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Christopher movie review: A wake-up call after three lovely Mammootty starrers…

… lest Puzhu, Rorschach and Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam caused anyone to assume that the Big M is now fully committed to original thinkers making out-of-the-box films.

Cast: Mammootty, Amala Paul, Sneha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Vinay Rai, Shine Tom Chacko, Remya Suresh, Siddique, Vinitha Koshy, Jinu Joseph, Deepak Parambol

Director: Unnikrishnan B.

Language: Malayalam

The past year has felt like bliss for anyone who remains invested in Mammootty’s continuing potential for brilliance and has lamented the number of formulaic, over-the-top, men-centric, regressive, anti-women films crowding his filmography in the past three decades. The back-to-back release of Ratheena’s Puzhu , Nisam Basheer’s Rorschach and Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam held out the hope that at long last, the Big M has fully committed himself to original thinkers making out-of-the-box cinema. The hope shone bright even though women artistes who look young enough to be his daughters were cast as wife and sister to the male lead in each of these films too. The hope came from their themes and under-statedness.

Like the primary character in Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam who wakes from a slumber to enter a whole new reality, this week serves as a wake-up call for optimists among Mammukka-gazers. How else does one describe the new film Christopher ?

Directed by Unnikrishnan B., written by Udaykrishna and starring Mammootty as a policeman for the millionth time in his career, Christopher is not only packed with clichés and established formulae, it is also an all-out ode to extra-judicial executions and police vigilantism. A celebration of encounter killings by police personnel is not new to commercial Indian cinema, but this film goes several steps ahead of most. Here, the titular hero is not merely a hot head or an honest individual frustrated with a corrupt, inefficient system that does not deliver justice. He is the toast of the media, the citizenry and the filmmaker. The entire Kerala police force – apart from a few individuals – seems to collaborate with him to finish off criminals. And ultimately (not that this film deserves a spoiler alert, but here you go: spoiler alert for the rest of the paragraph) we realise that he has the support of even the top echelons of the government. So confident is he of this backing that at one point he goes so far as to shoot a criminal in an open space in the presence of the police while a large media contingent watches. (Spoiler alert ends)

Christopher is a saviour of women. Characters in the film who condemn his conduct are either criminals, or corrupt politicians, police and bureaucrats, or later change their minds about him. The only person who fits none of the above slots is a lone figure on a TV news channel debate, but he barely gets a few seconds of screen time.

This is not to say that the public in India has never salaamed town square justice. The most widely reported of such recent episodes came after the rape and murder of a veterinarian in Hyderabad in 2019. When the accused were shot dead shortly thereafter by the police who claimed that they did so in self-defence, the din of congratulations on the social media was deafening. Voices of reason were shushed for pointing out that a thorough investigation had not yet been conducted, the dead men’s guilt had not been proven and privileged folk on SM were celebrating only because the accused came from socio-economic backgrounds that ensured they would not be counted as “one of us”. Christopher is not a true-to-life chronicle of this reality, it is a member of the mob. And in its bid for populist appeal, it gets its leading man to do what even famed ‘encounter specialists’ in the real world do not.

Mammukka’s Christopher does not just zero in on “the other” who have no one but activists to speak for them: the faceless poor, nameless tribals, members of various marginalised groups. He does not necessarily bother to hide his crimes. Unlike the actual public, the public in this film display no hypocrisy – they cheer Christopher equally whether the person who he exterminates is poor, middle class or rich, well-known or obscure.

Through all this of course, as is the case with all police dramas starring Mammootty, his swag is never disrupted. Loud signature tune accompanying his entry on screen each time – check. Slow motion exit from vehicles – check. Impeccable wardrobe – check. Since small mercies are all that can be expected from such cinema, I guess I am grateful that he is not incessantly shown walking into the camera in slow motion in Christopher , nor does the camera constantly zoom in on his shoes, sunglasses and pants as it has in numerous films before this one.

It goes without saying that the actor playing the central character’s ex-wife in this film (Sneha) looks as if she could well be Mammootty’s child. Women dot the narrative possibly to avoid accusations that there are no women of worth in the storyline. A fine talent like Aishwarya Lekshmi is wasted in a marginal part. Amala Paul, however, has as significant a role as a human being who is not Mammootty can possibly have in a Mammootty cop saga. Of course her existence in the script too revolves around Him. Still, another small mercy, I guess: Christopher does not erase women completely unlike others of its ilk. And while we are listing those, here’s yet another: Christopher is not screamingly loud and bombastic like the director’s last film, Aaraattu starring Mohanlal, nor crass like the one before that, Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel starring Dileep. Imagine how bad a situation must be if these are the best things that can be said about a film.

