There’s no denying that action is Vidyut Jammwal’s forte, and he returns with yet another action affair with Crakk which he is also credited as a co-producer. Featuring Arjun Rampal, Amy Jackson, and Nora Fatehi, the film explores a new aspect in the action domain and that’s refreshing to see. It slides into the sports action genre, something that has hardly been explored, but the overall concept isn’t novel in the cinematic world thanks to international TV series like Hunger Games and Squid Games.
No wall or height is too great for Siddhu (Jamwwal) to parkour over or jump from. Not even a bruise or any shattered bones are visible. Even though his brother Nihal (Ankit Mohan) lost his life in a covert extreme sports competition, Siddhu still wants to compete for the enormous cash prizes against the wishes of his parents.
What is this competition? It’s called Maidaan, and the tournament’s showrunner is Dev (Arjun Rampal), who presents a final, do-or-die challenge to that one winner who has survived three rounds. There is even a backstory where Dev has defeated Siddhu’s brother Nihal and is allegedly accused of murdering him during the competition.
The weirdest thing about Crakk is how ignorant Siddhu is to Maidaan’s and his brother’s involvement in the dubious competition and subsequent deaths. He merely enters the tournament because he finds it cool, not to honour his death. Maidaan is portrayed by director Aditya Datt as this upscale subterranean rivalry. Datt, together with Rehan Khan, Sarim Momin, and Mohinder Pratap Singh have co-written the script, but when you watch the film, it makes you wonder whether there was any script in the first place.
The film is devoid of any logic and it is proved umpteen times by the director. Sample this, Egypt and Africa are two separate countries, and there is an unclaimed country between them where Dev wants to rule. Geography lesson? A film like this is often defined as a mindless, no-brainer actioner. In the case of Crakk, it feels like the writers too kept their brains at home. The director only focuses on the action sequences and everything that happens between them looks lazy. The songs seem to be another deterrent in the film which is stretched too far. The runtime of 156 minutes seems like an eternity.
Crakk feels like a placeholder until the next action set piece kicks in. Some of which are impressive. I’ve always maintained that Jammwal in action is outstanding. It’s thrilling to see him hanging from a wire, showing off his hand-to-hand combat, or even outrunning his opponents. Director Datt also seems to be enthralled by his leading man. So we see many slow-motion sequences of the actor in action. Viduyt Jammwal can outrun helicopters, guns, and men but what he can’t outrun is the mediocrity of this film.
Neither can the rest of the actors, including Arjun Rampal who is in terrific form as the antagonist in the film. His agility at this age is commendable and he goes shoulder to shoulder with Jammwal when it comes to the action sequences. When it comes to the female actors, Nora Fatehi doesn’t have much work and it ends up being yet another forgettable outing for her. Amy Jackson is miscast as a police officer who knows Dev’s secret plan. While we understand that she is still learning Hindi, her accent and dialogue delivery seem to have got even worse from her previous outings.
Vidyut Jammwal indeed has broad shoulders but their scope is insufficient to bolster a movie as flimsy as Crakk. It goes beyond a misfire. The film is dedicated by the actor to all his fans who are called ‘Jammwalions,’ but they too will be disappointed by their action hero.
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