The Greatest of All Time review: Venkat Prabhu’s big swing with Thalapathy Vijay fizzles

Director Venkat Prabhu is known for crafting crowd-pleasing, entertaining films, with Mankatha standing out as a high point in his career. In Mankatha, Venkat successfully showed Ajith Kumar in a bold and audacious role, transforming him into a ruthless, greedy killer. This film earned a special place in Tamil cinema, setting expectations sky-high for Venkat's collaboration with Thalapathy Vijay in The Greatest of All Time. Fans anticipated a similarly gripping and memorable experience. However, what we got was a film that relied too heavily on star power, with little to offer in terms of storytelling or creativity.

The Greatest of All Time starts with an ambitious action sequence—a sniper (Ajmal Ameer) tracking a train speeding through the desert. This scene, which could have been the perfect setup for a tense thriller, feels hollow and nonsensical. Why a sniper is needed for a moving target is unclear, much like the reasoning behind several plot points that follow. Despite the money and effort spent on a grand opening, it lacks emotional depth and impact, reducing it to a flashy but forgettable spectacle. This trend of superficial grandeur continues throughout the film, leaving viewers disconnected.

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Venkat Prabhu, armed with a massive budget, attempts to infuse the film with advanced AI and de-aging technologies, but the results are inconsistent. Some effects are visually impressive, while others—like de-aging Vijay to depict him as a teenager—feel jarring and unnecessary. A political undercurrent is introduced when the late actor Vijayakanth is digitally resurrected in what is clearly a stunt aimed at drawing parallels between Vijay and the late iconic political leader. While these moments might resonate with those familiar with Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, they add little value to the narrative.

The core plot of the film is riddled with tired cliches from 90s Tamil cinema. Gandhi (played by Vijay) is a spy in an elite anti-terrorist squad, yet his wife (Sneha) remains in the dark about his profession. The well-worn trope of secrecy causing marital discord plays out predictably, with the wife assuming he’s having an affair. The ensuing attempt to patch things up with a trip to Bangkok becomes laughable as the film's logic unravels further. At one point, Gandhi's child is left alone in a Bangkok hospital, setting up a predictable kidnapping. The sheer improbability of the setup makes the drama feel forced and unconvincing, leading to more eye rolls than tension.

The real disappointment comes from the portrayal of supposedly sharp and elite characters, who make bafflingly dumb decisions. Gandhi’s actions are more suited to a slapstick comedy than a high-stakes thriller, and the film’s reliance on coincidences weakens the plot at every turn.

Instead of focusing on crafting a tight and compelling story, Venkat Prabhu chooses to piggyback on Vijay’s star power, assuming that the actor’s charming screen presence can mask the film’s flaws. When even Vijay’s superstardom isn’t enough to salvage the movie, Venkat turns to nostalgia and references to other stars like Dhoni, Rajinikanth, and Ajith. It feels as though the director is grasping at straws, hoping that the mere mention of beloved figures will evoke a positive response from the audience. But these attempts come across as desperate.

The Greatest of All Time fails to live up to its ambitious title. What could have been a thrilling, star-studded spectacle turns into a muddled, uninspired film that leans too heavily on nostalgia and star references to hide its lack of substance. Venkat Prabhu, once known for his fresh and fun approach to filmmaking, seems to have lost his spark here, delivering a film that falls far short of expectations.

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