Movie Review: 2018
Director: Jude Anthany Joseph
Producers: Venu Kunnappilly, CK Padma Kumar and Anto Joseph
Music Director: Nobin Paul
Starring: Tovino Thomas, Lal, Narain, Aparna Balamurali, Kalayirasan, and others
Release Date: 25th May 2023
Rating: 3/5
2018 Movie Review: Recently released Malayalam film ‘2018’, starring Tovino Thomas, Lal, Narain, Aparna Balamurali, Kalayirasan, and others, has created a sensation. The Telugu version of the movie 2018 has hit the screens today on 25th May 2023. Let’s see the story of 2018.
Story: Anoop (Tovino Thomas) is an ex-serviceman who quits the army fearing death. Mathachan (Lal) and his son Winston (Narain) earn by fishing, while Koshy (Aju Varghese) drives a taxi for tourists. Ramesh (Vineeth Srinivasan), an IT employee in Dubai, faces relationship problems with his wife in India. Likewise Sethupathi (Kalairasan) from Tamil Nadu agrees to transport explosives to Kerala as a truck driver. But the 2018 movie has to be watched for answers to how their lives changed when the floods ravaged Kerala in 2018 and how the story unfolds after the impact of the flood crisis on the people of Kerala, whether they survived the calamity or what happened afterwards.
Plus Points:
· Performance
· Casting
· Narration
· BGM
· Cinematography
Minus points:
· Screenplay
· Editing
Performance: Tovino Thomas once again gives an impressive performance in his role in this movie. Especially his character is very well designed. The scenes of a man returning from the army fearing death and bravely saving many people in flood conditions are good. Lal, who played the role of Mathachan , excelled in his role as a fisherman. His saving of many lives especially during floods is heartwarming. Aparna Balamurali, who is very familiar to the audience, has very little screen presence, which is a bit disappointing. Some of the characters like Tanvi Ram and Gautami Nair don’t make much of an impact on the plot . Naren and Kalairasan also entertain with their good performances, while the rest of the cast do well in their respective roles.
Technical: The story and screenplay are good, especially in the second half where he shows people’s emotions naturally. The film is technically brilliant, thanks to the superb performance of music director Nobin Paul, cinematographer Akhil George and the entire production design team. Editing by Chaman Chakko is okay, but some scenes of the first half could have been removed to make 2018 a better experience. The production values are good and the VFX work is thrilling. Telugu dubbing is also good.
Analysis: Overall, the 2018 movie is a movie that evokes emotions and thrills the audience. Excellent acting by Tovino Thomas, Lal, Naren, excellent background score and cinematography are strength of the movie.
One of the problems of 2018 is that the role of government and media in critical times of Kerala floods is shown very little. Although the director’s main intention was to uplift humanity above all, he should have also highlighted the work done by the media and the government during the crisis. The director could have made the story more interesting by creating suspense like showing more scenes of dam damage.