One of the nice developments of the past year has been that Mammootty is camouflaging his age a little less than he earlier was. In this film he even has a touch of white in his hair and moustache. There is of course a double standard in increasingly acknowledging your advancing years yet denying space to your female contemporaries to star as your lover and sibling in films. Well, at least this baby step is a relief. Regrettably it comes in a film revisiting a tired, tried and tested template. Christopher is dull. Even Mammootty seems to think so – that could be one logical explanation for why his expression barely changes throughout the film.

But seriously… while Mammootty’s character has a painful past, the effort to portray the man’s pain and emotional weariness comes across more as the actor’s own fatigue and boredom. I get it, Mammukka. I almost dozed off while watching Christopher .

Rating: 0.5 (out of 5 stars)

This review was first published in February 2023 when Christopher was released in theatres. The film is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Anna M.M. Vetticad is an award-winning journalist and author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. She specialises in the intersection of cinema with feminist and other socio-political concerns. Twitter: @annavetticad, Instagram: @annammvetticad, Facebook: AnnaMMVetticadOfficial

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Home » Review » Christopher review: Mammootty’s stylish vigilante actioner is uneven, but is still among B Unnikrishnan’s best works »

Christopher review: Mammootty’s stylish vigilante actioner is uneven, but is still among B Unnikrishnan’s best works

Mammootty-starrer Christopher's script is pacy for most parts and has trademark Udaykrishna moments that play to the gallery. But in the second half, the team seems to have run out of ideas, with the storytelling having few high points

Sanjith Sidhardhan

Last Updated: 07.27 PM, Feb 09, 2023

Story: Known for taking law into his own hands, especially to deliver speedy justice for crimes against women, police officer Christopher Antony faces suspension and enquiry for his latest action against a group of perpetrators. The investigation traces Christopher's past and how he became the man he is. But parallel to that, the lives of Christopher and those near to him get entangled with that of an influential drug lord, Sitaram Trimurthi, who seems to have the ‘vigilante cop’s number.

Review: Mammootty’s Christopher begins with a quick thank you note to Hollywood directors Antoine Fuqua and Richard Wenk, and the mind would immediately trace to their successful collaboration in The Equalizer franchise, where a vigilante takes the law into his own hands to deliver justice. Director B Unnikrishnan and Udaykrishna, however, does better with the concept by turning their protagonist into a cop, who wields the power but is shackled by the corrupt system.

Till it stays true to its tagline of a ‘Biography of a Vigilante Cop’, Christopher is actually a gripping watch – with some stylish frames, thumping music and a brilliant performance from Mammootty as the intense, brooding cop. The format of storytelling in the first half also keeps the premise interesting, with the makers shuttling between Christopher’s past and the ongoing investigation into his brand of justice. In fact, it’s easily among B Unnikrishnan’s best films and definitely paces ahead of Udaykrishna’s so-called ‘mass’ entertainers. Christopher’s dialogues are more B Unnikrishnan-esque than Udaykrishna, with some scenes being verbose. This is also why the two punchlines of the protagonist with the film’s antagonist, feel like it belongs to a Madhuraraja rather than a slick thriller.

Also read: Spadikam 4K: Mohanlal’s Aadu Thoma is a more iconic character than Kottayam Kunjachan, says Bhadran | Exclusive

The script is pacy for most parts, going through Christopher’s history in a breeze and having moments that play to the gallery too. But in the second half, the team does seem to have run out of ideas. As the focus shifts to just one case that has personal ramifications to Christopher, the narrative slackens. Even when those close to Christopher face danger, the emotions don’t truly sink in as their bond with the protagonist isn’t explored enough. Christopher trying to stay within the law due to a veiled promise in these sections and then immediately breaking it after a conversation with another police officer too didn’t seem too convincing. While vigilante justice is an ever-wishful concept, the movie doesn’t do too many favours to the police and its machinery, even in the end where it hints that Christopher’s rebelliousness sparks a change in the system.

Also read: Mammootty on concept of pan-Indian movies: ‘I want Malayalam cinema to always retain its identity’

Mammootty stands out as Christopher, acing the staple ‘heroic’ scenes without the whole shebang of a ‘mass’ entertainer. Credit to both the director and scriptwriter for conceiving the film this way. Mammootty’s sequences where his character expresses vulnerability were also supposed to be those that hooked the audience into the revenge plot, but that didn’t seem to work.

Amala Paul as IPS officer Sulekha, Aishwarya Lekshmi as activist-lawyer Amina, Sneha as home secretary Beena and Siddique as the chief minister – all have pivotal roles but don’t have enough to make an impact on screen. Vinay Rai, who makes his Malayalam debut, almost plays a repeat of his role from Etharkkum Thunindhavan. His face-to-face scenes with Christopher are a highlight in the film, which also has Shine Tom Chacko making the most of his role as a corrupt DySP. You, however, feel that the antagonist could have been shaped better, even if it’s just one, slightly elongated, episode from Christopher’s biography.

