After a long and patient wait, Thalapathy Vijay's Master is now finally out in the theatres and here is what we think about the movie! 

Without getting into detail about the film's story (as it might be a spoiler), Master, in one-line, is a faceoff between a professor named JD (aka) Vaathi (Vijay) and a rowdy named Bhavani (Vijay Sethupathi). Certain situations tangle them together and how one wins over the other for a particular reason, forms the film's premise. 

Thalapathy Vijay is an absolute delight to watch and with every film, his screen presence gets better and better. He is in complete form as Master and he looks refreshing. As promised, director Lokesh Kanagaraj manages to showcase a different Vijay through his vision and it is good to see a newer dimension to Thalapathy. The subtle gestures and expressions from Vijay are lovable and you get to see such moments at regular intervals.
 

Makkal Selvan Vijay Sethupathi has definitely been the major X-factor for Master. If not for him, the character of Bhavani wouldn't have been this impactful. His casual mannerisms and body language works out and will be enjoyed by the fans. He comes off as a deadly villain and the reason for his evilness is well established. Vijay Sethupathi is one of the main reasons for the Vaathi - Bhavani face off looking exciting and he aces it strikingly well. Arjun Das also garners good attention in a role that gives him enough scope to perform. For people who thought Malavika Mohanan would have got a solid role that travels throughout the film, it turns out to be a disappointment. She looks beautiful and elegant, but Master does not give her the space to perform with enough good scenes. Master Mahendran, who plays the younger version of Bhavani is impressive. 

The rest of the cast is unfortunately wasted and you don’t get to see much of them in the film. Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, Gouri Kishan, KPY Dheena, Ramya and others get only a very brief screen time.

Vijay’s intro sequence and the ‘Vaathi Coming’ dance portion set the screen on fire and gives off the right kind of start to the film. There are enough moments that celebrate Vijay and the ‘Thalapathy’ factor. The entire Ghilli ‘Kabaddi’ sequence and the final showdown with Vijay Sethupathi  are surely going to be widely enjoyed by the masses. The climax sequence is well shot and both Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi compete with each other and score well. The dialogues definitely deserve a big applause - credits: Pon Parthiban, Rathna Kumar and Lokesh Kanagaraj. The lines about the importance of student elections, politics behind wine shops, deserve applause. 

There are ample amounts of ‘Thalapathy’ moments and it is uplifted by him to a large extent. But as a complete film, you may or may not be satisfied. In a nutshell, Master is nothing but the good vs bad routine that is treated in a different manner. There are a lot of stunt sequences in the movie and you feel that the actions are overdone at places. Certain fight sequences in the second half could have been chopped as they don’t lend any impact. The college sequences in the first half do not have any highs. The lorry/bow and arrow sequence goes overboard and makes Vijay, a larger-than-life character. The film does not allow you to breathe a sigh of relief as stunts keep happening continuously one after another. Also, the emotional factor (which is the reason for Vijay’s reformation) does not hit you hard. The pace of the movie is also quite a concern. 

Director Lokesh Kanagaraj lists out Kamal Haasan’s Nammavar in the filmography and you can definitely sense the inspiration. However, unlike the previous two Lokesh Kanagaraj films, you don’t get to see a strong content that takes the centre stage. Lokesh promised in his interviews that Master will be a 50% Vijay film and 50% Lokesh film, but it doesn’t seem like that. As a director, Lokesh definitely needs to be applauded for executing a project of this scale, but the packaging could have been more effective. 

Anirudh Ravichander strikes continuously with every film and Master is no exception. The mood of the scenes get uplifted through his score and the Rockstar delivers in style. The climax instrumental and several other scores pump up the audience. Sathyan Sooryan’s visuals look neat and well-lit and he lends his support to boost the ‘Vijay’ factor with his angles. As already stated, Philomin Raj could have edited out certain sequences in the edit table as the film looks a bit too long. Master is definitely a film that could have been interestingly told in 2.5 hours.