As a Mammooka fan and because of his recent hits, I had great expectations for this movie even though he was in an extended cameo. My expectations were even higher because it's Shankar Ramakrishnan's directorial debut and many Mollywood mainstream stars are in cameos. But the movie is all kinds of bad. The movie makes no sense and almost every aspect of this movie sucks. The one good memorable scene was the fight scene in a bus. 18am Padi is set in 90s but the costumes wore by the characters is full modern. The direction was so bad that the movie felt like an advertisement most of the time. This movie made me understand that Shankar Ramakrishnan is a really bad film maker. I might have said okay to this movie if it was made in around 2012 because at that time, realistic Malayalam movies were scarce. But now, there are very good movies relasing and 18am Padi cannot be compared with them. There was no standout performance. I'm not undermining the debutants. I know they have worked hard but the debutants were just debutants. I thought Mammootty's cameo will be as strong as Dulquer's cameo in Parava or Mohanlal's cameo in Kayamkulam Kochunni. But his character was dull as the movie. Technically, the movie is good with some very good shots. I recommended this movie to the people who likes highschool kids partying like grownups, talking like grownups, fighting like grownups etc. If you are looking for a good movie, 18am Padi is not the destination.
Review of Gangs of 18
