Christopher is the latest Mammootty film that released today. The film is helmed by B. Unnikrishnan and is penned by Uday Krishna. This combo is back after the box office and critical disaster Arattu. After Arattu, Uday Krishna also wrote the script for monster starring Mohanlal which was another disaster which released on Disney Plus hotstar. So after all these experiences, the average film audience did not have any expectations on Christopher. So it is no surprise that the film is receiving mixed to negative reviews as of now.
The film is about the story of a vigilante cop named Christopher. As the title of the film suggests, ‘justice is his obsession’. He does not like leaving the criminals to the judiciary and the administrative system. He believes in instant justice. He finds the criminals, shoots them at once, gets applauded by the public and the media, gets roasted by the higher officials, but is back on track immediately and finds his next case only to repeat the cycle. This plot has been explored in at least 100 movies till date in various languages. Christopher is no better than any of these films.
The screenplay of the film is the biggest let down. The film offers no high points for the audience to cheer for the star or for the plot. The only moment when you feel the theatre responding to the film would be when Shine Tom Chako appears on screen. His body language and manners, which is the same as him in any interview, was a relief to watch. There are many characters in this film but all of them are typical template characters. Even though the performances of the actors are good, the characterization of these characters are very poorly written in such a way that the performances of these actors are doing no good to the characters.
The only time you feel thankful to the writer and the director would be the climax surprise that you get. It is a confrontation scene between Mammootty and Vinay Rai. You are already exhausted but is preparing yourself for a one and half page dialogue and a two and a half minute fight sequence, but the writer and director finishes it in one shot. You do genuinely feel thankful to the makers of the film for not keeping you waiting anymore until you can leave the theatre. The film is a complete let down but you can still prefer to watch it if you have a lot of time and a 150 rupees to spend.