by Sam Trailerman
How does a film that’s shot mostly in Malaysia grip you? As a Malaysian, do you become overly eager to watch it? The answer, perhaps, lies only with you.
“Ace” is one such movie, a 2025 romantic crime comedy. It begins with Kannan (Vijay Sethupathi) seeking a fresh start in a foreign country, Malaysia (of course!) but only to find himself caught in a big-time heist which throws a spanner in the works to re-set his life.
The movie was written, produced and directed by Arumuga Kumar under 7Cs Entertainment. Rukmini Vasanth co-stars with Vijay while Yogi Babu, B. S. Avinash and Babloo Prithiveeraj step in for supporting roles.
Gnananandam (Yogi Babu) receives Kannan (Vijay) in Malaysia. Kannan then gets attracted to a beautiful girl, Rukku (Rukmini).
Kannan makes a daring decision when Rukku faces a financial problem. Where this leads and how it’s connected to Kalpana (Divya Pillai), police officer Raja Durai (Prithviraj), and gangster Dharma (B.S. Avinash) form what is supposed to be an interesting storyline.
I felt that “Ace”, despite being a heist drama, moved at a snail’s pace. There were some good scenes, though. It could do with a better screenplay.
Overall, Vijay’s performance was way below what he’s capable of. Perhaps it has to do with director Arumuga Kumar.
Vijay’s stunts were lifeless, lethargic and not energetic. Yogi Babu, trying to be the funny man, appeared to be reading from his lines. And I didn’t laugh much.
“Ace” with a run-time of 156 minutes only managed to gain less than 800 user’s rating at IMBD. But by a sheer chance of a miracle, that below-800 rating lifted “Ace” to 9.0 stars out of 10. Could it be due to strong commercial support?
In conclusion, “Ace” is nothing more than a below-average rambling. The first half was far better than the second.
Unlike the 2024 film “Maharaja”, “Ace” lacked a compelling storyline or engaging narrative. It felt as if the producers were banking on Vijay’s strong branding while its content lagged.
Arumuga Kumar failed to produce his magic this time. “Ace” is nowhere near “Mission Impossible”. And not all aces drawn could be winners.
The views of the reviewer are entirely his own