Movie Review: An Improvement from "The Beginning", Yet Far from Greatness.- Baahubali 2- The Conclusion

***Spoiler Alert!***

You'd be very well aware that I was quite disappointed with Baahubali- The Beginning if you've been following me. Though the movie had reached heights in case of VFX, the only department to credit is that of Cinematography and nothing else. Good Visuals doesn't necessarily make a good movie. As The Beginning ended on a note of ambiguity, audience of the movie craved for closure. This meant that the sequel already bagged all of it's audience from the first movie. With enough hype surrounding the movie, the producers didn't compromise on the quality of making it as it seemed as a safe bet. The first look and trailer, even with it's weird soundtrack, added to the hype. The movie is out and is making tons of money. However, a movie that makes a lot of money in India doesn't necessarily be a great movie.

The movie starts off with a visual recap of important sequences from the first part, during the titles. The visuals are impressive during the sequence. The story cuts to Maahismathi as Sivagami (Ramya Krishnan) is on a ritual when a couple of elephants go wild. Enter Amarendra Baahubali (Prabhas) with his first physically impossible (Yup, this is just the first one! Many more to go!) feat to save her from the elephants. As the swearing in ceremony as the king of Maahismathi is still few days later, Sivagami asks Amarendra to visit his kingdom undercover to evaluate their administration. He meanwhile falls in love with Devasena (Anushka Shetty), a royalty from the nearby kingdom, Kunthala. Bhallaladeva (Rana Daggubati), who is looking for an opportunity to ruin Baahubali and have the kingdom to his self, sees this as an opportunity. He starts making moves against Baahubali that would effect the relation between Sivagami and Baahubali. After a few traps and turns, Baahubali opposes a command of Sivagami, the queen mother to defend Devasena. That compels Sivagami to demote Baahubali and elect Bhallaladeva as their new King. Bhallaladeva is still not satisfied as the people are still vocal supporters of Baahubali against their king, Bhallaladeva himself. The rest is how Bhallaladeva manipulates situations into getting Baahubali killed and Devasena imprisoned.
  
The apple didn't fall far from the tree. Though the sequel is a step-up in regards with narration and plot play, it just can't seem to escape the mediocrity set by it's predecessor. The dramatic sequences are a relief in this movie with action sequences that defy logic and basic physics at every step. There should've been some kind of explanation such as Amarendra Baahubali was the son of Zeus or that he was injected with super strength serum or that he was stuck by lightning or that he was simply an alien who feeds on the Sun's radiation. Such explanation would've made his physics defying feats a little less distracting and acceptable. Also, the movie could've had many more options as the title. My recommendations are as follows:
Baahubali: Defying Laws of Physics
Baahubali: The Annihilator of Trees
Baahubali: The Invulnerable
Baahubali: Mowgli from Maahismathi
Baahubali: One Man Army
So on and so forth.

The story sure is ages old, I'm not even gonna touch that as it was quite evident from the first part itself. The movie is filled with two dimensional characters except for Sivagami. The characters do not have a grey area, making it tougher to relate to them. The first part had strategic approach to war. This movie steals away that too. War apparently needs just will power and a really super powered being who is the result of crossing Superman and Flash. S.S. Rajamouli has single-handedly questioned the concept of Fort Walls and Medieval Ballistic Weapons. If you can throw humans into the fort using a tree, why did Greeks ever build all the weapons to break the goddamn walls! If a single man with a giant hammer can break a chain that is twice his size and holds the door to the fort, what is the point of the door? Yeah, our film makers seriously need basic classes on Human Autonomy and Physics. (Physical Sciences for Dummies?).

Highlights:

• Visuals
• Ramya Krishnan and Rana Daggubati Performances
• Narrative

Drawbacks:

• Physics Defying Stunts
• Music
• Continuity Errors
• Uneven Pace
• Thin, Cliched Plot

A movie is either good or bad or watchable. Period. A movie do not get a free pass because of the platform or the attempt or because the lead actors are widely recognized and loved. It was acceptable when Krrish jumped impossible heights and flew at superhuman speeds because of the explanation about his origin. Robo exhibited some superhuman feats and that was acceptable with their back-stories backing the feats. Yet, we still have a lot of Rajnikanth Jokes. I'm looking forward to Baahubali jokes now! 

Hollywood too have produced a lot of duds with great visuals in the recent past, Kong: Skull Island being the latest. Great visuals do not make a great movie. Baahubali is surely not pride of Indian Cinema as there are thousands of movies we need to feel proud of for their subject, execution, narration and screenplay. Food is judged on how it tastes and not how it looks and cinema should be judged how it makes you feel and if it keeps you immersed, even after you leave the theater and not for how it looks. Gravity has great visuals and yet, Interstellar is a better picture!

Verdict: Visuals are Saving Grace for This Mediocre Movie.