A crime thriller that will stick
SPYDER is a fast paced, gritty and edge-of-the-seat crime thriller that fans of this particular genre will appreciate wholeheartedly.
Ace director AR Murugadoss, who offered us the box office hit Ghajini, turns on the throttle with Spyder, which has Tollywood heartthrob Mahesh Babu making a grand appearance in Tamil cinema for the first time. Mahesh Babu takes on the character of Shiva, an intelligence bureau official, who does not mind bending the rules so long as it saves people’s lives and prevents a crime from taking place.
When people make panic calls, his systems send him an alert and he listens to the distress calls using his spy apps.
One such call lands him his girlfriend, played by Rakul Preet Singh.
And another such call makes him cross paths with serial killer Sudalai, played to perfection by talented director turned actor SJ Suryah.
He is assisted by his younger brother played by Kollywood young talent Bharath, who handles his negative role with aplomb.
Sudalai, the psychopathic serial killer, goes on a wild killing spree, mercilessly butchering his victims regardless of their age and gender (but the viewer is spared the gory details by clever direction by Murugadoss). Shiva delves into the background of the killer and draws up a profile in understanding the reason for such a barbaric display of hatred and disrespect for human life.
Shiva embarks on a mission to track down the evil killer and makes him pay dearly for his deeds.
The cat-and-mouse game between the protagonist and the antagonist makes for riveting viewing.
Murugadoss relies on a significant amount of CGI to bring his story alive on the big screen.
We can pardon him for this as the climax of the story takes place in a multi-story hospital with a large number of extras.
One can say that this is Tamil cinema’s first ‘disaster genre’ movie!
World-renowned cinematographer Santosh Sivan captures the essence of Spyder in his usual mastery when it comes to lighting and camera angles.
Harris Jayaraj scores big time with his music score for Spyder and the foot tapping chart buster song Ceciliya Ceciliya is certainly going to be a hit among South African music fans across the various linguistic lines. Spyder is a movie that will linger in your mind long after you exit the cinema. – Michael Lachimiah