Champion : A sports drama with revenge flavour
After giving a sports movie earlier this year with the Sasikumar starrer Kennedy Club, director Suseenthiran returns with his next movie Champion, yet again touching sports. With a fresh cast supported by Narain, the promos promised an interesting sports-action drama. Let's see what's in store in Champion.
A North Madras boy Jones(Vishwa) is passionate about football, and aspires to excel in the game, and joins coach Santha (Narain), who guides him. However on his quest towards his passion, he also gets to know about the murder of his father, and vows to take revenge. Stuck between football and revenge, what was Jones able to achieve is what champion is all about.
Debutant Vishwa as the lead Jones has a perfect body language while exhibiting his football skills and his training for the role is visible in the game sequences, while his expressions and dialogue delivery fall flat in emotional scenes. Narain provides good support with his subtle act as the coach who knows Jones' past, and Manoj K Bharathi in a key role is adequate and is aptly cast with both Vishwa and Manoj having similarities in looks. The villain's character is cliched and doesn't terrify, and the rest of the cast including Vinod Sagar, Mirnalini Ravi, Sowmika do not get much scope to emote or make their presence felt.
The first half of Champion moves on a very predictable note, with no high moments, and debutant Vishwa is good in the football sequences but maintains the same expression for every situation, which is quite a worrying factor. With a routine narrative, the interval arrives with a beaten to death twist.
The second half has the back story of Jones' father and who plotted his death, which is highly predictable, and when you expect the revenge sequences, there are some unnecessary scenes involving Mirnalini and Sowmika. With some usual sequences, Champion ends on a formulaic note.
Arrol Corelli gives an impressive background score that elevates few sequences, while the same could not be said of his songs. Sujith Sarang's cinematography is top notch, capturing the sports and the violence equally good. Thyagu's editing could have been better, removing the montage songs.
Director Suseenthiran had proved earlier in the sports genre with Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu and Jeeva, but his recent sports flicks like Kennedy club and Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu 2 (scripted by Suseenthiran) lacked finesse. Yet again, he has taken up the sports genre with the intention being to present the plight of a boy from North Madras with football dreams, but the screenplay is impacted by the revenge angle which is cliched, and a weak villain who doesn't trouble the protagonist but troubles the screenplay. Adding to the screenplay worries, the protagonist Vishwa finds it difficult to emote, though he's good in the football scenes, and good actors like Narain do not get good screen time to present their histrionic abilities. With a predictable plot and a weak screenplay that falls flat, Champion fails to present either the revenge or the passion of a North Madras boy in a satisfying, engaging manner, with the only respite being the crisp runtime. What works best in the movie is Narain's character and his scenes with Vishwa, and the climax rise of his character, though the character could have had more sequences. Arrol Corelli and Sujith Sarang provide ample support to make Champion a technically sound movie. Suseenthiran has delivered interesting sports flicks like Jeeva and revenge flicks like Pandiya Nadu and Naan Mahaan alla, but combining sports and revenge, he has given a very routine flick with champion, which lacks gripping, high moments or novel twists. It's high time Suseenthiran focuses on one central theme in a plot and present it interestingly, instead of forcing subplots and ending up giving weak, uninteresting conclusions to them.
Verdict: Predictable sports drama with a cliched revenge angle.
