The GOAT

With high expectations, Thalapathy Vijay’s next film, The Greatest of All Time (The GOAT), debuted in Tamil and Telugu theaters. Check it out by reading our review.

Table of Contents

Starring : Vijay, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Sneha, Laila, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Ajmal Ameer, Mohan

Director : Venkat Prabhu

Producers : Kalpathi S. Aghoram, Kalpathi S. Ganesh, Kalpathi S. Suresh

Music Director: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Cinematographer: Siddhartha Nuni

Editor: Venkat Raajen

Story

A Special Anti-Terrorist Squad (SATS) member named Gandhi (Vijay) successfully completes a mission in Kenya to take out a terrorist band headed by Menon (Mohan). Years later, Gandhi discovers his son Jeevan (also Vijay) murdered in Bangkok while on a mission. Years later, to his surprise, he finds Jeevan alive in Russia, and they travel back home together. After they return, odd things start happening to the SATS members, and Gandhi sets out to find out what’s going on. Was Gandhi a success? Is Jeevan really his child? Is he connected in any way to Menon? The mystery of the film revolves around these queries.

Trailer

Overview

Directed by	Venkat Prabhu
Screenplay by	Venkat Prabhu Ezhilarasu Gunasekaran K. Chandru Manivannan Balasubramaniyam
Dialogues by	VijiK. ChandruEzhilarasu GunasekaranVenkat Prabhu
Story by	Venkat Prabhu
Produced by	Kalpathi S. AghoramKalpathi S. GaneshKalpathi S. Suresh
Cinematography	Siddhartha Nuni
Edited by	Venkat Raajen
Music by	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Production company	AGS Entertainment
Release date	5 September 2024
Running time	183 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹400 crore
Box office	est. ₹155 crore

Review

Thalapathy Vijay demonstrates his flexibility by playing both Jeevan and Gandhi with great skill. His depiction of Jeevan’s evil side is especially captivating, and his cool-headed interpretation of Gandhi, along with a chic salt-and-pepper ensemble, lends the role weight. The film’s greatest strength is Vijay’s deft handling of both characters.

In their small parts, supporting performers Prabhudeva, Jayaram, Prashanth, Mic Mohan, and Sneha give passable performances.

The two Vijays’ face-off sequences are interesting and expertly done. Despite its lengthy running length, the action scenes are expertly orchestrated, and the finale—which takes place during a live CSK cricket match—is sure to delight fans.

The plot is well-known and follows a formulaic pattern. Even though Venkat Prabhu says that the screenplay is surprising, viewers who have seen similar films before may find the plot less interesting because it is so obvious. The effect of the movie may have been increased with a tighter script.

The audience’s tolerance is put to the test by the first half’s slowness and drag. Even while the film’s second half heats up with the heated face-off scenes, there are still issues with its overall length. The plot feels strained, despite Vijay’s performance keeping the momentum flowing.

There are very obvious story gaps, particularly in the action scenes where the antagonists are unable to hit the protagonist with a single shot—a frustrating but regular occurrence in action movies.

Conclusion

Overall, The Greatest of All Time (GOAT) is a typical action film about revenge that mostly focuses on Vijay’s performance. The film’s highlights are his portrayal of the wicked Jeevan and the face-off moments, but other than that, not much new or exciting happens in it. For everyone but the most ardent Vijay fans, it is a difficult watch due to the slow tempo, lengthy running length, score, and multiple story holes.