Force 2 film review: Full force, minimal impact

John Abraham's Force 2 is nearly two-and-a-half hours of non-stop chases and gunfights that might appeal to action lovers, writes Deepa Gauri

After nearly two-and-a-half-hours of relentless car races, gun fights, fist fights, roof top leaps and what not, Abhinay Deo's Force 2 serves as an interesting plot-twist in its climax that is seldom seen in Bollywood.
Suddenly, the mission of the villain and the hero becomes one, and the system becomes the culprit. The villain sheds a silent tear, and a moment of empathy is formed in you for his cause.
That is the redeeming scene of Force 2, a film forced in its narrative but slick in its action. There is no moment to pause, where we see the villain outshine the hero by far and the heroine becomes another caricature.
Force 2 is for action lovers and it stays true to its genre. The fights and chases are stylishly choreographed - and they are even more believable than the stunts we saw recently in Shivaay.
As a sequel to Force, it tries not to take on the emotional graph of the original. Little time is wasted on buddy and familial bonding, and the story cuts straight to action mode.
The only difference is that Yash (John Abraham) now has Kamaljit Kaur alias KK (Sonakshi Sinha), a RAW officer, as his team leader.
It could have been a great opportunity for Bollywood to do away with the caricaturing of women and show them as truly empowered.
But no, Abhinay Deo decides to squander it. So we see KK as the utterly clueless one, while Yash goes about single-handedly, gets to the villain, unravels all his past and present intentions, and even saves the damsel from distress.
Thankfully, none of this is elaborated because there is little time for anything else other than to be on action mode. And driving the action is the stylish villain Shiv Sharma (Tahir Raj Bhasin), whose performance gives the film a certain amount of seriousness while you watch it.
But very soon you realise that Force 2 is anger and mayhem with little logic. The premise purportedly has a noble purpose but to get there, the film takes a serious detour from India to Hungary for no particular reason.
We are not talking reality here, but really, doesn't Hungary have a police force? How else can two Indians be there and play havoc on the streets, inside private citizens' homes, the metro station and everywhere they could put the camera.
The fact that we think of this and all the other plot holes is the failing of Force 2; it has action and adventure alright but it fails to make your head go quiet.
Superb in his action, John Abraham has the same brooding look plastered on his face throughout the movie while Sonakshi Sinha isn't sure whether she must play the liberated, headstrong RAW officer or the meek Indian woman who has to play one-note lower than the hero.
In that confusion, Tahir Raj Bhasin scores big time. Much like Parinda that made us take notice of Nana Patekar, Force 2 could very well be the calling card to big things for Tahir. He deserves it.
But as audience, we deserved more; we could have had a stronger storyline meshed into the all-out action to have taken Force 2 with us, a little further than the multiplex car park.
Force 2
Starring: John Abraham, Sonakshi Sinha and Tahir Raj Bhasin
Directed by Abhinay Deo
Now playing at theatres in the UAE
Rating: 2/5