Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty and Mohammed Zeeshan
An eye for an eye would leave the whole world blind. Mahatma Gandhi said that a few decades ago. In essence what he really meant was that revenge is never really worth it. Especially so, when dealing with social and political circumstances. Yet, Kabir Khan's Phantom advocates the cause of vigilante justice fuelled by violence. It's okay to kill half a dozen men because they purported the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. Yes there is the thin veil of cinematic liberty, even so, you are selling cold blooded revenge as a sense of patriotic justice. Either that's a juvenile way of being heroic or gross misrepresentation of morals and nationalism.
Nonetheless the story deals with a dishonoured Indian army man being propositioned to go kill all those directly responsible for orchestrating the 2008 attacks on Mumbai. Their names are changed ever so slightly. So our tainted hero Daniyal Khan (Saif Ali Khan) sets out on a body-of-lies mission to track and destroy the villains. The mission takes him to exotic locales like London, Chicago, Jordan, Syria and ultimately Pakistan. His aide de camp is the beautiful but cheekily named Nawaz (Katrina Kaif). As the mission wears on, their chemistry keeps growing, eventually turning to an understated relationship of trust and admiration. Thrown into the muddle are a RAW chief (Sabyasachi Chakrabarty) his ambitious new consultant (Mohammed Zeeshan) and a few undercover Indian agents. The template is so Ek Tha Tiger.
Despite its all too familiar screenplay, Phantom suffers from a bad case of choppy editing all through the first half. The second half is a lot more taut and that's where the film begins to redeem itself. The strength of this movie are it's cinematography and action choreography. You really feel as if you are watching a slick Hollywood action movie. It's entertaining and deeply engaging. Rarely do you such finese in the execution of action films in India. If you've grown up enjoying the works of Ridley Scott and /or Tom Cruise you'll have a blast watching Phantom.
On the subject of action stars, Saif Ali Khan has attempted the genre of late with offerings like Kurban, Agent Vinod and Race 2. Phantom with all its genre qualities is very similar to the former films. No surprises then that his performance has nothing new. It's like a heady mix of bravado and restrained intensity. It works in parts only. Most times its just marred by the fact that he's playing a secret agent as loud and thundering as Rambo. Katrina Kaif too juggles with a half baked role. She's an Indian parsi girl living in London, working for international first aid agencies with questionable motives. And she pines for a cup of tea in the swanky tea shop of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. Perhaps that's too much crammed into a small wrapper.
All said and done, Phantom is slightly lacking in cinematic intelligence and guile. Especially when you consider Kabir Khan's last offering Bajrangi Bhaijaan. The film's sense of patriotism is kiddish and it tries a little too hard to make a hero out of its protagonist. Even then, it does enough to entertain you and keep you hooked. It would make a decent Sunday watch if not taken too seriously.
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty and Mohammed Zeeshan
An eye for an eye would leave the whole world blind. Mahatma Gandhi said that a few decades ago. In essence what he really meant was that revenge is never really worth it. Especially so, when dealing with social and political circumstances. Yet, Kabir Khan's Phantom advocates the cause of vigilante justice fuelled by violence. It's okay to kill half a dozen men because they purported the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. Yes there is the thin veil of cinematic liberty, even so, you are selling cold blooded revenge as a sense of patriotic justice. Either that's a juvenile way of being heroic or gross misrepresentation of morals and nationalism.
Nonetheless the story deals with a dishonoured Indian army man being propositioned to go kill all those directly responsible for orchestrating the 2008 attacks on Mumbai. Their names are changed ever so slightly. So our tainted hero Daniyal Khan (Saif Ali Khan) sets out on a body-of-lies mission to track and destroy the villains. The mission takes him to exotic locales like London, Chicago, Jordan, Syria and ultimately Pakistan. His aide de camp is the beautiful but cheekily named Nawaz (Katrina Kaif). As the mission wears on, their chemistry keeps growing, eventually turning to an understated relationship of trust and admiration. Thrown into the muddle are a RAW chief (Sabyasachi Chakrabarty) his ambitious new consultant (Mohammed Zeeshan) and a few undercover Indian agents. The template is so Ek Tha Tiger.
Despite its all too familiar screenplay, Phantom suffers from a bad case of choppy editing all through the first half. The second half is a lot more taut and that's where the film begins to redeem itself. The strength of this movie are it's cinematography and action choreography. You really feel as if you are watching a slick Hollywood action movie. It's entertaining and deeply engaging. Rarely do you such finese in the execution of action films in India. If you've grown up enjoying the works of Ridley Scott and /or Tom Cruise you'll have a blast watching Phantom.
On the subject of action stars, Saif Ali Khan has attempted the genre of late with offerings like Kurban, Agent Vinod and Race 2. Phantom with all its genre qualities is very similar to the former films. No surprises then that his performance has nothing new. It's like a heady mix of bravado and restrained intensity. It works in parts only. Most times its just marred by the fact that he's playing a secret agent as loud and thundering as Rambo. Katrina Kaif too juggles with a half baked role. She's an Indian parsi girl living in London, working for international first aid agencies with questionable motives. And she pines for a cup of tea in the swanky tea shop of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. Perhaps that's too much crammed into a small wrapper.
All said and done, Phantom is slightly lacking in cinematic intelligence and guile. Especially when you consider Kabir Khan's last offering Bajrangi Bhaijaan. The film's sense of patriotism is kiddish and it tries a little too hard to make a hero out of its protagonist. Even then, it does enough to entertain you and keep you hooked. It would make a decent Sunday watch if not taken too seriously.
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