'Race 3' Movie Review : A Wealthy Dysfunctional Family in Pursuit of Power and Money

I went into Race 3 totally prepared not to enjoy it , but here's the shocker!

Acting - 1 , Direction - 7 , Music - 8 , Dialougues - 3 (rating out of 10)

Race 3 deals in borderline crime but is ruthless and vindictive to the core. It delves into the lives of a wealthy dysfunctional family in pursuit of power and money. A world with twists and turns at every nook and corner, which will take the audience by surprise with its sheer unpredictability. The film begins with Anil Kapoor's grand entry. Anil Kapoor (Shamsher Singh) is a kingpin of arms and drugs trafficking.

Soon, they take us to flashback where they show Anil Kapoor and his brother doing a business of gun supplies. You'll see for the reasons shown in the film that , Anil Kapoor (Shamsher Singh) is left with his brother's wife and son (Salman Khan) to take care of. He marries Salman's (Sikander's) mother in the film and has two twin children with her in about a year ( played by Daisy Shah and Saqib Saleem). When the twins are not indulging in pretentious ‘bro’ and ‘dude’ speak, they are scheming to kill one another for money. Then the plot twists and turns and climaxes with an over the top action sequence on a deserted island. Abu Dhabi has been dressed up as the fictional island Al Shiffah, the epic centre of Shamsher Singh’s business empire. We see bollywood’s infamous man-child gleefully plays fast and furious with his bunch of cronies. Only, his director Remo D’Souza refuses to play along and turns an action thriller into a strange Broadway-style musical. Every actor, when not speeding in a super car or firing away guns, gets a song and lavish set-pieces to perform in. The frame is crowded with good-looking people, mouth-watering cars, casinos, gargantuan hotels, helicopters and yachts. The much-forced fighting sequence between Salman and Bobby Deol isn’t of much consequence. The action sequences in the film are unreal but knowing it's a SKF production , this is what we should expect before watching the film. Few action sequences in the film, specially the chase scenes in Cambodia, are badly done and leave much room for improvement in the VFX department. The action looks inspired from many Hollywood films like Fast and Furious series and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, to name a few.

A striking feature about Race 3 is that it lets every primary actor to explore their limits and doesn’t only focus on Salman Khan. For example, Bobby Deol has been given as much importance as Salman, and Daisy Shah doesn’t lose out on any scene due to Jacqueline Fernandez.

We discover everyone's real character as they change with a blink of an eye. We discover that nothing is as it seems. We discover a family on the verge of self-destruction - or is it a ploy by some outsiders. Action and drama that leads to a shocking twist in the climax that takes your breath away.

History has taught us that a film starring Salman Khan, doesn’t have to be high on logic as his swagger can elevate any mediocre project. But the deal with Race 3 is that the dialogues seems to have been written by an amateur writer high on a sugar-rush.

Sample this: Our business is our business, none of your business, uttered by a dead-pan Daisy Shah; “I am sick of this Sikku” spoken by an uninspiring Saquib Saleem and, “The fools who are trying to remove me from this Race don’t realise that I am the champion of this race”, by a gilded Salman Khan is as trashy as it sounds.

The film is highly illogical and horrendously tacky with terrible dialogues, pretentious acting. But if you like watching masala films , and you don't always require logic in films and watch it only for entertainment basis , you will surprisingly like the film.

The only person who has nailed his role in the film is Anil Kapoor. Even though I was honestly dissapointed when it came to my knowledge that Anil Kapoor would not have the same role of the cop he played in the previous race series, I loved his performance. Jacqueline Fernandez, plays the role of a con girl and more of what you would see in the film. She has looked absolutely stunning and has done her action sequences well. Daisy shah on the other hand , wasn't up to the mark. She managed the part where she was shown to be a person into sports, but action is not her cup of tea. Saqib Saleem was shown as a spoilt kid , who doesn't apply his brains before doing anything , has done just about okay. Bobby Deol , made a come back with this film , and has done an okay job with his acting but dance is where he still needs to work on a lot which harshly reminds why his career failed to take off.

Talking about his character in Race 3, Salman had said,

“This guy (Sikander) has every side. This guy is very sharp. He has got a good humour. He is ruthless and his basic character is that he has suppressed all his emotions and you don’t know what this man is all about till the end of the movie. He has masterminded and planned everything.”

Jacqueline Fernandez on Race 3 ,

“This is not the continuation of Race 2. It is a different story of a family where the narration has elements of mystery, power struggle, betrayal and suspense. Jessica fights hard, her punch is real punch, her gun fight is raw! It is great to see that we are getting the opportunity to project ourselves like real fighters and are as strong as our male counterparts. My character fights the way a girl would fight in real life if she is attacked"