Enemy

Though there have been many Tamil films that have dealt with the friends-turned-foes template, Enemy tries to offer something new. It's always interesting to see two starkly contrasting characters involved in a cat-and-mouse game on screen and it has worked to some extent, with two action heroes — Vishal and Arya. Director Anand Shankar, with Enemy, stays again in his comfort zone and presents a stylish action thriller.

The film begins with an ex-CBI officer (Prakash Raj) training two kids (his own son and his neighbour's son) to make them competent at a very young age. His dream is to make them join the police force and turn them into efficient officers in better ranks. But it is very evident that these two children would turn against each other, setting a platform for the film's plot.

Chozhan (Vishal) owns a supermarket in Singapore and helps the Tamil community in his locality with all the knowledge that he had gained in his childhood. Little does he know that he will encounter (Arya) in one of the attempts foiling an assassination.

The film takes off from here, as both reunite for an epic duel. The ideology behind the film on how a child grows up to be a good or bad person looks interesting on paper, but the way these contradictions have been translated on screen through the situations in the latter half looks bleak. If the build up to this idea had been fresh, this thriller could have gone a mile further and worked well. The romantic portions don't add much value to this fast-paced story; however, Mirnalini Ravi as Ashmitha has done justice to the role. She looks pleasing to the eye and is definitely someone to watch out for.

Every time when Arya and Vishal encounter each other, the premise turns out to be predictable, in spite of the adrenaline rush that is set up before their face-off. Also, when you expect their clash to comprise wits and intelligence, it only ends up being an ordinary revenge drama.

Arya as Rajiv looks perfect and menacing. His character holds the audience with its rage. Only if the writing had been little better, his role could have possibly been one of the best villain acts. Vishal, too, lives up to the expectations and does justice to his role. Sam CS's background score is powerful and looks suited for an epic action drama. RD Rajasekhar's visuals add up to the hype and the cuts (Raymond Derrick Crasta is the editor) look fast-paced for an engaging thriller. The stunt sequence in the climax is neatly done and definitely deserves a mention.

Overall, Enemy could have been better if some of the cliched sequences had been avoided.