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Retro Review - Happening and Vibrant but also emotionally distant!

PUBLISHED DATE : 01/May/2025

Retro Review - Happening and Vibrant but also emotionally distant!

Retro Review - Happening and Vibrant but also emotionally distant!

Bharath Vijayakumar

True to Karthik Subbaraj's style, Retro too feels like two films rolled into one. Is that a good thing? Well, it depends. In Jigardhanda DoubleX, it worked wonderfully well. You had a first half that was built around suspense and tension, and the second half was a different beast altogether that got all too emotional towards the end. Retro isn't exactly similar, but you can draw a lot of comparisons.

The best way to describe the first half of Retro is, it is a 'happening' film. The premise is all too similar with a violent hero finding it difficult to turn a new leaf and pushing away his lady love with his actions. But the film is packed with events, and you hardly have a dull moment. Even if you aren't emotionally invested with the characters, the film moves at such a pace that it keeps you engrossed. And Suriya is in fine form, selling the mass moments with ease. The first promo was built around Suriya and Pooja, and the director himself had said in a few interviews that Retro can be called a love story. The chemistry between the lead pair is quite good and the love portions are pretty convincing. But I am not so sure whether the enormity of the emotions involved is sufficiently registered. But this doesn't dampen the film, because this seems quite intentional with the pacing and the mood that Karthik Subbaraj sets. The film is vibrant and on the move. But this is also in contrast to the core emotion of the story. So, the plot seems serious but what we have is a jolly good film so far. 

Karthik Subbaraj is always keen to tell 'political' stories, and you know that he always wants to speak about Sri Lankan Tamils through his films. Retro isn't talking about Sri Lanka or Tamils, but there are enough parallels that can be drawn. The second half is set on an Island and there is a war between two groups. And yes, this half veers into an altogether different film and the love story feels long forgotten. The reason for Suriya being christened with the tag 'The One', is revealed. And maybe this would have been a more apt title for the film itself. Retro actually uses two common tropes that we are seeing frequently in big hero vehicles in the recent past. The first is the hero's inability to run away from violence and the second is the hero being the 'chosen one'. If Leo, Good Bad Ugly, and Veera Dheera Sooran: Part 2 are examples of the former, then you have Captain Miller and Thangalaan for the latter. The 'Chosen One' narrative of Retro is where the film loses its footing. It feels random and plastic. Not enough time is spent on the population that is being held as slaves. Hardly any character is registered. The vibrant mood of the film that did not hurt the first half now becomes a big dampener. A lot of serious themes are being discussed but the narrative style is happy to be massy and whacky. And the bigger issue is that the quirkiness of the characters and the mass appeal of the hero that worked in the first half, now feels monotonous and redundant. As the climax nears, the stake is actually very high, but we never feel it. There is a nice idea in comparing guns and laughter. The film wants to make a point about the importance of smile. It is a running theme of the film as well as of the hero. But this still feels like an idea on paper and not something that is narrated convincingly on screen. On a side note, I am not very sure about using this 'chosen one' narrative as well as building a mythical story to talk about oppression and to battle for progressiveness. Isn't it defeating the very purpose, if you are toeing the same line of superstition that is actually being used to keep people enslaved. And the hero killing at will and even beating up innocents is never a problem. Where you draw the line and preserve his 'character' is by preventing him from getting intimate with an actress after a 'special' song. And because of this, the heroine is supposed to be a lucky girl. And this scene in a film made by someone who made 'Iraivi'. Surprising!

Santosh Narayanan's score and songs are a huge plus. The action sequences are nicely done and there is some novelty in them. You feel the rage of Suriya right through the film.


Bottomline
Retro is a happening film, and Suriya is in fine form. The indulgent, wacky and mass world that Karthik Subbaraj sets Retro in, works till the stakes aren't high. It is towards the end, that this treatment doesn't gel with the serious topics that are discussed, and we are emotionally at a distance from the screen.

Rating: 3/5

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