Fuck yeah.
This shit right here? It’s pretty damn good.
I mean, it’s also completely bonkers, but since when is that a bad thing?[1] Even the dance number was entertaining, and I’m not usually one for those, particularly when they show up in the middle of a historical action epic (imagine what Braveheart would have been like if the Battle of Falkirk had been decided via dance-off instead of longbows).
‘Historical’ probably isn’t the best term to use to describe RRR; it’s more like very well-executed fan fiction that asks the question, “what if these two historical badasses who never met were actually…best bros?” Throw in a ton of slow-motion (bro-motion? Slow-brotion?), a zoo’s worth of over-the-top hijinks with big cats, and a hefty dollop of Indian nationalism, and you’ve got an approximation of the absolute tornado of insanity that is RRR.
Besides the aforementioned, the movie showcases some of the best wingmanship the world has seen since the Battle of Britain. Seriously, find yourself a friend like Raju or Bheem and you’ll be set for life – or at least for any dance-offs you might get roped into.
RRR also sports the most hilariously evil Englishmen since, well, basically ever. I haven’t hated the British this much since I watched The Patriot at a 4th of July rally. I can only think of one British character in RRR who’s redeemable. The rest are cartoon villains with a penchant for the dramatic, and they tend to chew the scenery like their paycheck depends on the number of props they eat. The thing is, this is a movie where a man throws a leopard onto another man’s face, so it’d be disappointing if the baddies didn’t masticate some of the background.
The two leads really sell the bromance that forms the core of the story; their individual struggles make them easy to root for separately and their inevitable team-up will have you doing a little fist pump as they combine their powers into a sort of colonialism-smashing Voltron. My main complaints have to do with the character of Bheem; not that I didn’t like him – N.T. Rama Rao Jr. turns in a great performance as the revolutionary leader – but I felt like his character’s backstory was a little undernourished compared to that of his best bro, Raju (played by an almost egregiously suave Ram Charan). Same goes for Bheem’s romantic arc: his wooing of Jenny, the only decent English person in the movie, relies on the same repeated gimmick of each of the two not understanding what the other is saying due to the language barrier. This can be cute in a cheesy kind of way but doesn’t have the same emotional heft as Raju’s relationship with his fiancé.[2]
The film’s occasionally-subpar CGI detracts very little from the experience. In a movie produced in America, it would stick out more, but the exaggerated, occasionally-surreal style that RRR traffics in means that the goofy-looking animated tigers add to the ridiculous fun.
I mentioned that I enjoyed the dance sequence – I thought the accompanying song, “Naacho Naacho,” was good, too, especially because I can sing most of the lyrics. Some of the other music was a bit…hmm. I suppose “on-the-nose” is the best way to put it? There are scenes where one (or both) of the main characters are doing some badass shit, and the lyrics of the background music are literally about how awesome the characters are. It’s like watching Milk and having a Bay Area rapper dropping conscious bars about Harvey Milk’s societal contributions over a scene where Sean Penn’s giving a speech.
One of the best compliments I can give a long movie is that it didn’t feel long – and that sentiment very much applies to RRR. Time flew by while I was watching, which, I think, means I was having fun.
Score: 8.5/10 (+.5/-1.5)
[1] Well, there’s a few instances when it was. Like Waco.
[2] Who, according to Wikipedia, is also his cousin. Yikes!
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