Justin Varghese’s music also elevates the viewing experience, especially in sequences shining the spotlight on Christopher. Cinematographer Faiz Siddiq’s visuals also make it look stylish and edgy. Manoj’s editing in the first half is top notch, but he leaves too much room in the second half.

Also read: Mammootty on turning cop again in Christopher: ‘Every police officer I played had a unique perspective’

Verdict: Mammootty’s Christopher starts off as an edgy, stylish film with great visuals and music, but in the second half, it loses its momentum. That said, the film might just have enough going for it to continue Mammootty’s streak at the box office.

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'Christopher' movie review: Vigilante thriller benefits from much-welcome restraint

It’s a relief when a B Unnikrishnan film, that too one scripted by Udayakrishna, turns out to be... not bad! Considering the last film of the former, and the last two films of the latter, I went into Christopher with zero expectations, but I’m glad to report that the film sees both names return to form. Perhaps not having any expectations contributed to my appreciation of it, warts and all.

At its core, Christopher embodies the spirit of many vintage vigilante films, such as Death Wish, some of the notable (for the right and wrong reasons) titles from Malayalam that starred Mammootty in the 80s, or Shaji Kailas’ early work. This means the slightly unsubtle aspects that accompany many a superstar-driven thriller can be found in Christopher too. But one has to see this film for what it is—a commercial entertainer—but, unlike with Aaraattu, the makers don’t use tags like ‘unrealistic entertainment’ as an excuse here to mask its flaws or go overboard with the material. Its sensibilities were apparent from the promos.

Mammootty plays Christopher, the head of a department that handles crimes against women. A deeply traumatising personal tragedy shaped his origin story. So it’s fitting the film opens with him sitting next to a hospital bed, distraught at the state of a survivor of sexual violence, and later exacting retribution for her and her murdered female friend.

And since this is not the only instance of rape in the film, the trigger warning goes without saying. The multiple depictions, one of which recalls the haunting Nirbhaya incident, are upsetting; thankfully, they are brief, not needlessly prolonged or shot with an exploitative gaze—issues in the Malayalam films of the 80s and 90s. In terms of its violent content, Christopher, which is fittingly rated U/A, is closer in tone to Gautham Menon’s Vettaiyadu Vilayadu. I saw a woman with a kid sitting next to me, and I’m not sure bringing the child to a film with the constant threat of sexual violence in the air was a good idea.

As for the adult viewers, I have to add that whatever we see in the film is relatively tame compared to the extreme content on most violent shows and movies, even the popular ones, that air on major OTT platforms today. It occasionally feels like Christopher is relentless in its focus on only one kind of crime—and it makes sense given its protagonist’s past—but it also seeks justice for other forms of violence against women.

That said, having a character like Christopher helps because he becomes a vessel through whom we can vicariously vent our anger at society’s ills. The legal maxim “Justice delayed is justice denied” is the foundation upon which the film is built. The vigilante cop gets celebrated on social media and television channels. The movie makes it clear whose side it is on and whether it’s right or not depends from person to person. You could start debates on this, but sometimes films can be all about entertainment and entertainment only—and, of course, catharsis!

However, I wish the paybacks carried more punch instead of a quick bullet in the back, considering the brutality the victims suffer. But I guess it wouldn’t be possible to realise everything on screen when catering to a wide-scale audience. Mammootty, who has had considerable experience playing the saviour in numerous films, is apt for the part of a seasoned, brooding police official whose path would’ve been on the other side of the law had it not been for the timely benevolence and mentorship of a veteran cop (Sarath Kumar in a flashback cameo). The makers bring a lot of admirable restraint to this character. I couldn’t help but remember Mammootty’s iconic GK from New Delhi (1987). Christopher is rarely prone to outbursts, but at the same time, he is not above saying cheesy lines like, “I’m the Samhara Murthy (lord of destruction)” while talking to a villain who also has a ‘Murthy’ in his name.

Out of the principal female characters, Amala Paul stands out as a cop with her own traumatic past. She imbues her character with the right amount of style and dignity. Aishwarya Lekshmi doesn’t get to do much but becomes a character pivotal to Christopher’s journey later. Sneha, as an IAS officer, delivers the weakest performance.

Shine Tom Chacko plays a corrupt cop whose personality mirrors the jittery, restless actor during his recent interviews. But he gets a couple of funny lines that moderately amused the audience.One of my minor gripes about the film is that it falters a bit when it tries to bring in mass elements, which proves ineffective. It is at its best during the quieter, more contemplative moments. The slightly repetitive slow motion, speed-cranking, and background score intrusion to make the character look cool wears you down after a point.

