While SOS is not a great film by any means, or even a film that I will likely watch again, it is not as bad as some of the reviewers have been portraying it. For starters, this is a purely masala entertainment film, meant more for the masses than the critics. As such it has a very simple plot and does not concern itself overly much with a theme. In this review I will first go over the parts of the film which struck home and then elucidate some points of contention. Firstly, and I have been wanting to point this out for awhile, I am glad that we are finally seeing Sanjay Dutt in roles that are appropriate for him. As a looming and brooding antagonist, Sanjay shines far better than in the sleazy avatar he has been adhering to of late. He is much better in more honest roles where he is not chasing women young enough to be his granddaughters. Ajay Devgan, who is by no means great in everything that he does, does a superb job in this film and really hits the comedy spot on in most of the scenes, though his love affair with Sonakshi's character seems to be at best a little stretched. As far as Sonakshi goes, she reprises the basic role she portrays in all of her admittedly short list of films up to date and mostly just has events play out around her instead of having much that is extremely important to do. This has the positive effect of me not being able to say anything very bad about her character's portrayal in the film. The supporting cast, including especially the ever bubbly Juhi Chawla all do a superb job of keeping the comedy going, though the action scenes suffer from the staleness of the one hundred guys going at one hero routine that we have all come to know and (not) love. On the negative side, the story drags a lot in many parts, and most of the comedy has been sucked out of the script by the second half of the film, leading to some boredom through the second half. In addition, there is a lack of romance in the romance scenes (partly because there are so few to know that a romance should be developing) and far too much repetitive action to really enjoy. In the end, however, the film accomplishes what it seeks out to do in giving the audience a simple and mostly family-friendly story to enjoy for two and a half hours. Good for a watch though don't be surprised if you do not remember much of the movie after a few days.
Review of Son of Sardaar
