Tiger 3 movie review & film summary (2023) – Roger Ebert
“They’re right here to witness my swag,” growls Indian super-spy Tiger halfway by “Tiger 3,” a principally staid however nonetheless satisfying Indian anti-terrorist thriller. Tiger is performed by Salman Khan, whose square-jawed model units the tempo for the Yash Raj Spy Universe, a Marvelified Bollywood motion collection starring the Hindi-speaking stars of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s.
Now Khan’s family-loving nationalist hero goes by the formulaic motions established by “Ek Tha Tiger” and “Tiger Zinda Hai.” In “Tiger 3,” flag-waving man of motion Tiger (Khan) fights his personal Pakistani super-spy spouse Zoya (Katrina Kaif) to cease Pakistani terrorists from derailing Pakistan/India peace talks. Nothing appears new as a result of nothing unique was tried.
“Tiger 3” most intently resembles “Tiger Zinda Hai,” a superior sequel and a weirdly sunny hostage thriller set in up to date Iraq. Sadly, Tiger and Zoya’s diplomatic capers now appear predictable, proper right down to this new film’s introductory twist: Zoya’s plotting in opposition to her personal Prime Minister with Pakistani terrorist Aatish Rehman (Emraan Hashmi), a disgruntled ex-spy.
This time, Tiger’s not simply making an attempt to foster good relations between two nations but additionally making an attempt to maintain his household intact. That superficially private twist doesn’t vastly improve or subtract from “Tiger 3”’s box-checking charms, together with Shah Rukh Khan’s prolonged cameo look and a heap of Hollywood-cribbed story beats and clichés.
“Tiger 3” begins with as a lot cornball swag as a live-action “G.I. Joe” cartoon. Tiger boldly mounts a one-man rescue mission on the private request of Maithili Menon (Revathi), the no-nonsense chief of India’s Analysis and Evaluation Wing (RAW) spy company. Tiger succeeds in his impossible-seeming mission and rescues Gopi Arya (Ranvir Shorey), his ex-supervisor at RAW. In alternate, Gopi implicates Zoya as a Pakistani double agent proper earlier than he expires, seconds after he and Tiger return to India.
Then there’s a flashback to Zoya’s previous, which does and doesn’t clarify Gopi’s accusation. Subsequent, an unremarkable musical quantity the place Tiger wonders, by track, if he can belief Zoya. Then, a bunch extra narrative set-up and throat-clearing, all to prop up the plot in opposition to his spouse and his son Junior (Sartaj Kakkar). There are only a few surprises alongside the way in which, although, at one level, Salman Khan negligibly disguises himself with a pink hippie sweatband and a shaggy paste-on beard. Tiger dramatically removes his beard earlier than he fights his spouse. Then they make up and plan to foil Rehman collectively.
“Tiger 3” undoubtedly feels just like the fifth entry in a franchise, for the higher (often) and the more serious (clearly). Tiger’s newest journey options higher motion choreography and extra storytelling polish than “Pathaan,” Shah Rukh Khan’s rickety comeback car and the newest extension of the Yash Raj Spy Universe. Tiger made a perfunctory cameo look in “Pathaan,” so no person ought to be shocked to study that the Badshah of Bollywood returns the favor in “Tiger 3.” It’s a superior visitor spot, too, full with goofier dad joke banter and extra spectacular particular results and stunt work. In the event you cross your eyes, you would possibly even consider Salman and Shah Rukh had been concurrently on the identical set. Benefit: “Tiger 3.”
Salman’s newest seat-warmer additionally advantages from being a second sequel. The filmmakers clearly have a greater thought of how one can make this sort of film, not like the creators of “Ek Tha Tiger,” Tiger’s lifeless 2012 debut. “Tiger 3” can be a greater buddy film. Kaif will get to steal a few scenes, similar to she did in “Tiger Zinda Hai,” together with a dynamically choreographed and evenly sexy catfight set in a Russian bathhouse. Kaif nonetheless appears higher with a gun than Khan, however even he appears extra comfy than earlier than as a pumped-up Tom Cruise clone, dangling from the ceiling and leaping into helicopters together with his signature boyish smirk.
“Tiger 3” could be a milestone for the Yash Raj Spy films. After 11 years, these programmatic wannabe blockbusters are lastly outlined by the identical evenly likable, artistic committee-calibrated genericism that’s come to characterize Marvel’s artery-stiffening fast-food cinema. “Tiger 3” is also a satisfactory fluke since who is aware of how convoluted and/or compelling the collection would possibly change into as soon as it unites Salman and Shah Rukh’s marquee-topping heroes with Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff’s characters from “Conflict,” whose sequel is now in manufacturing.
You continue to would possibly get what you need from “Tiger 3” through the motion and musical scenes, which have their moments. A vacation crowd could be the best viewers for this family-friendly potboiler. Everybody else ought to wait till “Tiger 3” abruptly seems on some high-trafficked streaming service, a swaggier and extra stunning transfer than something Salman makes an attempt in his newest money-maker.
In theaters now.
Simon Abrams
Simon Abrams is a local New Yorker and freelance movie critic whose work has been featured in The New York Occasions, Vainness Truthful, The Village Voice, and elsewhere.
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Movie Credit
Tiger 3 (2023)
156 minutes
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