After making various types of commercial entertainers and sticking to the formula all this while, director Siva has stepped out of his comfort zone for once and has delivered a totally different kind of period action drama with Kanguva.
The film features Suriya as both Francis and Kanguva, with the former being a bounty hunter and the latter being a valiant leader of his land. Siva has set the film in a unique space with five neighboring islands and the conflicts between them. The first 30 minutes of the film constitute of the present portions and there is not much to say about it, but the film then moves to the period part which is the better of the two. There’s a good emotional angle worked out in the film between the character of Kanguva and the little boy, and a couple of good action sequences too. The second half has some interesting scenes too, but they are far apart between each other and there is a consistency missing in the film.
The film benefits from Suriya’s impressive performance which registers himself as a strong actor, especially in his fluency in the fight scenes.
Bobby Deol does not have much to do in the film, with his role being more of a cameo. The film does not have too many good names in the cast (except the surprise reveal in climax), which turns out to act against it.
Technically, Vetri’s camera captures the locations well but he definitely could have made use of more lighting to make the film look brighter. Devi Sri Prasad’s songs are passable, but in the background score he rules at few sequences, especially Suriya’s Kanga intro score remains top!
On the whole, Kanguva is a decent fantasy entertainer where the past portions work better than the present ones.