I liked some neat touches in the character detailing, though, such as the comforting tap on the arm—which Christopher inherited from Sarath Kumar’s character—when interacting with a survivor. I also appreciated the anamorphic canvas (as seen in Lucifer), which helps lend a sense of scale owing to this format’s ability to accommodate more details which wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

Christopher once again proves that the thriller genre is B Unnikrishnan’s strong forte —his most restrained and engaging film since Villain, even if not all of it satisfies. With Aaraattu, I was exhausted after the first 90 mins. That’s not the case with Christopher, which retained my undivided attention for its entirety.

Film: Christopher Director: B Unnikrishnan Cast: Mammootty, Amala Paul, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sneha, Shine Tom Chacko

Rating: 3/5 stars

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'Christopher' movie review: Unnikrishnan-Udayakrishna deliver a pretty engaging thriller

Mammootty's phenomenal return in 2022 were marked by some hit films, including 'Bheeshma Parvam' and 'Rorschach'. His willingness to tap and reinvent on his style, has made him even more appealing to his fans today. In 'Christopher' too, which is Mammootty's second outing with director B Unnikrishnan, this style has not been compromised. However, 'Christopher' is not that type of stylish film that depends solely on the heroics of the actor. The subject itself is quite serious and reflects on today's times as it revolves around a vigilante cop who investigates a series of crimes involving women.

He has a tragic backstory that makes him very impatient with criminals, especially those who commit heinous crimes on women. Though many hail him as a hero, an inquiry by police officer Sulekha (Amala Paul) is launched to rein in on his vigilante ways. The movie moves forward in this direction. Though he can be ruthless, Christopher does not wield his gun at every occasion. He is calculative, yet meticulous and in control of the situation, just like a daring cop would be. Mammootty infuses life into this character, though there is nothing really challenging for him to do, except in a few action scenes. The rest, including the emotions that he displays, comes easily to him.

Some of the dialogues, like 'Thokkinte Munbil Enthu Trimurthi, Kaanji Valichal Unda Kayarum' (What significance does Trimurthi have in front of a gun), is mass and reminds you of Neyyatinkara Gopan's mass dialogue 'Nenu Chaala Dangerous' in 'Aaraattu', which was also written by Udayakrishna.

B Unnikrishnan refutes reports of Mammootty playing a 30-year-old using AI

Mammootty's film 'Christopher' gets a release date. Know when to watch

The first half of the movie, like any decent investigation thriller, is really engaging. More than the suspense, the writer Udayakrishna has focused on building a good narrative by connecting all the dots. To an extent, this makes the film quite predictable, especially since by then, we are aware of the type of criminals under Christopher's radar.

Since the situations and characters have been fleshed out quite well, we won't complain. The slow motion scenes and the repetitive pattern of the crimes, which were included in the second half, results in a lag. Too many characters and scenes did impact the smooth flow of the film at times, though the makers balanced it with some impressive twists.

Unnikrishnan and Udayakrishna's previous work 'Aarattu', which featured Mohanlal in the lead, had not really gone down well with the audience, but this time, they have managed to pull off a pretty decent thriller, that is quite relatable to the audience. A mother's emotion when her daughter is raped and killed and a father's helplessness when their daughter becomes a victim of an acid attack, touches you profoundly.

The performances by all the main characters, including Amala Paul, Sneha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Vinay Rai, Remya Suresh, Nitin Thomas are also spot on. This is Tamil actor Vinay Rai's debut in Mollywood and he manages to play an effective villain in the movie.

Christopher's entry and the BGM used to elevate the scene bears a slight resemblance to Sethurama Iyer's iconic entry in the CBI series. The music by Justin Varghese complements the movie in many places, though at times, the background score seemed complicated for the scene.

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Christopher Movie Review: Mammootty’s cop vigilante film is old wine in a broken bottle

Director b unnikrishnan and writer udaykrishna have put together christopher, which was touted as a crime thriller. unfortunately, the story and screenplay of this film are poorly written, as is the character of the hero, says our review..

Listen to Story

Mammootty plays a vigilante cop in this film.
The film becomes very predictable after the first 30 minutes.
This is B Unnikrishnan and Udaykrishna's third film together as a team.

Directed by B Unnikrishnan and written by Udaykrishna, Christopher, seems to be inspired from Kamal Haasan’s recent Vikram and Hollywood’s The Equalizer franchise, where a cop becomes a vigilante and delivers justice by taking the law into his own hands. Mammootty, starring as Christopher Anthony in this film, is a cop vigilante too, with a specific purpose of delivering justice to women in society. We also meet Sitaram Trimurthi (Vinay Rai), who ends up becoming Christopher’s arch nemesis and, in fact, this is how the film starts.

Senior IPS official Christopher is suspended due to several encounter killings and fellow police officer ACP Sulekha (Amala Paul) is asked to conduct an investigation by the Kerala Chief Minister (Siddique) and Home Secretary Beena Mariam (Sneha). As Sulekha starts to investigate Christopher, we discover the biography of this vigilante cop, which is also the tagline of the film. Though society is with Christopher and believes he has delivered justice to those women who were brutally raped and murdered, is that right? Is Christopher justified in these encounter killings or is he a murderer? What is the motivation behind these encounter killings?

