Sydney🚀’s review published on Letterboxd:
I feel like I got punched in the face by Animal, a Scarface-style epic with comically outlandish twists and one absolutely batshit extended sequence in a hotel that made me think I was seeing things. Ranbir Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna are both incredible in this explosively toxic relationship, each getting moments amid the melodrama to show some true grit in their performances. On the surface this is pretty much an odyssey of a rich nepo baby who only knows how to get what he wants through violence because of his relationship with his father. I understand there’s a lot of tension around this film - I don’t know what Vanga’s politics are but I interpreted a lot of this as a critique of Ranvijay. Though I hear his other films have depicted these “alpha males” as people to be idolized. Perhaps that’s the issue - is anything actually being said here, or is it just a vehicle for empty provocation? Doesn’t really matter in the end because it’s so long-winded and convoluted, especially after the intermission, that the exciting or emotionally resonant scenes are anomalies rather than climaxes. The scale is certainly impressive though, and the final fight was brutal as hell.
