A Done and Dusted Template Powered By Imagery
On the flip side, HanuMan feels quite derivative at numerous points. You could say that the template, by itself, is done and dusted by now. Be it the underdog protagonist, the ‘all is lost’ moment, a motivator to uplift our hero’s spirits at the end… on paper, there isn’t much novelty, and recency bias too plays a role. When we are introduced to Anjanadri (the VFX is rendered perfectly in this bit) in a sweeping drone-like shot, it reminds you of Wakanda. When Hanumanthu is having fun with his abilities, you are reminded of Minnal Murali (2021). Michael himself, with barely any personality, is imitative of several power-hungry supervillains we have seen in the past. In some places, the VFX, especially in the final climactic showdown, doesn’t match up to the ambition. In a highly intense scene where Hanumanthu has to save a dear one from dying, the VFX is done so poorly that you cannot help but be distracted even though you understand the emotional stakes. Despite all these evident shortcomings, what keeps HanuMan going is its constant effort to surprise you within the generic bounds it is operating in and how the film keeps trying to land one big moment after the other, with some strong imagination and imagery by Shivendra.
