Race 3 Movie Review: Salman Khan Should Have Skipped This Slow And Dull Race!

The Race franchise was pretty likeable and successful with the suave Saif Ali Khan in the lead. With the last few films of Saif not doing well at the box office, supertsar Salman Khan was brought in as a replacement for Race 3. With him, he brought in his favourite leading ladies and some other actors. But has Salman been able to maintain the Race style? Let's take a look.

With the director also being new this time - a relatively inexperienced Remo D'Souza - Race 3 seems to be a different movie altogether. High on action and flashy visuals, it still seems like a run-of-the-mill actioner with an ensemble cast. Salman Khan was somehow expected to bring in all his mannerisms and charisma from some of his earlier films. Really now, whether it is Rajinikanth in Kaala or Salman Khan in his action thrillers, there is a pattern to it that fans like - the stars are the same in all the movies. But how long will such stardom last? So thankfully, Salman has refrained from being too much like himself, sticking to the Race franchise theme of a complicated plot. But it is not altogether different. So does Salman's presence really add to the story? Was Salman so desperate to go commercial again after his dud Tubelight to offer fans what they like to see him as?

With only about 40 people in the theatre in a major Navi Mumbai multiplex on a first day first show - so rare for a Salman Khan film - it seems this time Bhai's fans also want to wait for the word of mouth to emerge to decide whether to spend their sutta money on him or not.

Fans will be disappointed. Salman is touting Race 3 as a family entertainer, as all his films are. But families are also likely to be bored watching this one. The story of Race 3 is in keeping with the twists and turns of the earlier two films, so we know that what seems correct now can be entirely different as the movie unfolds.

Race 3 is grander on scale than the earlier two films. More action, foreign locations and beautiful long shots. The songs are hummable but nothing extraordinary, except the Meet Bros song called Heeriye, sung by Deep Money and Neha Bhasin.

Anil Kapoor, who played the likeable character of a corrupt and sarcastic cop in the earlier Race films, is in a serious role this time - that of the main villain. As Shamsher Singh, he is sinister. He has twins, Sanjana (Daisy Shah) and Suraj (Saqib Saleem) who are against their step-brother / cousin Sikander (Salman Khan) who gets all the love of the daddy. But the three are united against any enemy of the family. Or so it seems. The fourth person in their gang is an employee, Yash (Bobby Deol). 

There is no plot twist until the mother's will is announced. And furthermore, when a deal is struck for a heist to capture the hard disk containing objectionable footage of various politicians. The entire movie revolves around this, and for a bit the romantic triangle of Sikander, Yash and Jessica (Jacqueline Fernandez).

Salman Khan's gig as a skydiving Jetman of a being first makes you feel that Race 3 is a superhero film, complete with Salman in a cape and all! Thank God it ain't so. Salman Khan has not gone over the top in Race 3 with his one-liners or his acting. He is simply there, not bothered and not bothering anyone.

After Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol seems to be the most seasoned in the acting department and is a natural.

Daisy Shah and Saqib especially have done justice to their small parts, and so has Jacqueline Fernandez. The girls get to showcase their action skills in a solid fight between the two in a nightclub. Not bad!

Freddy Daruwala as Rana is fierce but his track does not add anything to the plot and seems irrelevant.

The climax fight between two shirtless, middle-aged men in Salman Khan and Bobby Deol does not make for a convincing watch. The bout seems fake and the men, tired. But the full movie seems a tad tired and worn out in terms of its pace and writing. Remo D'Souza has made a good showreel of what he can do visually. But story, screenplay and dialogues-wise, Race 3 falls flat. What more is left to do in a franchise already exploited by Abbas Mustan? Maybe we need to bring the director duo back to see that. But Race 4 is coming your way, as announced by Salman Khan in the end. And Remo it will be, it seems! Let's see how the next films pans out.

Rating: 1/5