Official Trailer:

Master has lots of things going for it…Vijay, and Vijay Sethupathy for one. Then Lokesh Kanagaraj who has created a name for himself with engaging Mahanagaram, a superb hyperlink story, and Kaithi, a Die hard and Rambo rolled in to one. Vaathi coming and Kutti story has been on the charts for sometime now. Prelude with intro of the villain Bhavani made me smile. Bhavani gets a super power too, with his iron fist / hand (Of course, Vijay, is super human to begin with anyways). Most of the good lines go to the villain, which made the movie watchable, something refreshing to see after Shiva and Basha (both had Raghuvaran as villain. I do exclude Endhiran, writer Sujatha figured out only Rajni can be a villain to the Superstar. Meesai Padma from Thimiru Pidichavan came close). Loved the fight sequences in the bus and metro and the final showdown in the abattoir, for the momentum, 360-degree shots and the close-ups. You feel the threat and the fear in how Bhavani deals with his enemies. Especially the one with the two kids are too cruel to watch. There is some good writing – how Charulatha’s character is linked to the two kids, a horrible tragedy and a letter to wake up JD from his alcoholic slumber, jumping between Bhavani and JD at pre-interval point (we get another similar intercut later in the movie) . On the contrary, found the JD’s character arc not developed well, I guess the director assumed, with Vijay being JD, backstory is not needed (why he is alcoholic is dealt with in two lines). Other than JD and Bhavani, all the other characters have nothing much to do in the movie. I can recollect only Undiyal other than JD and Bhavani. Many others flash by, like Nasser, Andrea, Shanthanu, and Rajesh. Once JD wakes up from his slumber, story loses steam, takes the predictable route, and we wait for the movie to end.

This isn’t to say movie is not good, it has its mass moments and in parts it works well. And yes, for those interested in movie trivia, Lokesh has thrown in lots of movie references in Master. Sample this: Bhavani & JD from Shiva, VC Selvam from Nammavar, Thulukkanam from Mahanadhi, Sai Dheena who ran juvenile crime gang in Thimiru Pidichavan as reform school warden here. And stories JD makes up from Kadhal kottai to Punnagai Mannan to Titanic. If I can list these, I am sure those with keen eyes will find more. To finish, Master works well in parts but as a whole they don’t add up.