Bruce Lee review: A comic caper that is more annoying than entertaining

Bruce Lee (GV Prakash) is a timid romantic who turns to his girlfriend Saroja (Kriti Kharbanda) for emotional support every time he encounters a problem. His friend and roommate Abbas (Bala Saravanan) has a distinctly different character. Abbas has a girlfriend Priya (Shadika) who happens to be Saroja's friend as well.

Both Bruce Lee and Abbas are fans of Mansoor Ali Khan, a politician and film star. One night, an inebriated Bruce Lee, who sees Khan's car go past his house, chooses to follow him in the hope of clicking a picture with his hero. He ends up witnessing his hero's murder by a gangster called Ramdoss alias the Godfather ('Muniskanth' Ram Doss). What's more, he clicks a picture of the Godfather committing the crime.

With time, Bruce Lee and Abbas learn about other crimes by the Godfather. They make an effort to bring him to justice but only end up alerting him to the possibility of having witnesses to his crimes. So he abducts the women and demands the camera as ransom for their release. What happens next is what the film is all about.

A comedy entertainer must have fun-filled sequences that are genuinely funny. That, in turn, requires getting the timing right. But to director Prasanth Pandiyaraj's misfortune and ours as well, the comedy in the film doesn't click. What you end up watching is a film that has more sequences that leave you annoyed than happy.

For some reason, director Prasanth Pandiyaraj also seems to be working under the impression that audiences are not going to worry too much about logic if the film is a comedy entertainer. How valid that perception is, only time can answer.

GV Prakash does justice to his role as the timid hero who occasionally becomes brave. However, a solo performance is not going to be enough to ensure a film's success. Prakash, who delivered a string of successes in the initial stages of his acting career, will have to pay more attention to his choice of scripts if he wishes to renew that trend.

Kriti Kharbanda as Saroja is convincing and plays her part effortlessly. Shadika as Priya. too. silently makes her presence felt. Bala Saravanan as Abbas has done a reasonably good job. However, there are portions where his dialogues are not only predictable but loud and unnecessary. In fact, you even wish he would stop talking in some scenes.

Anandaraj as a police officer is impressive again. He comes up with a blazing performance, though his role is a brief one. Muniskanth as the gangster who initially wanted to get into films has been wasted. The actor, who delivered a brilliant performance in Maanagaram (2017), is far from impressive in this film.

Motta Rajendran is getting far too predictable to evoke any humour. In this film, too, he fails miserably in his mission to evoke laughter.

The background score of the film is good as are its songs. Credit for both must go to GV Prakash.

Two editors worked on the film. But despite the combined effort of Pradeep E Ragav and Manoj Gyaan, Bruce Lee fails miserably in its mission to entertain. The film, which is a little over two hours long, seems as if it has a runtime of five hours, making you wish it would end soon.

PV Shankar's cinematography is fine. One other department that must be congratulated for its work is the stunt team that planned and shot the first chase sequence. Due credit must be given to Anbariv and his team for picturizing it realistically. On the whole, however, this Bruce Lee does not win this bout.