Mafia: Chapter 1 (2020) User Reviews

Not upto the mark..

[ddhanushram · 6/10 · 22 February 2020]

As Director Karthick Karen made us all sit in the edge of the seat with his previous thriller movie D16, Expectations for this movie was high and the classy look of Arun Vijay and Prassana made it further more fascinating..Fans were looking for something like Narcos but to be frank the movie had actually just 3 scenes which was dragged because of the slow motion shots which was just irritating after a point and the bgms were misplaced in many places..Apart from that,The movie is quiet good..All the actors have done well especially Prassana but he hasn't given much space to show his full potential..The best part of the movie is the climax which sets up for the sequel.. Overall if you are a fan of action movies,you can watch it but don't set your expectations high..

Disappointment !

[navendu_krishnan · 5/10 · 23 February 2020]

Its a disappointment if you go with the expectation of D16 from Karthik Naren. Lucky that this movie doesnt have much Love-Sentiments scenes, However this movie is filled with lots of slow motion repeated shots which is a big turn off.

Runtime is around 2 hours, however the movie content is only about an hour. 1 hour is added due to extensive use of Slow motions in every scenes.

Apart from the last 15 minutes, nothing goes interesting in this. Story, Dialogues, Acting is totally boring. Not a bit of Karthik Naren touch in this. Not even one casting went good. Arun vijay exists with his pale face and slow motion of him walking, holstering gun, loading and unloading gun, takes 5 minutes to say one simple dialogue. Prasanna is not upto the mark for a Mafia boss, even with suits, cigars, smokey scenes no impressions created. Priyabhavani Shankar - no comments, no idea why she is in this movie.

Even if you go with low expectations, you wont enjoy the movie. This is just a chapter one, atleast some interesting story line only generated in this movie on the climax. Hence I really hope Chapter 2 will be better than Chapter 1

5 out 10

MAFIA is not as perfect as Arun Vijay's hairstyle

[avi-79186 · 6/10 · 22 February 2020]

Before watching this movie , I have watched it's "Teasers" and some interviews of Karthick Naren ( Director of this film ) and also I have watched Dhuruvangal pathinaaru, his previous film. After doing all this, I kept my expectations higher. And the movie begins with an action scene in some multi storey building, as the action sequence builds up over a staircase , the camera angle changes to Top angle and moves downwards through the gap between steps and also the camera simultaneously rotates.... OK all I want to say is that it gives us some sort of illusion. Keeping this in my mind, I'm going with the flow of the film. And our protagonist is Aryan (Arun Vijay) working under the Narcotics control Bureau struggles to catch the head of the drug dealer's network after trying so many methods to find him, but these are all shown to us in a manner of some voice overs and some comic relief scenes. He is also in a relationship with his fellow teammate Sathya (Priya Bhavani Shankar). And the film also has very many buildups for the Antagonist(FOR CHAPTER 1) named DK(Prasanna) and also we get an introduction scene for DK same as the introduction scene for the Protagonist. As the story folds up Aryan loses two of his persons who knows the details of DK and one of the dead leaves the total details of DK. With the help of these details and some fieldwork of Aryan and his teammates, whether they are able to catch DK ??? This is the plot and that has a major twist at the climax. After watching the film,I had a different scenario which had never happened before...because, the film seems to be very short but it is elongated. What I want to say is that the film has a story which could be told within half time of its screenplay but it is elongated to get their predetermined run time or they wanted to make it as a "Two or multi chapter film". Although it has a very little story to tell us ,they can at least add some more scenes about the failures faced by Aryan in search of DK, instead of making a movie which takes place in a 5 days screenplay pattern. Or they could have made some more cat and mouse game between those two main characters before reaching climax which would have satisfied their motive of creating sequels of movies or may be a "Franchise" (the director's view on this film) and also satisfied us. We can wish anything, but what we got is a simple story OR Half story of an "unknown film" which is elongated by with numerous glorification scenes of the two main characters and by a series of action set pieces with "ultra slow motion". After these thoughts, I thought that the "illusion shot" (as I pre-mentioned at the beginning of the review) meant to be the illusion of the "Short film being projected as a Feature film" OR it may indicate the illusion experienced by the protagonist ( at the climax), btw who knows :-) I would not say it is a very bad film, but it could be made better by improving the writing area of the film. The film also had many well shot closeups and also closeups on action sequences which is not that good. Colour gradients are used well to indicate the intense situations and the difference between the two main characters. While talking about background score which is good and special mention about the cow-boy kinda theme music during the revelation of the character of Aryan. And so finally, I may or may not be wrong about my views of the film. But I would not say it is a bad film before it's sequels get released.

