Watching Good Bad Ugly made me realise that some films do not need a structured analysis at all. This is because the focus is never on any emotional moments or character arcs that would accompany the narrative. For instance, during a “crucial” father-son scene, one would expect emotions to be invested in it, only to have a payoff at the end. But here, the visual that you get is that of swagger featuring a smiling protagonist AK (Ajith Kumar; why would you even name him anything else), even in scenes of confrontation with his child. The drama can also be categorized in a brain-rot genre that is specifically designed as a fan-service vessel and nothing beyond that. And this film had to business to be good in that sense, yet the entertainment quotient of the film is so high that you will have a ball (if and only if you are an AK fan).

The plot is non-existential – a dangerous but good moralled crime lord AK turns himself in to protect his family, only to be set free legally after 17 years. Yet in a turn of events, you see his son Vihaan (Karthikeya Dev) being framed for a crime that ultimately results in his imprisonment, only for AK’s wife Ramya (Trisha Krishnan) to partly blame him for the mess. And thus, AK vows to find the culprit and eventually bail his son out, only for a formidable opponent to appear unexpectedly. Now, if you are literally searching for a story, you ain’t finding one. Yet, the good part of this unstructured narrative is on how self-aware the makers are on what they wished to serve to the viewers. It works on the phrase – no logic, only magic that caters specifically to fans of Ajith Kumar!

The writing here almost works like a Youtube algorithm, constantly feeding you with reels featuring the protagonist. It is almost like watching a reel – making sense of it – finding a previous AK film reference – moving on to the next reel, while just about holding on to the framework of the story. The pace of the narrative is literally worth an attention span of two minutes – no scene lasts for more than five seconds before either switching POVs, or sheparding ahead. And along the way, you do get references of his films like Billa, Vaalee and Dheena amongst others. The sequences are designed to be a grand celebration of the superstar, even during his face-offs with the antagonist(s) Johnny and Jammy (Arjun Das in a double role). AK is never overpowered and almost like a Godly figure as envisioned by his fans who just cannot lose! And then there are smaller references to the characters of Priya (Simran) and Jaeger (Prasanna) which also take you on a nostalgic trip!

The writing goes all out in the brain-rot category in the second hour even as you have a character continuing to hype the character of the protagonist. There are references to a character from Money Heist to a character from one of the most successful franchises in Hollywood (John Wick) to even a Korean gangster Don Lee (😂😂😂), all of which make their way into the narrative while getting to know a little more about the protagonist who is also referred to as ‘Red Dragon’. The events are oddly weird, “intentionally” funny and thoroughly entertaining in the brain-rot genre. Even some of the sequences including that at a bank featuring a shootout, or even a ‘gangster-party’ sequence are downright funny and something that had me clapping with a laugh on my face. This did compensate for the mild exhaustion that also creeps in even from a fan-service point of view, wherein the focus never was and never remains on the story. The number of coincidences and ease with which the antagonist(s) are overpowered coupled with some bizarre twists, ensures that you do have a good time while celebrating the star that you love. And for everyone else, this film isn’t designed for you, even as you maybe lost in the bizarre events of the film. Take your pick wisely!