Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)
Rating: 1/5 stars
For a movie where the main USP is supposed to be the tigers and the thrills to be sought from their hunt on a bunch of humans, actor- turned-Director, Kamal Sadanah, gets a brain-freeze and decides to introduce his prime selling point a whole hour after the film commences. Agreed, that it's important to show a bit of build-up, particularly in a horror, sci-fi, or action film, but clearly the filmmakers misunderstood the difference between an actual build-up and what can be best described as a soap-opera prequel to their actual film.
In the meantime we are subjected to soporific drawls, and endless bickering between a bunch of talentless actors with wooden expressions and the screen presence of a few rustling leaves blowing in the background of a romantic Bollywood interlude. Or maybe Sadanah must have envisaged his audience to be just a bunch of front-row whistlers who'd be enamored with the sight of his glamorous leading and supporting ladies strutting around in jungle shorts, performing pole-dancer-esque action shots.
Granted, the scenes with the tigers are breathtaking, but they can do little to lift this abomination of a film from its doldrums. And, for a creature-horror film, supposedly shot in the vein of genre classics such as "Anaconda", "Black Water", and "Lake Placid" among others, the tension and ensuing action is cringe-worthy to say the least. No doubt, tigers are natural killing machines, more so in their own habitat, but it would have been nice if the Director had shown them working a bit to catch their prey. And, this has got to be the most incompetent group of hunters ever assembled, as they can't seem to hit a single of their targets, even if the tigers are motionless, and egging them on with snide smirks and an invisible hit-me sign plastered across their foreheads.
Shoddily scripted, listlessly directed, deplorable acted, and amateurishly assembled, "Roar" literally screams bad filmmaking and a lost opportunity of what had the potential to be an exciting creature-horror flick, with a plausible allegory thrown in. The tigers of the Sundarbans deserve a good film - one that showcases their legend in all its glory, and also succeeds in highlighting their current spate of problems. Hopefully, a talented Director will come along and undertake this responsibility someday.
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