B Unnikrishnan and Udaykrishna seem to lack creativity as far as this story is concerned and while it is touted as an action thriller, it is not. The story of this film is not new to Indian cinema or even Malayalam cinema. The story of vigilante cop Christopher is similar to any other - the protagonist goes through severe emotional trauma as a child due to a horrendous event and this manifests in a different form as he grows older. The vigilante hero takes the law into his own hands, but he is a do-gooder rather than a destructive force in society. And society in turn celebrates whatever the vigilante hero does and doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong, because they see the police as being inefficient and corrupt.

The story just unfolds itself pretty much in the first half an hour and becomes very predictable. There is no hook to engage the audience nor any twist and turn that leaves us surprised. The villain also doesn’t offer anything to the viewer and is quite cliched.

READ I Bheeshma Parvam to Paappan, a look at the top 10 Malayalam films in 2022 at Kerala box office

When Malayalam star Mammootty is part of a film, one expects fireworks in terms of the screenplay, the performances and story. This role was a cakewalk for Mammootty because he had a stoic expression throughout the film – except in one scene where he shed a few tears. He didn’t have to really put on his acting hat for this role, since there was hardly anything for him to do except be stylish, swagger around and shoot some guys. It is disappointing that a performer of his caliber and talent has been wasted in such a flat role.

As for the other actors, there are so many well-known ones in this film, including Vinay Rai, Amala Paul, Sneha, Siddique, Asihwarya Lekshmi, Sarath Kumar, Shine Tom Chacko and Dileep Pothan. Many of them have pretty insignificant roles except for Amala Paul and Sneha, to an extent. Vinay Rai made his debut in Malayalam with his film and one hopes he doesn’t end up getting stereotyped as the baddie in future Malayalam films, as he has in Tamil cinema.

The BGM by Justin Varghese gets too jarring at times and it seems to revolve around elevating Mammootty's star image every time he comes on screen. Cinematographer Faiz Siddiq’s visuals are OK, as is the editing. Had the script been better and the movie's run time shorter, Christopher would have been far more entertaining.

Rating: 2.5 stars on 5 Published By: Latha Srinivasan Published On: Feb 9, 2023 --- ENDS --- ALSOP READ | Mammootty’s Christopher cleared with UA certificate, to hit screens on Feb 9

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Christopher Reviews

… while Mammootty’s character has a painful past, the effort to portray the man’s pain and emotional weariness comes across more as the actor’s own fatigue and boredom. I get it, Mammukka. I almost dozed off while watching Christopher.

Full Review | Original Score: 0.5/5 | Feb 12, 2023

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Home » Reviews » Malayalam Movie Reviews

Christopher Movie Review: Even If We Call This One Mammootty Fan Service, It Is Still Multiple Crime Patrol Episodes Crunched In One Film

Christopher is one of the weakest mammootty films in the recent times.

Star Cast: Mammootty, Vinay Rai, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Amala Paul, Sneha, Shine Tom Chacko, and ensemble.

Director: B. Unnikrishnan

What’s Good: the job done by the casting director to bring together a very versatile and competent cast.

What’s Bad: everything that happened after the casting director was done with their job. Also, how unconvinced Mammootty is about the action

Loo Break: At no point in this movie demands anybody’s full attention, so there must be no stress.

Watch or Not?: It is now on Amazon Prime Video, and no one is forcing you. Make your choice wisely.

Language: Malayalam (with subtitles).

Available on: Amazon Prime Video

Runtime: 151 Minutes

A righteous cop with no other layer to him shoots anyone and everyone if he thinks the said person has committed a crime. An inquiry is set against him, and no points in guessing the world bows down to him in the end. It is that simple!

Christopher Movie Review: Script Analysis

Police officers going out of their way to serve justice to the voiceless is a genre Hindi cinema has juiced out in the commercial space. Before woke conversations were cool, we all gave a blind eye to the idea that all of this does promote police brutality. If taking the law into their hands is a cinematic tool to add drama, there must also be a conclusion where the person faces consequences of his action even if he was morally right but legally not. Right when we now resist Rohit Shetty’s cop universe, reminding him of the same, stands a movie that lacks both, consequences and motivation altogether.

Christopher decides to be a film about crime against women, the misuse of power, the corrupt system that doesn’t serve justice every time, and a police officer who is trying to find a solution for all those problems. But what it ends up being is a superstar service of the massive name that it is being led by. Everything becomes about how amazing and robust the man encountering criminal without giving them the right to trial is. Or how the entire system is wrong but only he is the one who can solve the most acute of the cases.

