Titans Review: Despite Vinayakan's Strong Act, This Crime-Fantasy Comedy Fails To Take Off

What happens when an ageing gangster in Kochi desperately tries to regain his lost glory with the help of his Gen Z roommate? Director Prince Joy explores this interesting premise in the fantasy comedy Titans, starring Jayasurya and Vinayakan. But does the film, which is meant to be a barrel of laughs, translate its ideas into engaging storytelling on screen?

Jayasurya plays Antony Yakuza, who was working for gangster Peter's (Baby Jean) father and was supposedly his right-hand man, but is left in limbo when Peter's father dies. Peter doesn't treat him with the same respect as his father did, and Antony finds himself doing tasks that he considers beneath his stature. Yet, in an attempt to prove his talent and power, Antony accepts a job that he feels will catapult him to glory and ropes in his friend and roommate, Anwar (Nihal Nizam), a cyber scammer, to pull it off.

While brainstorming various ideas for the big job, the duo decides that they've hit upon the perfect plan but need a third man to help them execute it. Enter Rejimon (Vinayakan), whose arrival takes their lives in an unexpected direction. What begins as a crime caper ventures into the fantasy space and brings the age-old questions of good and evil into the mix. Thus, a story of crime meets fantasy.

The premise that director Prince Joy and writer James Sebastien have come up with, a gangster who finds himself in a situation involving inexplicable supernatural forces, is interesting and funny, but the writing and execution end up being very underwhelming. What could have been a film brimming with absurd and situational humour is let down by its uneven writing and lack of laughs.

The first half of the film is undeniably better than the second half due to its narrative. Joy has set up light-hearted situations and dialogues that elicit a laugh, but when some of the characters show up, like Rejimon's company's big boss (Sunny Wayne), one is left scratching one's head. What the director tries to present as suspense is just confusion, a lack of context, and no clarity on what is eventually going to unfold.

When the film hits the intermission point, the audience gets an inkling of what is likely to unfold in the second half, but by this time, one's attention has drifted away. The pace in the second half slows down so much that it becomes a tiring watch by the end of the film.

Jayasurya is an extremely talented and versatile actor, but sadly, Yakuza is a character that lacks depth and ends up being frivolous. On the other hand, Vinayakan's Rejimon has more to offer viewers, and the actor carries the film on his shoulders for the most part. Other actors like Nihal Nizam, Baby Jean, Sunny Wayne and Indrans are seen in characters that have been added to make the subplots interesting, but the writing doesn't give them much scope either.

Ultimately, Titans is a film that has an exciting premise but fails to take off on screen.