Writer/Director - Deeno Dennis 
Cast – Mammootty, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Divya Pillai, Sidharth Bharathan, Iswarya Menon, Shine Tom Chacko
Duration – 151 Minutes
 
Bazooka, directed by Deeno Dennis, is like ordering a gourmet heist-thriller off the cinematic menu and receiving a confusing mix of action, monologues, and a heavy dose of ‘what just happened?’ It promises a stylish, high-concept action movie set in the world of gaming and cyber-crime but ends up feeling like someone tried to plug an Xbox controller into a typewriter. There’s ambition here, no doubt — but it’s trapped under the weight of convoluted plotting, tonal confusion, and the haunting question: was this entire film a side quest?
 
The story kicks off in Kochi, where ACP Benjamin Joshua (played by Gautham Vasudev Menon, who delivers his Malayalam like Google Translate in human form) is up against a mysterious new threat — a master gamer who treats the city like his chessboard, pulling off meticulously planned heists while mocking the police with pre-crime hints. Unable to keep up, the cops turn to a wildcard: Mammootty’s John Caesar, a long-haired former forensic genius who wears intensity like a leather jacket and only arrives after the film has already wandered into several unnecessary lanes.
 
To Mammootty’s credit, he holds the screen with the same commanding presence he’s always had, but for much of the film, he’s given very little to do except frown dramatically and make metaphors about strategy. It’s only in the last 30 minutes that “Bazooka” starts to click into gear and hint at the clever, sleek thriller it could’ve been. Unfortunately, by then, we’ve already spent nearly two hours watching incoherent action sequences, pointless detours, and characters who have the depth of gaming avatars created five minutes before a LAN party.
 
The biggest issue with "Bazooka" is its execution. The heists lack thrill, the pacing is wonky, and the stylish flourishes often feel unearned. There’s a sequence involving a shootout near a roadside dhaba that plays out like a parody of action cinema, complete with laughably bad blocking and inexplicable decision-making. Meanwhile, the soundtrack — while occasionally catchy — swings between overdramatic orchestration and "I searched 'epic beats' on YouTube" energy.
 
The casting, too, is a mixed bag. While Mammootty tries to inject gravitas into his role, Gautham Vasudev Menon feels like he’s wandered in from another film entirely. His dialogue delivery, especially in Malayalam, is jarring — and the film bizarrely makes him the voice of the anti-smoking disclaimer, which might be the strangest creative decision in a film full of strange decisions.
 
To its credit, the concept of blending gaming logic with real-world heists is intriguing — but the film barely scratches the surface of that idea. Instead of building a layered, cerebral thriller, “Bazooka” ends up as a clunky fusion of borrowed ideas and undercooked twists. It’s more digital confusion than digital revolution.
 
In the end, “Bazooka” is the kind of film that looks sleek in a teaser and sounds exciting on paper, but collapses under its own ambition. Mammootty fans might find some joy in the final act, but for most viewers, it’s a cinematic game that runs out of lives far too early.