Our favorite Indian commando Karan (Vidyut Jammwal) is back, this time with bigger muscles in a bigger film. But is bigger always better? Where the first part, 2013's “Commando”, wasn't a great film, it did offer some fun moments with its action god Jammwal kicking and punching his way to solutions. “Commando 2”, also known as “The Black Money Trail”, shows more of that and is definitely bigger in scale but also a lot dumber than it's predecessor.

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Just like with part 1, the film contains fun moments and some action blowouts that feed our ever-hungry action junkie soul, but the story is just a big mess. Where the previous instalment had a simple and straightforward story, this film offers a plot full of twists and turns. Unfortunately, it turns it into one of those movies that tries to be smart but looks kind of dumb while doing it. Plot twists are thrown in our face with bombastic music and slow motion with the actors reacting to it with “oh my god!” faces while it happens. I guess these are the faces the filmmakers wanted us to have, but actually, it brings more of a laughable effect.

 

Ok, so what about the film's star, Vidyut Jammwal? With the body of a Greek god and the moves of a martial arts superstar, he is again the right guy to portray this kind of role. It is too bad he mostly just pulls a smug face and delivers his lines like nothing is ever bothering him. He is an indestructible force to reckon with, and you don't feel he is in danger at any time. This makes you care less about our hero as he will make it any way. Not caring can also be said about the team he joins to fight the enemy. A rough police sergeant (Freddy Daruwala) who is best at looking angry; a sexy but annoying corrupt female agent (Adah Sharma) who is introduced as a badass but gradually changes into a girl who can't really do anything but stare; and a computer nerd (Sumit Gulati) who is there to eventually do nothing.

So now that we know that considering story and character the film isn't exactly a-grade, how about them “fun moments that feed our action junkie soul” I mentioned earlier? Well, the film starts out with what is, arguably, the best action scene, and it is a good one. It reintroduces us to the commando we got to know in 2013, and he is more lethal than ever before. After this cool scene, we have to wait about an hour before the second action sequence comes along. These action scenes are ok and entertaining but suffer from slow motion overload and feel like kind of a letdown after that awesome first scene. Especially the smack down against beefcake Thakur Anoop Singh on a helipad disappoints, making the film start with a high but end more towards of a low.

“Commando 2” tries hard, but fails while doing so. Vidyut Jammwal is an awesome martial artist as this movie proves again and I would love to see him in more films. But let's hope they try a bit harder with the script next time. As we know, most action films have their story to act as a supporting character for its main purpose of showcasing the action sequences. I am normally not really bothered by that at all, but with this film the presentation of certain plot points and then mostly the reactions we get from the characters is what turned me off. The film is still worth seeing for the action but next to that there isn't much left.