A middling midpiece of a still-enticing franchise

A grand spectacle let down by some disjointed ideas, the film dazzles visually but lacks the intrigue and well-developed character arcs that worked wonders for Lucifer

It won't be an overstatement to call L2: Empuraan the most hyped Malayalam film ever. The primary reason is perhaps the excitement of witnessing Mohanlal unleashing his mass avatar once again after Lucifer (2019) under Prithviraj's astute direction. But beyond that, there was also a lot of intrigue around the character Khureshi-Ab'raam, the magnitude of his dominance, his link with international crime cartels, the other key characters in his orbit, and their evolving motives. Come Empuraan, the film has all of that and more. The scale is several times bigger and so should have been the stakes. But Khureshi-Ab'raam (KA) is established as so powerful that no obstacle ever poses a real threat to him. He has his men everywhere—from top international intelligence agencies to rival cartels to local political parties, which makes him a near-invincible figure. This, in a way, makes Empuraan predictable to the T, especially when compared to Lucifer, which rode high on the enigma around its protagonist.

Director: Prithviraj Sukumaran
Cast: Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Abhimanyu Singh, Tovino Thomas, Manju Warrier, Indrajith Sukumaran

Like all his scripts, Murali Gopy incorporates real-world socio-political themes in Empuraan as well. From Gujarat riots to Hindutva forces' desperation to gain a foothold in Kerala, to dynasty politics, the Left's waning influence in India, and those in power misusing government agencies to shut opponents... The writer doesn't hold back at any point. Parallel to this, is a comparatively unfamiliar world of international crime organisations, their trades, rivalries, and the investigative agencies tracking them. However, the problem with Empuraan is that these two worlds don't really bridge well. They almost feel like parts of two different films, headed by the same actor.

Empuraan begins with glimpses of a communal clash in Gujarat, akin to the Godhra riots (though not named). A group of Muslims, including young Zayed Masood and family try to flee from the Hindu fringe groups, but are caught and brutally massacred. Prithviraj shows no restraint in filming these extremely disturbing moments, resulting in almost a 10-minute sequence brimming with graphic violence and sexual assault. This key plot point lays the foundation for a template revenge drama, which is rather disappointing because there's too much prominence on Zayed when the film had lots more to offer. The second thread involves the political scenario in Kerala which now desperately needs Stephen's intervention. Sandwiched between these two threads is the meaty KA portion, which we hardly get to relish. A better focus on the KA nexus would have made the film far more gripping.

But that said, Empuraan boasts of supreme technical quality, of a scale that Malayalam cinema has never seen before. The visuals beautifully capture the international terrains, ranging from the vast barren lands of West Africa to war-stricken Iraq and, of course, the lush green Kerala. In fact, the two best moments in the film—KA's intro and the forest fight—use the contrasting landscapes superbly. Like in Lucifer, Prithviraj makes us wait impatiently for Mohanlal's introduction. And after almost 50 minutes into the film, when the camera captures him walking in slo-mo through the flames, it's a moment of instant gratification. The whole setpiece is brilliantly designed, serving as a fitting introduction for a character as mighty as Khureshi-Ab'raam. 

Later, in his electrifying second intro as the mundu-clad Stephen, we see the star emerging out of the flames in a similar fashion. Prithviraj certainly knows a thing or two about mass moments and the buildups. In this sequence set in thick forests at midnight, there's no source of light to capture the madness that's about to follow. So he has a lightning strike a tree and this blazing tree is now the backdrop for some scintillating action. A tiny, but memorably ingenious move. But it's also true that there's an overdose of 'high moments' featuring Mohanlal emerging out of darkness, hundreds of Prashanth Neel-esque reaction shots, and of course, the 'L' motifs. In both these worlds, for some reason, everything that falls down lands in the shape of an L. The umpteen Biblical references and 'dheiva puthran' and 'chekuthan' dialogues could have also been toned down. 

One of Lucifer's strengths was the ensemble of well-sketched characters. However, in the second instalment, most of them are either half-baked or just present for the sake of it. Indrajith's Govardhan is yet again the truth seeker (or exposition tool), but his findings aren't entirely new and hardly have any importance. Tovino's Jathin is also equally underwritten, offering us very little scope to understand his transformation. Though Manju Warrier's Priyadarshini gets a better arc, she is still more of a puppet, whose strings are handled by a bigger force (you know who). Manju's best moment comes in a sequence similar to Tovino's much-spoken-about speech from the first part. However, even this scene's treatment is baffling because Priyadarshini playing some age-old political tricks to win over her supporters is portrayed as a rousing moment with everyone around her in complete awe—too many reaction shots, again.

Empuraan missed quite a few tricks from Lucifer, but the biggest among them is probably the presence of a strong opposing force. There are adversaries in the form of rival cartels, politicians, and agencies like Interpol and MI, but they don't really test KA. It also means that we are yet to see the character's actual potential. If the glimpses of the third part are anything to go by, there's finally a worthy opponent on the way. Let's wait.