Three things which didn't work for me in Hanu-Man

Plot Outline: Hanumanthu (Teja Sajja), a small-time village thief retrieves a divine stone from the depths of the ocean and finds himself immediately transformed by its powers. Hanumanthu's metamorphosis catches the eye of Michael (Vinay Rai), a man with unlimited resources and boundless ambition, on a mission to capture the power for his own selfish motives. The rest of the plot revolves around how Hanumanthu finds his true calling while battling it out with Michael for the greater good of humanity. 

I finally got to watch Hanu-Man on Republic Day, two weeks after its release. Despite the fact I tempered my expectations the movie did not work for me as well I had expected. I felt that the execution did not do justice to the initial premise. So, without any further ado, here are three things which didn't work for me in Hanu-Man (watch out for some spoilers):

Hanu-Man: Could have been so much more <Courtesy: Tips Telugu>

1. Extent of Hanu-Man's powers are not really clear: Every good superhero movie takes time to convey what the superhero can or cannot do. Hanu-Man's powers are derived from a divine stone which can inject him with superhuman strength only when it's sunny. The movie never explains or throws light on:
• Whether the magical stone is analogous to a charger which replenishes our hero each time he looks at it. Hanu-Man's powers confusingly remain intact even in gloomy weather conditions or when the stone is taken away from him. If the stone is indeed charging him then there's no indication in the movie about how long a single charge lasts. It would have been thrilling to see the hero's charge go down as he grapples with the bad guys who are doing everything they can to keep the stone away from him. Alas! there's nothing which gives you that sort of a edge-of-your-seat feel in this movie
• The things our hero can do when he is fully charged. Can he jump? Can he fly? Can he run fast? Oh! we know that, because he suddenly does a 'Flash' in one scene. Every superhero has a weakness, Superman has Krytonite, Batman is not the same without his gadgets and Spiderman is not endowed with the same physical strength as some of his adversaries. Here, we know for a fact that our hero is super strong but we do not really know about the extent of that strength, in one scene he effortlessly lifts a boulder to save tens of lives but in another scene he easily gets knocked over by a moving train with the train suffering no apparent damage. The climax struggle would have been a lot more eye-catching provided these things were expounded better.
2. The seemingly infinite resources of the antagonist: Our villain has an R&D division which is more sophisticated than some of the leading countries on earth. This division develops an armored suit with a power fist which helps him neutralize Hanu Man's strength. He also has scores of drones which can spray nerve gas and immobilize an entire village. Plus he employs dozens of bad guys armed with tasers and automatic weapons to carry out his nefarious plans. Now to some boiling questions which the movie provides no clarity on:
• Where do all of his financial resources come from? 
• How does he get to know that a robbery is about to happen at a certain location?  
• Are his henchmen aware that they are all working for a superhero wannabe? 
• Sure everything is make believe in the magical world of movies but would we have appreciated Batman provided if it was never revealed that his alter ego Bruce Wayne's billions were driving the gadgets that he was using?
3. The inconsistent character arc of the antagonist: The movie paints a vivid picture of the main villain Michael's fascination with superpower but sometimes that obsession is not really logical. For Example: Why would the antagonist be so consumed with possessing a stone when he has resources which could produce a suit that rivals the powers bestowed by the stone? Michael also doesn't seem to be too worried about keeping his superhero identity or his intentions private. His suit is easily accessible to anyone who enters his caravan. He arrives in the village as a do-gooder but unwittingly announces his real objectives to everyone when he tries to absorb the stone's power before the entire village. If Michael's goal is to be the greatest superhero of all and earn the adulation of billions around the world? Then isn't he worried that his actions will also soil his superhero image?

At a time when big budget movies often throw away logic on the pretext of fan service, I was hoping for a tighter screenplay and plot from a filmmaker who has developed a penchant for picking up innovative scripts. The first half seemed promising but the second half loses the momentum which has been built with its comedic gags, insertion of an unnecessary song in the midst of a bandit attack and jump-cuts in the climax where a character whom we all thought was dead suddenly appears out of the blue. Finally, the job was well and truly only half done.

Until Next Time,

Your Movie Reviewer,

Chaitanya J.J.