Watching Bazooka is like trying to figure out a long drawn-out puzzle that never makes sense, observes Arjun Menon.
Bazooka, the debut directorial effort of Deeno Dennis, the son of legendary screenwriter Kaloor Dennis, is one good idea that got lost in a dumpster of clumsy writing.
The film features Mammootty, and does not deserve his presence.
Watching Bazooka is like trying to figure out a long drawn-out puzzle that never makes sense.
Bazooka follows a forensic expert on a bus journey with a crass gamer as his co-passenger.
The framing itself reeks of uninspired and stale writing, which undermines the setup quickly. In the middle of this, you get a shoehorned-in action set piece featuring a biker gang that doesn't do anything with the screen time that it gets.
You also get a bunch of archetypical passenger types who have no role in the events that unfurl over the remaining running time, only making awkward comments that just do not land.
There is a painful attempt at mining humour from these interactions.
High frame shots and the background score keeps soaring, but never reaches a crescendo. The 'game thriller' tries to subvert the tropes of a routing procedural by infusing gaming jargon and 'Gen Z' slang that feels dated and tired despite its effort to appear young.
The screenplay sets aside a significant part of its time to establish ACP Benjamin Joshua (Gautham Vasudev Menon) and his team of cops. We get a glimpse into their adventures and it feels like an afterthought that does not move the plot forward.
Each character appears and exits the frame in slow motion and you feel the film struggling to maintain a coherent flow.
The exuberant soundtrack by Saeed Abbas introduces themes and motifs with never-ending novelty, while the script revels in the optics of its gaming format, rather than solid plotting.
Mammooty sleepwalks through an underwritten part, except for the last 15 to 29 minutes where the film tries to damage control with a particular character reveal.
There is so much swag and charisma in the way Mammootty approaches the figure, with his trademark charm. But the writing is so superficial and blunt that none of the 'hero' moments land and you feel the constant twitch in tone, bringing down the 'fan service' aspects of this film.
The investigation of the series of robberies at the centre of the film is written in the most elementary fashion with little effort in making them work as individual scenes, rather than keeping it as functional as throwaway punchlines.
So you get a high-profile crime, a genius forensic advisor helping the cops and a clueless bunch of police officials who become spectators in the bigger picture, do the math, duh. Characters and B plots are introduced with trademark nonchalance and you start twirling in your seat uncomfortably.
Nimish Ravi's camerawork keeps the visuals exciting to a point but there is only so much panache that 'cool frames' can do.
The second half promises a hopeful turnaround with Mammootty's character but falls back to the tired bag of slow-mo scene building, clumsy exposition and amateur lines that never end.
Mammootty cuts through the jadedness with his suave, elegant screen presence.
Every time he appears on screen, he starts to feel like another exciting adventure stuck within the confines of an undercooked potboiler.
The ending is as stale as the rest of the film but the idea might have been promising if done with some more conviction.
Bazooka ends up being an unnecessarily long, washed-out template thriller that pretends to be something above its pay grade.
© 2025