Vijay-starrer Leo’s early reactions are in: Lokesh Kanagaraj’s LCU gets love from fans, detractors trend ‘Leo disaster’

Vijay-starrer Leo's early reactions are in: The film opens to mixed reactions, with fans celebrating performances and LCU while others likening director Lokesh Kanagaraj's film to Beast.

Vijay-starrer Leo is finally out in the theatres. (Photo: Seven Screen Studio)

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‘Thalapathy’ Vijay-starrer Leo has finally hit the big screens. The film, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, has released amid high expectations and many controversies. It started with political outfits calling out Vijay for glorifying smoking, later Lokesh was criticised for romanticising violence, and finally, release problems crept up. However, the good news is that Vijay fans seem to be happy with the film, as shown by Twitter reactions to the film.

An reaction of Leo stated, “Leo interval – new dimension of @actorvijay. Top class action choreography and world class work with hyena CG ! Tight so far !” Another reaction to the Vijay-starrer read, “Leo Good first half followed by a average second where the crucial flashback portion doesn’t do any help to the film. The emotional scenes and post flashback scenes are done neat but it required the flashback to establish the character equations. Overall a watchable fare with the LCU references also looking forced. Vijay is impressive but Lokesh isn’t at his best.”

Also read | Leo movie release and review Live Updates

Fans also hyped up a surprise cameo. “1st half of Leo was terrific. Even it’s slow in parts some how lokesh manages to keep engaged @Dir_Lokesh best 1st half till date 💯 Vijay is terrific in his role 🦁❤️ Surprise cameo and bad**s song are 💥🔥🤯 Interval stands high ❤️‍🔥 #LeoFDFS #Leo.”

A fan tweeted, “I couldn’t stop screaming for this sequence, the best serve from Loki in Leo 🥶🔥 Badass theme literally made theater into stadium mode💥.”

Mind Blowing Interval High🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥#LCU⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Excellent First Half #LEO 👌👌👌👌#LEOtelugu #LeoMovie

— Vamsi Kaka (@vamsikaka) October 19, 2023

#Leo – a GOOD ACTION ENTERTAINER from Thalapathy Vijay – Lokesh… Action, action & more action…
Cafe scene, pre-interval, badass song placement, I’m scared by ani, Naa ready, Thalapathy – Thrisha portions worked well👏👏👏
overall a GOOD WATCH…
Totally an UNUSUAL THALAPATHY… pic.twitter.com/0FilIU2oJY

— AB George (@AbGeorge_) October 19, 2023

On the other hand, #LeoDisaster is also trending on X. Trade analyst Manobala Vijayabalan shared his review of the film on X, and declared that the film ‘fails to live up to the expectations’ created by ‘unnecessary’ hype. He also praised the cast’s commendable efforts, but said that instead of being a lion, the film turned out to be a ‘cat’. “Tried to be a lion🦁 but ended up as a cat🐈. Despite a promising premise and some commendable efforts from Joseph Vijay and cast, the end result is a disappointment. Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Leo fails to live up to the expectations or unnecessary hype. Also, the film does not maintain a consistent level of engagement, leading to moments of boredom that detract from the overall viewing experience. The film is no where near Vikram or Kaithi, it is the weakest in Lokesh career. A Mediocre Effort,” he tweeted.

Another reaction read, “LEO is 4 times worse than BEAST.”

#Leo: ⭐️⭐️

Leo – Meow

||#LeoReview|#LeoFDFS||

Tried to be a lion🦁 but ended up as a cat🐈. Despite a promising premise and some commendable efforts from Joseph Vijay and cast, the end result is a disappointment. Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Leo fails to live up to the expectations or… pic.twitter.com/46TSuaRAI7

— Manobala Vijayabalan (@ManobalaV) October 19, 2023

Ahead of the film’s release, Leo director Lokesh Kanagaraj took to social media to express his feelings. He shared a long note thanking fans. At the end of his thank you note he wrote, “And to answer all your questions if this film comes under ‘LCU’ or not, you’ll find out in a few hours.”

#LEO 🔥🧊@actorvijay pic.twitter.com/XDCZIzzJoa

— Lokesh Kanagaraj (@Dir_Lokesh) October 18, 2023

Leo’s first-day-first-show started at 4 am in Kerala and Karnataka, while in Tamil Nadu and New Delhi the film’s FDFS starts at 9 am. The Puducherry government has given permission for 7 am shows. Meanwhile, Leo’s Telugu premiere will take place on October 20 as a City Civil Court on Tuesday passed an order to withhold the release. The order was passed with regards to a case filed by Naga Vamsi of Sithara Entertainment, who claimed that he has the rights to the title ‘Leo’ and demanded the filmmakers change the name.

Leo also stars Trisha Krishnan and Sanjay Dutt.

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