Nicely presented ordinary film with no scope for acting

[karthikeyan-feb14 · 6/10 · 22 February 2020]

Boring. But nicely presented. First 5 minutes I thought it is gonna be one heck of a movie. Twist was a usual one. A slight mixture of Nolans batman at the end. slow motion, camera works will dominate the work of the director. If no slow motion and music then the movie will should hold a duration of 1 hour, It is just a 1 time watch.

Empty vessels make the most noise

[BlackJack_88 · 2/10 · 21 March 2020]

This amateurish bundle of footage makes you search for aspirin even before the end credits roll. Karthik Naren confesses in every interview that he looks up at Hitchcock, Nolan & Mani Ratnam as his inspiration. Right from frame one the director's urge to copy the making style from the west was evident. A cliche story, with one dimensional characters having no backstory and pathetic cast (except Arun Vijay and Prasanna) makes this less than 2 hour film tiresome. Every character in the movie was Karthik Naren. They are immodest and full of conceit and never fail to speak in English with little Tamil words sowed in between. Except shooting with guns, the characters have no role to play. The scenes were theoretically narrated instead of showing them visually. To top it all no movie in any region would have used slow motion this bad as in Mafia. The film's content was insufficient to even shoot a short film. Arun Vijay and Prasanna can proudly treasure this as their showreels. The climax twist gave no excitement as the time was already wasted. Mafia is indeed a failed attempt (rather a spoof) in mimicking Hollywood style crime thrillers. May be the unanimous praise for the director's earlier attempt D16 made him think like other commercial directors that audience will graze whatever you feed. The movie is the work of an immature director who has to learn making original films leaving aside his inspirations. 2 stars. 1 for Arun Vijay and 1 for Prasanna.

Stylish camera work and ending credits

[sidharthjayakumar-539-227748 · 6/10 · 26 April 2020]

Movie has a good engaging story and style of direction of a Gautham Vasudev movie but the screenplay lacks the punch for the story could have been better. The last action sequence looks quality less. Cinematography looks good and also the ending to give a sequel is also a good twist. Acting of Prasanna was cool until the end due to the lack of screenplay there are some brilliant moments in the movie to show us villian class

Disappointed

[bathrenathh · 4/10 · 22 February 2020]

Doesn't look like narcotics mind playing movie Poor investigation scenes being a narcotic crime Good story line Good camera work Dragging screen play with unnecessary slow shots Poor logicall thinking

Climax was worth the drag

[warrior03 · 8/10 · 14 April 2020]

Had high expectations..but movie was moving at snail speed . Overall one time watch climax made up for the dragging screen play i guess the director was just a one hit wonder. Watch with no expection kollywood version of the netflix series of narcos . Poorly executed.

Looks like the editor loves slow motion scenes

[nambivp-33248 · 7/10 · 26 March 2020]

There are some good scenes in this movie. But, the total duration of those scenes is not even 1 hour. So, the director and the editor decided to add so many slow motion scenes just to fill the gap and make this feel like a feature film and not a short film. Shoot out scenes too are in slow motion. How can you appreciate the speed of a bullet train if you are shown a documentary of that which is slowed down to an annoying level? Also, everyone in this film speaks English. It made me wonder if this is even a Tamil film. Apart from all of these flaws, the narration is good. A few scenes are extraordinary. The climax trumps everything. This could have been a great film had the director given enough importance to the screenplay. Still, it is worth watching.

