Bazooka Movie Review: A dashing Mammootty powers through a severely underwritten, yet sleek flick

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For a movie with a banger title like Bazooka (a long, tube-shaped gun, fired from the shoulder, used to shoot missiles at military vehicles), Deeno Dennis’ directorial debut turns out to be more like a toy gun that breaks after firing water twice. Normally, I would spend a few sentences summarising the crux of the story — providing a recap for those who have already watched the movie and a brief synopsis for those who haven’t. However, in this case, I’m refraining from that, because if I did, it would only get more absurd as it goes on.

Bazooka, in essence, is what happens when you have an intriguing and somewhat unique concept but no idea how to stretch it into a feature-length film script. Yet, you give it a shot and end up with a series of disjointed scenes, each progressively more soulless and uninspired than the last. You have a squad of cops, led by Kochi ACP Benjamin Joshua IPS (Gautham Vasudev Menon), known for taking down organised crime in the city. Then you have a group of unidentified robbers whose goal isn’t the loot, but the process itself, creating a headache for the police and constantly outsmarting Benjamin and his team, thus bringing them more shame. There’s also a former forensic expert, John Caesar (Mammootty), brought in to assist the investigators. The crimes, meanwhile, have a touch of video games, each designed as a puzzle and the police can only stop them if they decode the clues in time. Despite the best minds at work, the criminals manage to evade capture every time. As the investigation progresses, it becomes clear that a monomaniacal gamer, who introduces himself to the cops as Mr Mario, is behind it all. But what’s his deal? Why is he playing this high-risk game with the police? And, of course, there’s a game connection to everything. This forms the basic concept of Bazooka, which, as mentioned, is intriguing.

Watch Bazooka trailer here:

However, what could have been a stylish techno-thriller of sorts is squandered due to Deeno’s poor writing. While one might have expected that the movie would offer glimpses of high-tech, sleek games to drive the narrative, we are instead bombarded with references to simple, outdated games like Super Mario and Temple Run. At one point, even Snakes and Ladders makes an appearance. Were the makers trying to dumb down things for the gaming illiterates or evoke nostalgia? Either way, it has backfired in a big way, making everything feel extremely juvenile.

Although the movie impresses in terms of styling, particularly the way Mammootty is presented, the price we need to pay for this is sitting through an entire film mostly filled with lengthy conversations between various characters, which are so poorly written that they quickly become tedious. Especially irksome are the exchanges between John Caesar and Sunny Varghese (Hakim Shajahan), a software expert-cum-gamer, inside a moving bus. While much of the story unfolds as a flashback through Caesar’s narration to Sunny, whenever the focus shifts solely to them, it becomes unbearable due to the sloppy writing, overloaded with pretentious jargon.

Even Benjamin and his team’s investigation, aided by Caesar, is lacklustre, as the crimes themselves feel too silly and the villains never come across as as notorious as the investigators — or the script — try to make them seem. While Malayalam crime films certainly need to move beyond the typical focus on serial killers and sexual assault cases, and even seemingly minor crimes can form the basis of an engaging story, the writing must be strong enough to make viewers care about solving the case. Take, for instance, Rajeev Ravi’s Kuttavum Shikshayum (2022) or Dileesh Pothan’s Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (2017). Neither of these films features grisly crimes or investigators chasing bloodthirsty monsters, yet the makers brilliantly manage to make the resolution of the cases feel critical to the characters, while also ensuring that the audience feels the weight of the investigations as they unfold. In Bazooka, however, one never feels compelled to want the cops to uncover the truth, let alone catch the criminals.

Also, when will Indian cinema villains stop firing aimlessly when their targets aren’t in sight? If someone is hiding, wouldn’t it make more sense to find them first and then gun them down, rather than shooting randomly within a 10-metre radius, wasting bullets and looking foolish, only for the hero to walk in in slow motion afterwards and finish the job effortlessly? Bazooka’s absurd interval block exemplifies this silliness, making the situation even more ridiculous. While the writing is already subpar, the script throws in pointless red herrings too, as the movie progresses, that only detract from the experience.

Despite all its flaws, the movie becomes somewhat watchable only because of a dashing Mammootty, presented in the most dapper manner; credit goes to his costume designer Abijith and makeup artist S George for keeping him looking sharp here too. At the same time, cinematographer Nimish Ravi makes excellent use of the megastar’s screen presence and frames him well. However, his work falters in certain scenes, particularly due to the overuse of extreme close-ups. Saeed Abbas’ original score also does wonders, elevating even the dullest moments at times. Equally impressive is the movie’s stunt choreography.

While Mammootty shines in terms of style, there’s little in the film, up until the very end, that allows him to showcase his acting skills. Although his character receives an intriguing twist towards the end, Mammootty’s performance here, especially considering his outstanding roles in Rorschach (2022) and Bramayugam (2024), is strictly average.

Also, I’m baffled by how Gautham Vasudev Menon continues to land acting roles despite repeatedly proving that he’s not a good actor. While his performances in Tamil cinema have been poor so far, in Bazooka, he hits a new low with his completely stoic portrayal of a character that comes across as the ghost of ACP Anbuselvan IPS (from Menon’s 2003 Suriya-starrer Kaakha Kaakha) and poor dialogue delivery. Sadly, there’s little for the other actors, including Divya Pillai, Sidharth Bharathan and Hakim, to work with, so there’s nothing notable to mention about their performances.

Bazooka movie cast: Mammootty, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Divya Pillai, Sidharth Bharathan, Hakim Shajahan, Ishwarya Menon, Sumit Naval
Bazooka movie director: Deeno Dennis
Bazooka movie rating: 1.5 stars