Walter Movie Review Rating: 2/5
Sibiraj, Yamini Sundara, Natarajan Subramaniam, Yogi Babu, Samuthirakani, Shirin Kanchwala, Sanam Shetty
Tamil cinema is the 80’s and 90’s super cop films popularised by Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. The cop is a one-man army and also a crusader, who takes on the corrupt system and brings about positive change. Every superstar loves doing such larger-than-life roles. In the last few years, even the character of the cop has undergone change, with more shades of grey being introduced and recently Rajinikanth went back to playing a super cop in Darbar after decades.
In Walter, named probably after his father Sathyaraj’s iconic 1993 cop movie Walter Vetrivel, Sibi Sathyaraj plays the title role of the cop. In Tamil cinema, sons of popular stars always make films with titles that have a connect with their dads’ super hits. The 2020 Walter is a typical Kollywood cop movie, with a wafer-thin storyline with hardly any twists or turns. The title role of the cop suits Sibi with his hunk looks perfectly. But the screenplay and pacing make it a tiring watch.Walter suspects foul play when he come across similar cases, and sets out to investigate the crimes, accompanied by his subordinate (Charlie).
Meanwhile, the ego clash between Eswara Moorthy (Bava Chelladurai), a leading politician in the town, and Balu (Samuthirakani), who is considered to be his successor, intensifies. Their ego clash brings Balu’s friend Arjun (Natty), who is linked to the kids who have gone missing, into the picture. How Walter faces several odds in his attempt to nab a criminal syndicate forms the rest of the story.
The story looks fine on paper for a typical cop movie, but the insipid screenplay and lack of engaging moments make Walter a tiring outing. A medical thriller requires more pace and surprises at regular intervals. The execution, too, falters and apart from the performances of a few artistes, the film does not strike a chord with the audience. Sibiraj pulls off the role of a sturdy cop, but the dearth of a convincing antagonist is evident. The film, sadly, joins the list of movies which have a female lead just for the heck of it. Also, there is another mysterious character Natarajan subramanium who enters the scene and his connections to crime are unknown
Who is behind this attack and how is the new character related to the crime scene? What is the mystery surrounding the kidnapping and death of babies and how does Bala solve this Mystery forms the crux of the Story
A novel subject that keeps the audience guessing , some of the well shot sequences like the Bala encounter scene , brilliant aerial shots of Kumbakonam , smart and unpredictable climax clearly indicating the crime thriller having its moments. While the movie takes a flying start from the fast paced second half and keeps the momentum till the climax, suffers due to less gripping first half ,thanks to flawed writing and execution , The main weak link contributing to the slow pace is the romantic track involving the lead pair which applies breaks during the exciting investigation . The same can be said about SibiRaj’s performance which picks up tremendously during the second half with some of the intense scenes, improved act needed to handle the romantic scenes, single expression will not help the cause either. Shirin Kanchawala is okay, just goes with the flow. Samuthirakani with limited footage manages to impress with an intense performance. Bava chelladurai as the corrupt politician is simply first rate, a perfect choice for this role .Natarajan Subarmanium playing the mysterious character is quite good
