Mayan Movie Review: A mythical smoothie that goes nowhere
Mayan Movie Review: Critics Rating: 1.5 stars, click to give your rating/review,The film’s biggest problem is its reliance on animation - you can tell the budget couldn’t handle th
The Times of India,
TNN, Nov 28, 2024, 12.17 PM ISTCritic's Rating: 1.5/5Mayan Movie Synopsis: An IT professional learns he has Mayan ancestry and receives a prophecy that the world will end in 13 days. With nothing to lose, he goes all out to do whatever his mind desires.
Mayan Movie Review: The Mayan calendar, which tracks cosmic cycles through an intricate system of interlocking time periods, becomes the launch pad for director Rajesh Kannan’s genre-blending experiment. He takes this fascinating piece of ancient astronomy and warps it into an awkward fusion of Tamil culture, reincarnation, and apocalyptic themes. Mayan constantly shifts between animated sequences with explanatory narration and present-day scenes, but never finds its footing - it’s like sitting through a bizarre pitch meeting where someone’s desperately trying to sell a half-baked concept.
The story follows Aadhi (Vinod), your average tech guy dealing with a horrible boss and office crushes, until he gets a message saying the world will end in 13 days thanks to his supposed Mayan heritage. After some encounters with mystical snakes and weird symbols, he gains supernatural powers and transforms from a timid employee into a bold maverick. With nothing left to lose, he starts confronting his boss (Aadukalam Naren), beating up loan sharks (including Sai Dheena), spontaneously marrying his love interest Devi (Bindhu Madhavi), and picking fights with an IPS officer (John Vijay). All this builds up to an environmental disaster sequence before diving into a bizarre battle featuring armies with goat-faced and dinosaur-faced warriors.
The film’s biggest problem is its reliance on animation - you can tell the budget couldn’t handle the grand vision. With constant breaks for animation and narration, it’s hard to feel anything for the characters. The acting is really phoned in. Add to that a loud, dramatic soundtrack that never lets up, and watching the movie becomes more of a burden than entertainment. The core idea of a regular guy going on a consequence-free rampage because he thinks the world is ending could have made for an interesting story on its own. Instead, the film drowns itself trying to juggle mythology, fantasy, and religious elements without doing justice to any of them.
Written By: Abhinav Subramanian