Arun vijay shines, but the movie doesn't

[ananthragi · 4/10 · 23 February 2020]

Boring regular story with nothing brilliance in it.not even a single scene with intelligence.better watch it in OTT platforms.

Terrific one!!

[sriramthestranger · 9/10 · 21 February 2020]

The plot is a cat and mouse game between a Narcotics cop and a mafia don. But the Director has given a different viewing experience with sound effects and infinite slow motion scenes. The whole movie looks like a chess game with protagonist and antagonist both expecting each others moves. Its technically a brilliant film with no nonsense scenes. And finally kudos to Director Karthick Naren for a brilliant climax that roots you for Chapter 2!!

waiting for the sequel

[siddarthram · 7/10 · 8 March 2020]

Even though the movie as a whole did not work well,the climax and twist was really unexpected and mindblowing.Arun vijay looks really classy and is apt for the role.could have had a better villian.can watch it once just for the climax which builds up the anticipation for chapter 2

Time waste, totally

[sathishgreen · 3/10 · 23 February 2020]

I think this film total footage duration is 1 hour they stretched upto 2.30 hours with slow motions. No noticable plot twists at all. Easy guessings. Background Music is the only thing which make us can't sleep in this movie. Second part gonna come 😂😂😂 all the best for next film naren.

CENTURIES OLD STORY😂😴VISUALS DIRECTION MUSIC 👌

[rajeshrajendran-26916 · 7/10 · 24 March 2020]

Story of the film is usual story that we have seen in the gangster movies centuries onwards 😂. We can easily guess the whole story of the film. BUT Frames are good. Some shots looks awesome. Music and bgm is nyc. Don't expect more before you watch this movie.Still Its a good one time watchable movie. 🎥

Mafia reminds me of those essays I used to write during my writing class!!!

[sshaji · 3/10 · 25 February 2020]

You know those essays we used had to write in some point of our educational career. The answer to the question could with just one sentence but in order to look smart and hard working we build up our paper with pages and pages of unnecessary garbage. Once we run out of garbage idea, we would finally reveal that one sentence answer. Mafia is basically the movie version of that essay. The director builds a whole movie full of slow-motion scenes of guns loading and biceps that are completely pointless and the one sentence answer is the grand climax suspense. And believe me I am a huge fan of revelation suspense movies. Like those are literally my most favorite kind climax suspense, but as much as these revelations are exciting to see the all the excitement depends on how intriguing the scenes that lead to the big revelation are. If the scenes that lead to the revelation have no steam then the revelation is basically pointless because it is going to have no impact on the audience. Director Karthick Naren completely fails to create and connection with the audience whatsoever. We end up just sitting there like idles with no emotions like fear, anger, or excitement (all of which are very important for a successful thriller) not overcoming us. This led to me reacting with just an "oh" to the great climax revelation. In fact the villain had to praise himself powerful because the character created for him is one-dimensional. However, I wouldn't say the movie was a complete waste. I really enjoyed staring at Arun Vijay's well-built body and hairstyle along with Prassanna and Priya Bhavni Shankar. I went in with huge expectations because of D16. I thought it would be similar to Vikram Vedha but I guess if you go in with no expectation it could be a decent one time watch.

Not bad...

[kamalbeeee · 6/10 · 21 March 2020]

I was expect some good twists and turns..but karthick naren this time made disappointed me...I did not compare to D16 movie but this movie doesnt satisfy half of it...

Bad bad bad writing, overall

[sr-33421 · 2/10 · 20 March 2020]

I just can't believe what I just saw, I had high hopes for KN. But this one is one huge let down. The movie is highly stylish with no substance. And particularly the dialogues were too unnatural and unmatured. Overall it's just an zero movie . Don't waste your money and time seeing this.

Brilliant

[aadhilny · 10/10 · 21 February 2020]

Gives you a Mafia: 1, 2, 3 Video game Vibe. This just took the whole history of Mafia to a different level. Loved it.

