Official remake of Jeong-beom Lee 'Ajeossi | The man from nowhere' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1527788/combined).
The Indianization was not a good idea. Flashbacks, and humanizing the titular assassin also, not a good idea, IMHO.
John Abraham, though, fits the role to a T, in spite of the flashbacks.
Kamat, of 'Dombivli Fast' (in spite of the fact that it shared its DNA with one of Michael Douglas' best movies, 'Falling down', and never acknowledged it - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0833444/combined) and little else to recommend his talents (he tried to make 'Mumbai meri jaan' a better movie than it turned out to be, IMHO, but it was a disappointment, overall), shows his spark in a couple of scenes, but that's it.
He is, for sure, very effective (not in all sequences, but in most) as one of the main bad guys in this flick.
His partner-in-crime, on the other hand, does not fare as well, nor does he acquit himself very well, though most of the blame should be laid at Kamat's door, unfortunately, and a little bit of it at JA's door too.
The supposedly-Thai evil henchmen, with (SPOILER) shades of Grey, on the other hand, is supremely effective, and though I do wish he was in the flick more, perhaps he's in there just right.
The narrative, trying for some kind of surprise element, does pack a kind of wallop for those who haven't seen the original, and might have an impact for some.
Every sequence (dream), except for perhaps the one at the hospital, with Shruti 'Post-surgery' Haasan, slows the movie down, interminably, as so all of the herogiri slo-mos during which the camera loves to linger on JA for. Un. Necessary.
The main reason to watch this flick is a series of ma-no-a-ma-no fights that JA has, post-intermission, with a whole flock of bad guys. Esp. the final confrontation, no matter how filmy it seems to get.
No Qtr given. No Qtr asked for.
In spite of those set-pieces being very good, they do not compare well with either the original, or to 'Raid:Redemption' or Raid 2:Berandal', both of which had gut-wrenching action, with some amazing plot-development, and this one, tries for broke with the sequencing of parts of the drug/organ trade that it wants to highlight happening in Goa, but too little-too late.
Points though, for trying.
The posse of cops too, is something novel, and perhaps a 'Drishyam' influence, and once again, points for trying.
The score is inconsistent, re-using one of Bombay Rockers' tracks in the foreground, interspersing that with some wall-wall action unfolding, and the use of Raahat Fateh Ali Khan to underscore pathos took me outta the movie whenever it was used (and believe me, its used a lot!), and it did seem like I was not the only one bothered by its completely unnecessary excessive usage, judging by the number of sniggers all round, which should have actually been more reflective in nature, while not hammering us over the head with the emotion-Du-jour/moment.
However, I do hope the movie works at the box-office, since it definitely has a few things going on in its favor. I did think it had its moments, and continue to expect better from JA and NK.
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