Let me something straight, I enjoyed Race (2008) but I do not think it
was exquisite entertainment. Yes, it was entertaining but not the best
kind. I did not have any expectations from the sequel. I imagined I will
just get more of the same stuff and that I did. Enjoyable songs,
good-looking people, several foreign locations and a truckload of
twists. Did I mention a story? No. Well, to be honest Race had a
preposterous story but it worked. Why it worked in terms of
entertainment is because it kept trying to outguess the audience.
(Trying to) They succeeded because the level of being preposterous was
maintained. It never became completely ridiculous.
Race 2 comes with a tagline on the posters which goes “Betrayal is
survival”. As far as the filmmaker’s intentions are concerned, I
survived through Race 2. What does that say about betrayal? I think it’s
the same as a blurred middle finger. (If you’ve seen the film, you know
what I mean)
I don’t want to get into the plot of the film. It doesn’t matter. All
you need to know is that there will be several twists and turns for
absolutely no reason except to have something going on while all actors
showcase what they think they are good at. (Probably what they think the
audience thinks they are good at.) Saif looks cool, Deepika looks hot,
John shows off his body and Jacqueline breathes heavily.
Oh but wait, have I told you I was having fun through most of this
buffoonery? A card game where they can magically change the number and
suit of the card is absolutely outrageous! Most of the twists could be
guessed and I was having fun trying to guess them and mostly succeeding.
(Also probably because I knew I won’t feel stupid later.)
Since I didn’t exactly expect something better than the first film, I
was perfectly placed to not have my head exploding by the end of it. No,
it doesn’t match up to the first but who cares?! I certainly don’t. I’m
not going to watch this movie again, just like I’ve never seen the
first one again. I was simply enjoying what it was offering, laughing at
the asinine dialogues and sometimes laughing at the unintentional
humor. I was even laughing at Anil Kapoor’s antics. Yes, he gets a cheap
role but come on, a dick joke which ends with “Iska jawab banana
padega”? Also – “Cherry, I don’t have time to pop your cherry”.
Delivered by Mr. Kapoor it sounds stupid, yes, but not in bad taste at
all. (Did I just put in a sick pun over there? I apologize)
There are only two problems I had with this film – the visual effects
from 1998 and the last half hour. If my memory serves me right, the
final “race” in Race was about two brothers outwitting each other. Here
we don’t really care why the events are unfolding or whether we even
want to root for either of the characters. Who do I blame for this? Yes,
the writing for sure. But then there is also John Abraham. He gives a
bad name to acting. Even in a film where you don’t have to act much or
act at all, he fails.
I mentioned at the beginning of my review that Race, while it was
preposterous, never became ridiculous. Race 2 maintains the
entertainment (preposterous still, oh yes!) but only during two hours of
its runtime. The final half hour is a complete cop-out. Mostly because,
well, there in NO conclusion. A shoddy set-up for Race 3, which gives
you a sour after-taste. Race 2 succeeds in becoming ridiculous as it
struggles to find a resolution to the story. Everything before that is
enjoyable, a guilty pleasure.
