2.5/5
The best part of Attack: Part 1 happens in its first ten minutes. A special unit of the Indian army enters the enemy territory, much like the famous Seal Team 6, which raided Osama Bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan and capture a terrorist cell leader. The action is set to first person mode and we get to hear and feel what the soldiers are going through. You say bravo in your heart and someone is getting the action right. Later, the commanding officer of the special unit, Arjun Shergill (John Abraham), gets paralysed from neck down when terrorists attack an airport. His girlfriend Ayesha (Jacqueline Fernandez) gets killed in the attack. Arjun gets a second shot at playing patriot when a scientist Dr. Sabaha Qureshi (Rakul Preet Singh) takes him on as a guinea pig for her super soldier program. A chip is implanted in his brain and through that a parallel nervous system is introduced in his body, bypassing the body’s own system. He slowly connects with the system, which grants him metahuman strength, agility and intelligence. The super processor also acts as his eyes and ears, seamlessly feeding him information from its exhaustive database and through direct satellite connection.The connection isn’t totally secure, however. And before he could gain total command over his extra abilities, the Indian parliament, with the Prime Minister inside, becomes the target of the terrorists. They’re armed with the latest guns and gadgets and soon assume control of the situation. It’s left to Arjun to right the wrongs. He successfully infiltrates the compound and starts killing the hostiles one by one. Meanwhile, the government’s efforts to negotiate with the terrorists prove unsuccessful. Arjun’s connection with the computer shuts down at this juncture. The situation spirals out of control and all would be lost if he doesn’t get online soon…
The plot is heavily borrowed from such diverse sources as RoboCop (1987), Die Hard (1988), Universal Soldier (1992) and Olympus Has Fallen (2013). Basically it’s a mix of super soldier movies and lone wolf dramas. The metahuman arrives like Deus ex machina to save the day and everyone lives happily ever after.
We could have done with more scenes where Arjun is coming to grips with his new reality. Songs too weren’t needed in such a film. If non-stop action was the agenda, then why take pot shots at India’s political reality. Yes, it’s true that the media gives its own spin to every situation and so does the political machinery but doling this bit of reality in a film which idolises a super soldier comes across as jarring. Somehow, the situation has been made too easy for our hero. The director could have shown that he’s sent to handle the situation when traditional methods have failed. It’s highly unlikely that the army will try to do nothing and just rely on a single individual.
All that being said, the action sequences are world class indeed. The final battle, where Arjun single-handedly takes apart an entire battalion of terrorists is slickly choreographed. The high speed chase sequence which follows is even better. It’s the best we’ve seen in Bollywood so far. Take the fact that John looks good on a bike and we have a winner on our hands.
It’s not a film where John mouths mealy dialogue about patriotism. The jingoism is kept to the minimum. The technical finesse is impressive but the story and the screenplay needed to be worked on more.
Jacqueline Fernandez was strictly taken to up the oomph quotient and looks gorgeous indeed. Rakul Preet Singh plays a scientist with a conscience and looks the part. Both the girls have not much to do really in the film. We see Prakash Raj in a film after a long time. He plays a security adviser who is all for investing in the super soldier programme. Ratna Pathak Shah too makes a brief appearance as Arjun’s distraught mother. Elham Ehsas makes his presence felt as the terrorist leader.
The film rests squarely on John Abraham’s shoulders and plays to his strengths. He totally looks like a pumped-up super soldier who is willing to do anything for the sake of his country. It’s a role tailor-made for him and he delivers on all fronts. He’s totally involved in the stylised action and deserves all the seetis. Now that his credentials have been developed in part 1, let’s hope the second part sees him in a bigger, more enhanced avatar.
Trailer : Attack: Part 1
Rachana Dubey, April 1, 2022, 1:30 PM IST
3.5/5
Story: With the Parliament under siege, India’s first super soldier Arjun Shergill is tasked to get hold of the terrorists in the nick of time, save the Prime Minister from their clutches and stop a dirty bomb from exploding and destroying Delhi. Will Arjun succeed in his mission?
Review: An officer with irreversible paralysis neck-down, and a love life that has ended as suddenly as it started. An official (no clue what rank and office he holds) pushing the head of state to try out a new scientific program involving artificial intelligence to create super-special commandos. A terrorist outfit, from what looks like PoK, behaving like a loose cannon attacking civilians in India…When these odds are stitched together, the product is debutant director Lakshya Raj Anand’s Attack, conceptualised by John Abraham.
Arjun Shergill’s (John Abraham) life is thrown off its path when his girlfriend Aisha (Jacqueline Fernandez in an extended cameo) is killed in a terrorist attack at an airport. Arjun also gets injured while fighting them, and in the bargain, gets paralysed neck down. He vegetates on the wheelchair until one day when Subramaniam (Prakash Raj), a high-ranking officer of the Indian Government, proposes his name as the test case for a new artificial-intelligence-led technology that can potentially get him back on his feet and turn him into a super soldier. Just as he becomes the functional testee for Dr Saba’s (Rakul Preet Singh) experiment, a terrorist crisis erupts at the Parliament. Arjun rises to the occasion but with the clock ticking away, can he avert total destruction?
Newcomer Lakshya Raj Anand’s Attack: Part One sets up a universe where India is at the cusp of change, in terms of attitude and approach. But more importantly, he creatively and slickly engages artificial intelligence as a character involved in the story. For that alone, he deserves a round of applause.
Of course, there are several other pluses. The film has been edited tightly. Its two-hour-runtime barely feels as long. The story stems from John’s character and that’s a thread that has not been dropped at any point. His status quo, its disruption, and his misery which acts as his momentum when he gets back into the fray, have all been written out very well. However, every other character on Arjun’s periphery could have also been developed better, especially someone like Ratna Pathak Shah and Rajit Kapur - the latter is comparatively better thought-out. Even Rakul and Elham Ehsas for that matter.
Thankfully, the film does not follow the hefty, typical tropes and sentiments of a patriotic film. If you’re looking for some seetimaar lines, then you’re in the wrong screening. The narrative does not digress into song-and-dance situations either. But it does have a sprinkling of unintentional humour which is a relief and the sign of good writing which doesn’t make it seem forced. The movie, drawn out of a few real-life happenings, has a fair dose of edge-of-the-seat moments, thanks to the action-choreography which is top-of-the-line and in sync with the rest of the proceedings. The use of visual effects gives most of the film the feel of a combat game.
John Abraham plays to his strengths which is pleasing to see after a long time. He’s not lifting cars, crushing bikes, squeezing people like lemons or shouting out some ‘powerful’ lines. He seems in control of the events here, looks in great shape, mentally and physically, playing a soldier.
On the flip-side, the end seems a little rushed. Also, one has seen several films and even OTT shows where a terrorist outfit challenges the Indian government and a braveheart rises to the occasion. While there are no complaints about the latter, we need to find a better threat for our heroes to shine even more. Also, John’s character does not look like he has been on a wheelchair for a while before getting back on his feet. His body seems pretty in-shape for someone paralysed for a while. The film’s songs are just about okay.
To sum up, Attack: Part One, is an engaging watch, from start to finish. It could have been even better if some of the characters surrounding John’s Arjun Shergill were given more thought and leg-room.
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