Home » Brahmastra Review; Reasons to see this Movie despite its Negative Criticism

Brahmastra Review; Reasons to see this Movie despite its Negative Criticism

By /
Brahmastra Review; The hated movie that isn't all that bad

Walking into the hall prepared – but not determined to be disappointed, I was surprised by the effect it managed to leave. Brahmastra’s review turned out to be the review of a not-so-bad movie – okay, okay, hear us out.

With a movie that has been talked about so much, the Brahmastra release had seen almost every obstacle that it can probably imagine before this Friday. An honest Brahmastra review became even harder in such a scenario. As it felt almost like the tone with which the film was to be reviewed had already been predetermined by our collective expectations.

Brahmastra Review; The hated movie that isn't all that bad
Image Courtesy – Dharma Productions, Brahmastra: Part One Shiva

As it happens, the Brahmastra release had been given by the media (and its own production) the task of lifting back the veil on Bollywood movie-making. With this enormous task of shouldering the return of good Bollywood movies single-handedly, Brahmastra was then subjected to the Boycott Bollywood trend. On the first day, reviews from many reputed sources explain how the movie was dazzling but empty.

https://twitter.com/Arnav__Raj/status/1568280780455149568?s=20&t=AxhK7iRl9F8mV6UgsgTzLg

 

Brahmastra Review: Cinematography

The Brahmastra release got even the harshest of critics to admit that the cinematography and visuals of this movie are iconic. They have engaging fight scenes, a good attempt at almost breaking-of-the-4th-wall, wonderful transitions into music videos, and a great balance between fast and slow scenes.

With clever cuts and a fascinating set, the only thing Brahmastra is lacking in this area is its own style. While you can understand the pride of a Bollywood fan in seeing VFX of such international standards, you will find the whole movie lives up to these comparisons that there is very little to call particularly unique. In some places, clever audiences might also spot a lack of consistency in the cinematographic styles used.

Brahmastra: Visuals and special effects

Being called the most expensive movie in Bollywood cinema, it’ll be an injustice to our Brahmastra review by not talking about special effects.

Brahmastra has the most brilliant special effects that Bollywood has probably ever produced. It was able to successfully marry the existing styles of fantasy fiction VFX with ancient Indian lore. Scenes are made panoramic without being distant. The entire movie has maintained brilliance when it comes to the use of visuals to depict spiritual powers. All through the three hours, the movie also continues to work on a soft and sophisticated visual theme.

Script – Core of our Brahmastra Review

It is in talking about how good the script is that Spiel Times differs in comparison to other critics. Instead of finding a forced story – as we were almost certain of doing – we actually found a tale that was at worst, average.

To a clever audience, the movie actually gets way better, rather than worse, as it progresses. With a focus in the first few scenes on superfluous dialogues and visual scenery rather than character introduction, we had almost started to feel settling boredom. But when the story managed to focus on its characters instead of trying too hard to build a good rapport, it started getting better.

  • Love Story

At first watch, the love story is a male gaze POV of what falling in love must feel like. The Perfect Girl who sees you for who you are – in spite of being from a social class above yours – and joins you in your quest – this is the classic cliche of a Bollywood rom-com.

Both of them have done a great job of portraying their own characters. There is surface-level chemistry which makes for a few good laughs.

And this is where the audience has concluded that the love story is very uninspiring.

But though the Brahmastra review on romance is far from perfect, it isn’t as simple and one-dimensional as that. Shiva is a God who has always done everything for the love of his life, Devi Parvati (Isha). In this movie, whatever Shiva unveils is all because of his need to protect Isha. The sincerity on his face rings in the heart of the audience as he struggles to keep a terrified Isha by his side.

Brahmastra is the weapon of the soul; and with lines like ‘the weapon of the soul must submit to love’, romance in this movie is still male POV but now with a mythological twist to it.

Brahmastra Review; The hated movie that isn't all that bad
Image Courtesy – Dharma Productions, Brahmastra: Part One Shiva

  • Conflict

The story starts out by narrating how different astras, or weapons, came into existence. Then the story cuts to a young man who has a special relationship with fire – Shiva.

The story is committed to itself, and there are many emotional scenes throughout. Every character has been convincing in this movie. At each step, they have solid reasons for doing what they do. Their interest clashes with each other to create a conflict that makes actual sense.

  • Twist and Turns

Does the movie surprise you? Yes. Is it full of references and indications which are fun? Mostly. But does it make choices that astound you and switches keep you on your toes? For me, this happened only once or twice throughout the movie. While the movie was far from predictable, there weren’t many scenes in which we found ourselves rejoicing in our intellectual incompetence.

Brahmastra Review: Pacing

For a 3 hour movie in today’s OTD binge world, Brahmastra did a surprisingly good job of keeping us hooked. At no point in the movie did it feel like the creators were stretching it out – in fact in a few scenes they were instead squeezing it in.

Pacing in the movie is good, and this is a black-and-white opinion. Action scenes get introduced one after the other, and yet the movie is not difficult to follow. When it comes to pacing, our Brahmastra review must agree that it has done a good job of meeting international standards.

Climax in Brahmastra

Maybe more so because we actually enjoyed the movie, the climax seemed to fizzle out a bit in the crucial moments. And it didn’t pick up in the epilogue. Now, we back the noble idea that drove this climax to happen, but it just wasn’t complex enough for viewers who are more used to physical instead of metaphorical fight scenes during movie closes in action-thrillers.

Music 

Arijit Singh has a kind of magical spell in his voice which works especially well in Dharma Production music.

The lyrics however continue to be insufferable, and the only times you will actually enjoy the wording of any audio piece is during the chanting of mantras. Music videos did not lose out on the pacing of the story. However, it is impossible to look past the lazy lyrical concept of the Brahmastra release album.

Verdict

Brahmastra’s release is not going to change the course of how Bollywood performs. Bollywood is an industry, not a single film. Is Brahmastra: Part One Shiva good enough to even do that? This movie is not a deep independent creation with great political meaning, which is probably what the Indian audience needs right now.

But it is a fine watch, and there is a lot to learn from this movie about how Indian writers can approach ancient themes. In terms of special effects and script writing, our Brahmastra: Part One Shiva has done alright. In those two fields, it will go on to make major changes in the industry if the audience accepts it for what it is.

Keep reading Spiel Times for more reviews and news on movies, shows, entertainment, and celebrity news. Make sure to keep visiting our website for a detailed Brahmastra movie analysis which will be out soon!

Follow Spiel times on our Twitter and Instagram to keep in touch with us. Send in your views and ideas in real-time and get updated on all our releases. Stay Safe and Happy Gaming!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Start typing and press enter to search