War 2 Review: Hrithik Roshan, Kiara Advani, Jr NTR’s Spy Drama Is Slightly Enjoyable, Mostly Tiring!
Ayan Mukerji's War 2 also stars Anil Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana in pivotal roles. Keep reading!
2.5 / 5
Here’s a through-and-through Hrithik fan giving you her take on War 2, also starring Kiara Advani, Jr NTR, Anil Kapoor, and Ashutosh Rana. This sequel to War is directed by the young and talented director Ayan Mukerji and backed by Aditya Chopra’s Yash Raj Films. We are already aware of the buzz it created around two huge stars coming together to share screen. Despite the craze, excitement, and anticipation for War 2, there also lay fear and nervousness that the film would go wrong in various ways. Which side won? I would say the latter. Keep reading the review as I dive deep into my thoughts on this 2-hour 50-minute spy drama.
The Plot
Kabir (Hrithik Roshan), India’s Raw agent gone rogue has to be stopped from accomplishing his next mission, and for that, the team needs an equally capable officer, enter Vikram (Jr NTR). Kabir is also guilty of killing Raw’s Chief (Ashutosh Rana), so Kavya’s (Kiara Advani) war with him is basically personal. For the unversed, Kiara is Ashutosh Rana’s on-screen daughter. Therefore, she too joins the team led by the new Chief Of Raw played by Anil Kapoor. The plot moves forward to tell us that Kabir’s real mission is to end an organisation named Kali, headed by representatives from India, and its neighbouring countries. The organisation strives to gain control of the world! While doing this, the film also focuses a tad on giving us a glimpse of Kabir’s childhood, and connecting the dots with NTR’s Vikram. No more spoilers!
Now The Good And Bad Simultaneously!
Action Sequences are good, but some! The thrill that we expect from a grand and massy spy-action film was felt in few moments only. The action choreography of Kavya and Kabir’s hand-to-hand combat was shot perfectly. I really enjoyed the stylish camera angles used to capture this frame from every angle. Jr NTR’s solo action piece during his character’s intro is also memorable, although it hits-hard more because of it’s background score. The rest of the sequences were too stretched to a point where it was tiring for the eyes. The sequences were defying the laws of physics, it was not convincing. The sets were so artificial that it had no connection with the reality whatsoever. The contradiction ends up being funny!
Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR are two big stars in the film who equally shouldered the almost three hours long spy-action drama. However, the actors lacked chemistry and bromance big time. This also affected me as an audience to feel the conflict between their characters. The constant back and forth between Kabir and Vikram, with one trying to beat the other also becomes exhausting. The stardom, the slow motion walks, the grand scenes making the stars look like superheroes, the zoomed in shots of them looking straight into the camera, all these formulas have become redundant now and they clearly don’t work for War 2.
Kiara Advani is convincing in the action sequences but the film focuses too little on her. In the second half, I almost forgot about Kavya, until she appears again. I have to mention that War 2 is yet another film where a female lead is hardly given a role that shows her talent as an actor, but only remains memorable as the male lead’s love interest.
Also Read: Here’s What Aamir Khan Charged For Cameo In Rajinikanth’s Film Coolie!
There are a number of twists and turns happening in Ayan Mukerji’s War 2, but hardly one or two land well. In short, the film’s plot is predictable, melodramatic and the story is not given much time or effort to be explored well, or in depth. The dialogues are another weak aspect of War 2, and the actors feel forced to sandwich their dialogues in between the over-the-top action sequences.
Oh the Janaab-e-Ali dance face-off? Yes it was nice! Watching Hrithik Roshan dance on the big screen is always delightful and Jr NTR was neck-and-neck with him. But the memory of the song fades soon. War 2’s music album was not memorable either.
Verdict! Well, You Must Have By Now!
Ayan Mukerji’s War 2 tries hard, or maybe too hard to make the sequel grand and stylish but what it ends up with, is a constant fight to convince us that it has some substance or some motive. Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR are only victims to a badly written script stuffed with too many action choreographies. Kiara Advani is good for the part she gets to play. The face-offs and some of the action, that’s everything War 2 is about, for me! And yes, War 1 was better. It’s running in theatres!
First Published: August 14, 2025 7:21 PM