Written by Udaykrishnan, Christopher never looks like a film but a summary of multiple Crime Patrol episodes crunched into one. There is no hook to this script that makes a way bigger promises than it could complete in the beginning. The story finds one think to stay on and develop by the end, and that too in a very rushed manner. Nothing really stays with you when the screen goes dark. Not the story, not the message, forget the drama altogether.

Christopher Movie Review: Star Performance

It should be called a crime that someone did such a great casting for a script so bad. Imagine having the ablest actors on board only to give them a film that lacks every possible aspect to make it a crackling drama with a message.

Can’t believe Mammootty was convinced to do this after the amazing Rorschach and Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam. The actor is just standing where he is told to and mouthing the lines given to him like he is highly unconvinced. There can be no other explanation. The action looks so underwhelming that one can even see the punches aren’t even landing on the faces of the ones who are been beaten.

If the main man has such a layer less part to play, are we expecting any good for the characters around him? Brilliant actors used for no good.

Christopher Movie Review: Direction, Music

This could be the weakest B. Unnikrishnan film with the lack of everything possible. The filmmaker doesn’t even try to add transitions to this movie that is kind of structured in an episodic manner. There is a flashback inside a flashback and no one is aware of what timeline the moment on screen is happening. There is nothing that tells you what year or phase this is.

Faiz Siddik’s camera is busy worshiping Mammootty from all possible angles. When he shifts to something else, he does try to capture some pretty good frames.

Christopher Movie Review: The Last Word

How do filmmakers bring in worthy talents without giving them equally excellent opportunities? Christopher is one of the weakest Mammootty films in the recent times.

Christopher Trailer

Christopher releases on 09 February, 2023.

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Christopher Movie Review: Malayalam Superstar Mammootty’s Cop Thriller Movie Is Boring?

Overall, christopher stands out as a two-and-a-half-hour decent action thriller and a film that speaks out against violence against women..

Christopher is a film in which Mammootty, who is considered one of the Malayalam superstars, plays the hero in the role of a policeman. Not only Mammootty, the film also stars Amala Paul, Sneha, Vinay, Sarath Kumar and a lot more known actors. Malayalam fans and Tamil fans who love Malayalam films have been waiting for this film for a long time.

Christopher (Mammooty) is an honest police officer working in Ernakulam, Kerala. He is popularly known as an 'Encounter Specialist'. But among the police officers, he gets the name of 'angry cop who takes the law into his own hands'. Christopher shoots 5 men for raping a woman. Due to this, the case is being investigated against him. Amala Paul comes as the investigating officer.

Sitaram Thirumurthy (Vinay), a big business man, is killing his wife for working against him. Mammootty's adopted daughter Amina (Aishwarya Lekshmi) is involved in this case, and Thirumurthy kills her as well. Did Christopher managed to take revenge against Thirumurthy? Was Ameena's death justified? Climax is the answer to such questions.

Although the first half of the film moves at a fast pace, in the second half you can hear the yawning sounds of the moviegoers. With a predictable screenplay and three quarters of the story with no twists, the fans start chanting "when will the climax come?".

Mammootty, who is known for his good acting, didn't even try to act in it. Mammootty appears in all the scenes as if he had sprinkled water on the face of a person who woke up from sleep. Despite the loss of his adopted daughter, he did not show any emotion on his face. Mammootty is cheating the fans by trying to move his arms and legs in the fight scenes.

Aishwarya Lekshmi as Ameena - Aishwarya, who is a different woman in all the films, comes as a lawyer who fights injustices in this film. Aishwarya makes us feel emotional in the scene where she is on the verge of dying.

Sarathkumar does an important cameo role. He comes as a police officer named Vetri Vel. Actress Vasanthi, who appeared in the role of 'Agent Teena' in the film Agent Vikram, surprised the fans by appearing in the character of Vadivukarasi in Christopher. She could have been given a little more work in the film.

Vinay as Villain - Vinay, who made his debut as a villain in Doctor, tries to show the same villainy in Christopher. He shows his cruel face in the scenes where he silently approaches his wife and threatens her.

Actresses who have done the job perfectly - Mammootty's ex-wife and Home Minister Sneha looks good despite her age. Amala Paul comes across as an honest police officer and a sexually victimized woman.

Overall, Christopher stands out as a two-and-a-half-hour decent action thriller and a film that speaks out against violence against women. But just like a well-made cake is spoiled by pouring poor cream at the last moment, Christopher movie is spoiled by a poor screenplay. With a little more twists and suspense sprinkled in, Christopher would have been talked about even more.

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Christopher (2023)

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Biography of an Vigilante Cop

A maverick, vigilante cop who is forced to misbehave the limits of law when the system fails. It weaves across past and present whilesolving the motives and moral bruises that shape his actions.

