajit Kapur.

Written by Avinash Lohana , Journalist

Updated on Apr 02, 2022 | 05:00 AM IST | 322.5K

Attack Review: John Abraham, Jacqueline, Rakul Preet Singh film is a good mix of entertainment with reasoning.

Attack

Director: Lakshya Raj Anand

Cast: John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez, Rakul Preet Singh

Release: Theatres

Rating: 3/5

Let me get straight to the point. If you are someone who appreciates filmmakers for attempting experimental genres, particularly those which seemed out of league for our cinema a few years back, then director Lakshya Raj Anand’s Attack is a recommended film for you. For me, it is that first step that has been taken in the right direction in the ‘sci-fi’ space, where the maker has attempted to logically and scientifically reason the actions of a Super Soldier, which is played by John Abraham.

Attack largely revolves around John’s Arjun, who gets a second chance in life when he becomes the first prototype of an experiment, that has been carried out to combat terrorism and other severe threats to the nation. This transition has been shown with detailed explanations, which makes the further storyline believable. Of course the concept has been used in the past too, especially in many big and small Hollywood movies, but the way it has been introduced in the context of this John, Dr Jayantilal Gada, and Ajay Kapoor production is noteworthy.

During the narrative, while Jacqueline Fernandez’s character becomes a major reason for Arjun’s actions, Rakul Preet Singh’s part enables Abraham’s role to do what he does in the film. As far as the flow of the film is concerned, it’s seamless and well planned. However, the pace truly picks up in the second half, while the first half could have been trimmed a bit more to make the narrative even sharper. At no point does the film become boring or preachy, and a large credit for it should go to the writers Lakshya, Sumit Batheja, and Vishal Kapoor. Dialogues too are relatable, and adds the right amount of humour where necessary.

What did a 50-50 job for me was the background music. While Shashwat Sachdev’s composition worked brilliantly in some scenes especially during the climax, in the first half it spoiled a lot of sequences too. It just didn’t seem to match with the emotions of those scenes. DOP’s Will Humphris, PS Vinod, and Soumik Mukherjee’s vision comes across on screen, in sync with Garima Mathur’s production design.

Another thing that stands out in Attack are some of the action sequences, which are brilliantly choreographed by action directors Franz Spilhaus, Amritpal Singh, and Amin Khatib. A few of them were very unique. Though the stunt choreographers did get predictable in the climax sequence that involved a plane. That one seemed like a desperate attempt to make it larger than life, which for once took away the believability factor that had remained almost consistent in the film till then.

As far as the performances are concerned, John is convincing as Arjun. Moreover, it seemed like he really had a blast playing the character, which comes across on screen. Jacqueline made a mark in her limited screen time, though her character graph seemed surprisingly similar to another recent release of hers - Bachchhan Paandey. Rakul Preet Singh played her part to the T, while the rest of the cast including Prakash Raj, Kiran Kumar, and Ratna Pathak Shah provided apt support to the narrative. Rajit Kapur’s performance stood out, while Elham Ehsas as the antagonist truly steals the show. Lakshya Raj Anand as a director is extremely promising, and can be one of the most sought-after filmmakers in the future.

So overall, keep an open mind, don’t compare, and give the film a chance. You might like it.