'Good Bad Ugly' Movie Review: Ajith Indulges The Ultimate 'Thala' Fanboy in This Reels’ Era Tribute

Director: Adhik Ravichandran 
Writer: Adhik Ravichandran, Ravi Kandasamy, Harish Manikandan
Cast: Ajith Kumar, Trisha, Arjun Das, Priya Prakash Warrier, Jackie Shroff, Redin Kingsley, Yogi Babu
Language: Tamil

One is unsure if it’s even ethical to call Good Bad Ugly a feature film. From a safe distance, one can argue that it’s the length of a regular movie and it also features a major movie star in the lead. If you want to push it, one may even argue that it has a something resembling a plot and a screenplay that holds characters and plot points in place.

But if you’re willing to wake up and accept reality, you’ll soon realise that Good Bad Ugly is just the Instagram Reels homepage of Ajith’s most obsessive fanboy. Directed by Adhik Ravichandran, the film doesn’t even try to worry about delicately breaking the fourth wall; this Ajith fanboy ends up shooting so many references from the star's filmography at us, that he nukes the fourth wall and builds a grand tomb over it.

Everything in the film is written with the objective of satisfying the fanboy in the way a complex AI algorithm works overtime to make sure we never leave Reels or YT Shorts, the second it identifies us as a certain type. The purpose of the plot and the editing pattern, even at its best, is as a vessel to accommodate the film’s frantic two-references-per-minute pacing.

A still from 'Good Bad Ugly'

At the core of it is a plot that’s ideal for this algorithm, about a retired gangster named AK (Ajith Kumar). He’s been serving 17 years in prison after he promised his newborn son that he will leave behind a life of crime. But when this son finds himself is a spot of bother, AK is forced to return to his old ways. Like in Godfather 3, just when AK thought all of it was over, they pull him right back in. 

In another film made by another director, we may get something more than this initial setup. Good Bad Ugly is the sort of movie that begins after the hero has already completed his redemption arc. But instead of going deeper into the mind of a man who cannot catch a break, we get a story about a man who gets 63 introduction scenes... and we still don’t know he really is. 

But the real craft of Adhik’s cinema is never the carefully thought-out setups or punchy payoffs that feel rewarding. Each scene is written with so much going into it that it feels complete and satisfying, even if you missed the previous half hour. Credit for this must also go to editor Vijay Velukutty for keeping it all together, without even giving us a second to think. 

No shot in the entire film is longer than five seconds and no scene is complete with the film’s extra textual obsessions. In other words, a “good scene” in GBU isn’t one that delivers on its emotional purpose or for the way it takes the story forward. A good scene in GBU is one in which the writers were able to sneak in the most surprising or the most nostalgic movie reference from Ajith’s filmography and to remind us of his place as a pop culture icon.  

I’m not exaggerating about how much the film pushes this. So even when you get expected references from movies like Billa, Dheena, Attagasam, Amarkalam, and Vaalee, GBU really scrapes the surface by even throwing in references from films like Red and Jana. Just as clever is a very funny scene written around the villain trying to click a picture of AK without his permission.

A still from 'Good Bad Ugly'

But Adhik doesn’t even stop there. Apart from references and jokes about Ajith, the film weaves in references for Simran, a Lesa Lesa joke for Trisha, a Sneha callback for Prasanna, a Billa easter egg for Prabhu and of course, loads of misogyny references for Adhik himself. 

The result is loads of fun, the kind you seldom see in overstuffed mass movies. There’s not even an iota of effort to make some sort of an emotional connection with the viewer. But this absence of forced drama or the need to force-fit a social angle is so satisfying that it adds to the charm of Good Bad Ugly. There is no message... only an ego massage.

GV Prakash’s music also works in the extremes, insanely satisfying in some of the film’s massiest action movies, but also disappointing when you expect it to elevate portions in the second half when the film begins to falter. Abhinandan Ramajujam, who had also shot the director’s previous outing Mark Anthony, delivers a lot more consistency, giving the kind of absurdly over-the-top visuals only Adhik can think of. 

Eventually it’s a movie made for Ajith fans, with Ajith himself smiling right throughout as though he’s having the time of his life. He doesn’t have to do much except say yes to all the things Adhik asks of him, and to fully ace the look of an Armenian pawnbroker.  

It may be a far cry from anything you can call cinema, but I think what I just saw was the first prototype of the future "fanboy movie." Good Bay Ugly that is so tailor-made for fans that it probably makes no sense to someone unfamiliar with Ajith’s filmography. But with the nature of his fans, this esoteric attempt — as though we’re eavesdropping on a private locker room conversation between a star and his fans — only makes the film more special. Ultimately, isn't that what fans wanted from their Ultimate Star?