B. Unnikrishnan

Uday Krishna

Top Billed Cast

Christopher

Beena Mariam Chacko

Aishwarya Lekshmi

Adv. Amina Ismail

Dileesh Pothan

Abhilash Johnson IPS

Shine Tom Chacko

George Kottrakkan

Sitaram Trimurthi

Aswini Sitaram Trimurthi

Jinu Joseph

Pathalam Suresh/ Br. Suresh

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Original Title ക്രിസ്റ്റഫർ

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Original Language Malayalam

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What is the release date of 'Christopher'? Release date of Mammootty and Amala Paul starrer 'Christopher' is 2023-02-09.
Who are the actors in 'Christopher'? 'Christopher' star cast includes Mammootty, Amala Paul, Aishwarya Lekshmi and Vinay Rai.
Who is the director of 'Christopher'? 'Christopher' is directed by B. Unnikrishnan.
What is Genre of 'Christopher'? 'Christopher' belongs to 'Action,Drama,Thriller' genre.
In Which Languages is 'Christopher' releasing? 'Christopher' is releasing in Malayalam.

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'Christopher' review: Mammootty stands out in a stylish thriller that lacks depth

Faiz Siddik has done a great job with the cinematography

As expected from the trailer and tagline, Malayalam film Christopher is the biography of a vigilante cop. Like most other formulaic films about justice, Christopher features a protagonist who takes matters into his own hands after being duped by the system.

The B.Unnikrishnan-directorial starts by introducing the antagonist, Sitaram Trimurthi Aiyer, played by Vinay Rai. The plot then jumps back a few months to introduce Christopher (Mammootty), handling a case. Following a series of events, Christopher is suspended and an investigation is launched against him. The investigation is overseen by Amala Paul’s Sulekha. What follows are incidents that leave the viewer perplexed and disturbed.

The first half of the movie delves into Christopher's past, depicting who he is and how he works on the cases that come to him. Right before the intermission, Christopher is seen delivering a message to the audience: "Justice delayed is justice denied," dropping a hint about what's to come in the second half.

Characters essayed by Aishwarya Lekshmi and Shine Tom Chacko come in only in the second half. The movie goes back and forth between Christopher's past and present, weaving in the many encounters he has had in life. Although these add depth to the character, it confuses the viewer who struggles to keep track of the plot. Amala Paul, Sneha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Dileesh Pothan, Siddique, Shine Tom Chacko and Aditi Ravi have done justice to their parts. But too many characters being introduced through the runtime add to the confusion. Mammootty's performance as a vigilante cop stands out in the film. However, even when his character goes through some serious life-altering events, the scenes fail to elicit the expected emotions from the audience.

Graphic scenes of sexual assault can be really disturbing.

Faiz Siddik has done a great job with the cinematography. Slow-motion shots, particularly in the action scenes, will appeal to Mammootty fans. Though the film's beautiful background score, especially in scenes that focus on Christopher, could generate fans of its own, the continuous use of the music at regular intervals is irritating.

The movie might work fine as an entertainer for fans, but the storyline could have been developed better.

Movie: Christopher

Language: Malayalam

Director: B. Unnikrishnan

Cast: Mammootty, Sneha, Aiswarya Lekshmi, Amala Paul, Siddique, Dileesh Pothan, Shine Tom Chacko

Rating: 3/5

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‘Oppenheimer’ Review: Christopher Nolan Makes a Riveting Historical Psychodrama, but It Doesn’t Build to a Big Bang

Cillian Murphy gives a phenomenal performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw creation of the atomic bomb, in a film that's ruthlessly authentic and, for much of its three hours, gripping.

By Owen Gleiberman

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In the early scenes of “ Oppenheimer ,” J. Robert Oppenheimer ( Cillian Murphy ), an American physics student attending graduate school in England and Germany in the 1920s, with bright blue marble eyes and a curly wedge of hair that stands up like Charlie Chaplin’s, keeps having visions of particles and waves. We see the images that are disrupting his mind, the particles pulsating, the waves aglow in vibratory bands of light. Oppenheimer can see the brave new world of quantum physics, and the visual razzmatazz is exactly the sort of thing you’d expect from a biopic written and directed by Christopher Nolan : a molecular light show as a reflection of the hero’s inner spirit.

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The film opens with a flash forward to the 1954 hearing of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission that ultimately resulted in Oppenheimer, accused (among other things) of having hidden Communist ties, being stripped of his security clearance. This was the government’s way of silencing him, since in the postwar world he’d become something of a dove on the issue of nuclear weapons, a view that didn’t mesh with America’s Cold War stance of aggression. The hearing was the darkest chapter of Oppenheimer’s life, and using it as a framing device feels, at first, like a very standard thing to do.

