Written by Grady Fiorio
Original Publishing Date: April 9th, 2022
Rating 4.5/5
Rajamouli crafts a film about friendship and betrayal on an unseen scale
It surprises me to say that after watching over 1200 movies (according to Letterboxd) I’ve only seen two Bollywood films. 3 Idiots, back in my high school English class, and now RRR, the most balls to the wall batshit insane action movie I have ever seen in my life. I loved it. The aptest way to describe RRR to the uninitiated is Judas and the Black Messiah meets The Departed meets The Avengers. A story of friendship and betrayal, wrapped in superhuman action, and set in a period of ferocious political turmoil, all on the grandest scale possible. It sounds crazy, and that’s because it is. But trust me, after watching it all clicks. RRR is a film that knows what it wants to be and embraces it
wholeheartedly.
Following two ill-fated star-crossed friends, that unknowingly come from two sides of a fierce conflict, splitting their nation apart. This relationship is what RRR nails. Even when other elements of the film fall short, this friendship and bond (built over a massive three-hour runtime) never falter. It’s easily the heart of the film and what will keep viewers staying in their seats and coming back for a rewatch. As a non-native speaker of most languages in the film, I can’t determine the exact quality of the performances, but from an outsider's perspective, Bheem and Ram seemingly killed it. Their talent is undeniable, especially when watching their elaborate dances accompanied by some pretty great vocal performances during songs. Their humor and chemistry are so genuine you can’t help but smile when they’re together. This also makes the more tense scenes near the third act that much more heartbreaking. Seriously, the “kneeling” scene was a highlight.
Speaking of acts, hoo boy let’s get into it. RRR is structured quite uniquely. It is three acts like most films, but each major act is also split into its own three acts. This film feels a bit more like a miniseries in structure, rather than a film. Each major act feels like an episode. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it was something I couldn’t help but notice. As mentioned earlier, RRR has a meaty runtime of just over three hours. The epic scale of the story mostly justifies it, but near the end, I feel like a few things could have been trimmed down. Also, having damn near a third of this movie in slow-motion didn’t exactly help. Nevertheless RRR never fully overstays its welcome, but a little bit of trimming would have helped balance things out.
But what comprises these acts? Well, I’m glad you asked. Some of the most astonishing action sequences I’ve ever seen committed to film. Like I mentioned earlier this is only my second Bollywood film. I’ve seen clips of others and know the reputation, but hot damn I was still blown away by this. It’s hard to explain without seeing the sheer ferocity and scope of which some of these scenes take place, but trust me if you like good action RRR had you covered. Earlier I compared this film to Avengers, but in all honestly, Marvel should be taking some notes out of the pages of RRR. While never explicitly stated as superheroes, the characters of RRR are never the less superhuman in ability. The action scenes are not only stunning but shot and directed with much clarity and intent that many more Western films should be taking notice of.
Great leads! Stunning action! Epic scale! What’s not to love? Well, a couple of things. The first thing that will stick out to most English-speaking viewers is the translation. It’s by no means a bad translation, but it’s not great either. RRR takes the more direct approach to translation, rather than reinterpreting dialogue to have it make more sense in English. While everything is easy to understand for the most, a lot of dialogue can feel unnatural and stiff due to the translation being much more literal. This also comes through in the English-speaking actors of the film. It reminded me of when near the end of Squid Game a few English-speaking actors were introduced and their dialogue and performances felt really weird and unnatural. This is a case of having people who are not native to the language write and direct these moments. It becomes pretty apparent when one character will essentially repeat the same line three times over with only sight change, to make sure that everything translates coherently into each language this film is trying to market into. It’s never a deal-breaker but it’s definitely noticeable.
It’s also important to note that the CGI in RRR can also be quite hit and miss. For the most part, I can excuse it based on having a lower budget than the $200 million mega-blockbusters I’m used to. That being said there were some serious tracking issues in a couple of scenes that would take me out of the moment. Thankfully the film is constantly moving into great set pieces, so if something started to pull me out, something new would come to pull me back in.
RRR is a film that is so unapologetically bold that it’ll leave you stunned long after you’ve seen it. If you’ve never seen a Bollywood film before or you’re intimated by the runtime, I encourage you to take the plunge because RRR is a theatrical experience you won’t want to miss.
Director S. S. Rajamouli
Runtime 3 Hr 8 Min
Format Digital (Cinemark Xtreme)
Release Date March 24, 2022