Watchman review: GV Prakash starrer is a bland invasion thriller

Watchman review: The story had ample scope for thrills, but the lackluster writing in the film is a big let-down which makes this GV Prakash-starrer a very tiresome watch.

Watchman
Director: Vijay
Cast: GV Prakash Kumar, Suman, Samyuktha Hegde and Raj Arjun
Rating: 2/5

When the promos of Vijay’s Watchman, starring a furry Golden Retriever in a key role, released a few weeks ago, it immediately caught the attention of audiences as its interesting premise promised plenty of thrills. Unfortunately, the expectations fall flat as the film, which stars GV Prakash Kumar in the titular role, is nothing more than a bland invasion thriller with fleeting shots of tension.

The premise of Watchman is pretty simple. It is centered on an ordinary man – played by Prakash – who finds himself in an extraordinary situation. When forced to settle the amount he borrowed from a local loan shark within the next 24 hours, Prakash decides to rob a secluded bungalow. When he manages to break in after briefly encountering a dog along the way, he finds himself in a life-and-death situation as he realizes the house has been taken over by a group of dreaded terrorists.

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The story had ample scope for thrills, but the lackluster writing is a big let-down which makes Watchman a very tiresome watch. Thankfully, the film has fleeting shots of tension, courtesy the highly talented and well-trained Golden Retriever Bruno, which makes up for the film’s otherwise boring plot. Some of the action stretches involving the dog really deserve some praise. However, these short-lived moments of thrill don’t make up for the lack of tension throughout the film.

Prakash delivers an earnest performance which isn’t justified by Vijay’s writing, which only comes across as half-baked. Suman chips in with a decent performance and the supporting cast of Yogi Babu and Muniskanth, roped in to provide the comic relief, don’t have much to do. As a composer, Prakash manages to elevate some tense moments with an electrifying score but the lack of solid thrills don’t quite justify his efforts.

Vijay’s bad form plagues Watchman and it’s really disappointing that a filmmaker, who once made films like Madrasapattinam and Saivam, is now in a hurry to slip into oblivion with a barrage of bad films. If only Vijay spends more time on writing than on actually making films like they’re being pushed out of an assembly line, he might manage to surprise us.