Except that the film keeps returning to the hearing, weaving it deep into the fabric of its three-hour running time. Lewis Strauss, played with a captivating bureaucratic terseness by Robert Downey Jr. , is the A.E.C. chairman who became Oppenheimer’s ideological and personal enemy (after Oppenheimer humiliated him during a congressional testimonial), and he’s the secret force behind the hearing, which takes place in a back room hidden away from the press. As Oppenheimer defends himself in front of a committee of hanging judges, the movie uses his anecdotes to flash back in time, and Nolan creates a hypnotic multi-tiered storytelling structure, using it to tease out the hidden continuities that shaped Oppenheimer’s life and his creation of the bomb.

We see how the Cold War really started before World War II was over — it was always there, shaping the rapt paranoia of atom-bomb politics. We see that Oppenheimer the ruthless nuclear zealot and Oppenheimer the mystic idealist were one and the same. And we see that the race to complete the Manhattan Project, rooted in the makeshift creation of a small desert city that Oppenheimer presides over in Los Alamos, New Mexico, meant that the momentum of the nuclear age was already taking on a life of its own.

In the ’30s, Oppenheimer, already a legend in his own mind, brings quantum mechanics to the U.S., even as his field of passion encompasses Picasso, Freud, and Marx, not to mention the absorbing of half a dozen languages (from Dutch to Sanskrit), all to soak up the revolutionary energy field that’s sweeping the world, influencing everything from physics to workers’ liberation. Oppenheimer isn’t a Communist, but he’s a devoted leftist with many Communists in his life, from his brother and sister-and-law to his doleful bohemian mistress, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh). What really makes his eyes go bright is when the atom gets split by two German scientists, in 1938. He at first insists it’s not possible, but then his colleagues at Berkeley, led by Ernest Lawrence (Josh Hartnett), demonstrate that it is, and he realizes in an instant where all this points: to the possibility of a bomb.

“Oppenheimer” has a mesmerizing first half, encompassing everything from Oppenheimer’s mysterious Princeton encounter with Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) to his far from utopian marriage to the alcoholic Kitty (played with scalding force by Emily Blunt ). Just about everything we see is stunning in its accuracy. “Oppenheimer” isn’t a movie that traffics in composite characters or audience-friendly arcs; Nolan channels the grain of reality, the fervor and detail of what really happened. And the buildup to the creation of the first atomic bomb just about ticks with cosmic suspense. There are Soviet spies at Los Alamos, as well as a sinister comic grace note: the possibility (“a little more than zero”) that the chain reaction begun by the nuclear explosion could spread to the earth’s atmosphere and never stop, an apocalypse that theoretical physics can’t totally rule out.

But the big bang itself, when it finally arrives, as the bomb is tested in the wee hours of that fateful day code-named Trinity, is, I have to say, a letdown. Nolan shows it impressionistically — the sound cutting out, images of what look like radioactive hellfire. But the terrifying awesomeness, the nightmare bigness of it all, does not come across. Nor does it evoke the descriptions of witnesses who say that the blast was streaked with purple and gray and was many times brighter than the noonday sun.

And once Oppenheimer shoots past that nuclear climax, a certain humming intensity leaks out of the movie. We’re still at the damn A.E.C. hearing (after two hours), and the film turns into a woeful meditation on what the bomb meant, whether it should have been dropped, our rivalry with the Soviets, and how Oppenheimer figured into all of that, including his relegation to the status of defrocked Cold War scapegoat. What happened to Oppenheimer, at the height of the McCarthy era, was nothing less than egregious (though it’s relevant that he was never officially convicted of disloyalty). At the same time, there are scenes in which characters take him to task for his vanity, for making the bomb all about him . In one of them, he’s dressed down by no less than President Harry Truman (an unbilled Gary Oldman). Is Truman right?

The most radically authentic line in the movie may be the one where Oppenheimer, just after the Nazis have been defeated, explains to a room full of young Los Alamos scientists why he feels it’s still justifiable to use the bomb on Japan. We all know the dogmatic lesson we learned in high school: that dropping those bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war and saved the lives of countless U.S. soldiers. From the age of 15, I’ve never bought the rationale of that argument. But I buy what Oppenheimer says here: that by using a nuclear weapon, we would create a horrific demonstration of why it could never, ever be used again. (It’s not that that’s a justification . It’s that it’s an explanation of why it happened.)

Reviewed at AMC Lincoln Square, July 17, 2023. MPA Rating: R. Running time: 180 MIN.

Production: A Universal Pictures release of a Syncopy production, in association with Atlas Entertainment. Producers: Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, Christopher Nolan. Executive producers: J. David Wargo, James Woods, Thomas Hayslip.
Crew: Director, screenplay: Christopher Nolan. Camera: Hoyt van Hoytema. Editor: Jennifer Lame. Music: Ludwig Göransson.
With: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh.

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The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

The British military recruits a small group of highly skilled soldiers to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II. The British military recruits a small group of highly skilled soldiers to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II. The British military recruits a small group of highly skilled soldiers to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II.

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