Ace movie review: The Vijay Sethupathi-Yogi Babu combo makes this fun, mindless heist film entertaining

Ace movie review: Vijay Sethupathi and Yogi Babu's comic timing and chemistry make this otherwise mindless film very entertaining.

Ace movie review

Cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Yogi Babu, Rukmini Vasanth, B. S. Avinash, Babloo Prithiveeraj, Divya Pillai

Director: Arumuga Kumar

Rating: ★★.5

When Vijay Sethupathi chooses a film, you can bet that it’ll be something different, and wait for the surprise in theatres. His latest film with director Arumugakumar, whom he worked with in Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren in 2018, is also different from his recent films like Maharaja and Merry Christmas.

Ace movie review: Vijay Sethupathi and Yogi Babu's combine lifts this film.

What’s the story?

Arivu (Yogi Babu), a rag picker, lives in Malaysia and masquerades as a rich businessman to impress people, especially Kalpana (Divya Pillai) whom he fancies. He heads to the airport to pick up an associate from India and believes Bold Kannan (Vijay Sethupathi) is the man and takes him home. Clueless as to Bold (or Bolt) Kannan’s past or who he really is, Arivu gets Kannan a job in Kalpana’s restaurant, and at this juncture, Kannan ends up meeting Rukku (Rukmini Vasanth). It is love at first sight for Kannan, who finds out that they are also neighbours and tries his best to catch her eye.

Rukku lives with her policeman step-father Rajadurai (Babloo Prithviraj) and wants to escape his nasty clutches by buying his share of their home and evicting him. As a result, she works multiple jobs and puts up with his endless harassment, which Kannan eventually finds out. In an overnight brainwave, Kannan suddenly comes up with a heist plan to rescue his lady love and enlists Arivu as his co-conspirator. But it’s also complicated by thug Dharma (BS Avinash), who has an axe to grind with Kannan and Arivu. What does Kannan do? Is he able to help Rukku and walk off into the sunset with her?

How does it fare

Director Arumugakumar has chosen a genre – heist thriller underlined by romance – to showcase his versatility as a director and to also feature Vijay Sethupathi in a fun film after ages. His casting of Yogi Babu along with the Makkal Selvan is a coup since Ace is, for the most part, elevated by the combination of these two actors and their interactions. The first half of the film is a little sluggish and takes time to unfold as the director introduces the various characters and their issues. The second half moves into the action zone with a lot of chase and fight sequences, especially during the heist and stretched-out climax. Highlights of the film include scenes like the poker game between Kannan and Dharma, and the interactions between Arivu-Kannan with Arivu’s comical one-liners.

However, the director has chosen to tell an age-old story (very 90s) in a stylistic format, setting the movie in Malaysia, but that’s not enough to bowl you over. What works largely for this mindless film, where logic goes out the window, is the Vijay Sethupathi and Yogi Babu track. The comedian is in full form, and the dialogues given to him evoke a lot of laughs, thankfully. Of course, the dialogues contain references to Sethupathi’s previous films like Soodhu Kavvum and Maharaja, the Mammootty-Rajinikanth friendship in Thalapathi, and more. And it’s evident the movie is geared towards the family audience as it’s a summer release and hence, is ‘clean’ for the most part.

The verdict

When it comes to performances, the aces in the film are definitely Vijay Sethupathi and Yogi Babu. Sethupathi essays the role of Kannan so effortlessly, and given how young and refreshing he looks in the film, it makes it all the more enjoyable to watch him on screen. Comedian Yogi Babu is totally in his element and made the film very engaging, which was a must. Kannada actor Rukmini Vasanth makes her Tamil debut in this movie, and while she delivers, her role really doesn’t showcase her talent and versatility. As for Divya Paillai, she was a surprise and held her own very ably in the film, making an unexpected impact. Babloo Prithviraj has gotten a proper baddie role after a long time, and Kannada ‘villain’ BS Avinash looked his part for sure.

Speaking about the technical aspects, music director Sam CS, who has scored the BGM, totally amped up the thumping beats, making it racy, particularly during the heist and fight portions. In fact, sometimes the BGM packed more of a punch than the actual one on screen. Songs for this film are by Justin Prabhakaran, and Urugudhu Urugudhu is a beautiful emotional one. DOP Karan B Rawat’s visuals have to be commended, but the editing by Fenny Oliver could have been tighter, as some of the scenes were unnecessarily stretched, causing lag. This would have helped trim the run time of 154 minutes as well.

On the whole, Ace is a fun, mindless heist film that’s largely entertaining, thanks to the Vijay Sethupathi-Yogi Babu combo, which brings the laughs.