Waiting for chapter 02

[maleeshanethmina · 7/10 · 23 March 2020]

Good screenplay.But scenes are going slow motion.waiting for chapter 02.

Disappointed

[ajithperumal-45446 · 2/10 · 21 February 2020]

Very good story but worst screenplay by the director and many more slow motion shots, a good script was wasted by director.worst stunt scenes, unnecessary bgm work full of the movie overall below average movie.

Amazing!

[vishwathg · 10/10 · 25 February 2020]

The movie is in slow motion but the style of arun vijay and the way he acted is awesome.a good movie with an amazing twist makes it a worth watch and thrilled to see the next part

It was average

[aastikhimta · 7/10 · 26 April 2021]

The plot was okay . Ending was nice but the action scenes was a disaster. Loved the leads playing their roles but plot could've been better . Plus why action scenes were slow? Didn't got the point why they made action scenes like that but loved the ending.

Such a disappointment

[narain-39220 · 1/10 · 21 February 2020]

The movie has nothing going for it than the stylish protagonist and antagonist and a big reveal climax. There is a lot of John Woo style slow motion Gun shots (Face Off) and nothing than that. The screenplay really has nothing that captivates the audience. The movie seemed to be stretched even though it is less than 2 hours. The director has lost plot after giving a fine movie like Dhuruvangal 16. Not worth spending time on this one

Average

[Abdulxoxo · 6/10 · 3 September 2022]

Mafia thrives on a derivative story. The film, though, knows what it is. It follows a simplistic predictable story and plays it safe. The first half drags a lot to the point where I almost quit it. But after the introduction of the baddie, it gets interesting. I like how the protagonist and the bad guy are equally matched. The cat and mouse game keeps your attention. The stakes are high. The action sequences were entertaining mainly due to the fact that they are in slow motion, which could be a turn off to some people but I enjoyed it. It makes the action much more thrilling and masks it cheapness. The lightning in the film is also praiseworthy, streetlights were utilized well during the night scenes and the Neon lights was a nice touch especially in sequences with the baddie, which makes the whole frame looks slick. The acting is decent at best and the music is nothing special. There was an attempt to set-up a sequel, it was meant to be shocking and resounding but it didn't get any reaction from me. Overall, a decent watch.

Surface-level style over a strong screenplay! [+44%]

[arungeorge13 · 4/10 · 21 March 2020]

Mafia: Chapter 1 is a film that could have easily been 20-30 minutes shorter if not for the excessive slow-mo shots. And to think Karthick Naren (who helmed D16, an absolute stunner of a movie) came up with such an ordinary plot with a mediocre screenplay disappointed me, as a viewer.

The storyline is as good as the skeleton of any movie that revolves around the drug mafia. A trio of cops, a drug king-pin and his bunch of generic thugs, an activist (who exists solely to get killed), a rat, a set of stock family characters (like dad, mom, and sister) - make up Mafia: Chapter 1. A super-stylized Aryan (Arun Vijay) leads the trio of cops. This isn't a film that requires Arun Vijay to come up with a blazing performance. It nicely plays to his strengths - all his hours are the gym are visible over the shirts he wears, his hair-styling is so flawless (even during the action sequences, one tends to think he keeps a stylist on standby), and he speaks in Tanglish.

The downers include zero suspense (the antagonist, played by Prasanna is revealed very early into the movie, sans any build-up) and the negligible levels of emphasis given to the characters played by Priya Bhavani Shankar (who's supposed to be a colleague and a love interest but relegated to taking orders from Aryan throughout the film), and Bala Hassan (another template cop with no standout scenes).

A lot of effort seems to have gone into making the film look visibly flashy. The random addition of neon lights, the antagonist flaunting expensive suits and of course, the set-pieces being defined purely by slow-motion, look like deliberate stylistic attempts than something the screenplay naturally demands. The music and background score again, try their best to cover up the punctures in the screenplay.

The detailing that we saw in D16 isn't there. Not even close. And this makes Mafia: Chapter 1 an okayish film, even if some reviewers applaud the climax twist.