Aadu 3 review: Jayasurya’s exhausting film is too unsure to be silly, too conflicted to be serious

Aadu 3 movie review: Midhun Manuel Thomas’ film falters in its bid to go bigger, losing both its slapstick humour and narrative grip in the process.

A poster of Aadu 3

Aadu 3 plot: Shaji Pappan and his gang still can’t seem to catch a break in life, and that’s when he runs into Satan Xavier’s sidekicks and their plan to destroy a bridge. Little does Pappan know, the bridge has a deeper connection to him, one that traces back to a royal version of himself from the 1700s. Throw into the mix his mortal enemy Dude and another foreign crew, things soon spiral out of control.

Aadu 3 review: It has been nine years since director Midhun Manuel Thomas’ Aadu 2 released in theatres, and in that time, its characters have only grown in popularity. The slapstick comedy and its motley crew of sidekicks and villains, especially Vinayakan’s Dude, have earned a cult following. For the threequel, Midhun ups the stakes by introducing time travel, letting the story unfold in three timelines: the 1700s, the present and brief glimpses in the future. But does bigger mean better?

In Aadu 3, the ambition ends up working against the film. What clicked in the previous two movies was the quirkiness and the oddball chemistry between the characters. But the attempt to mount a bigger canvas stretches this one thin rather than elevating it. The film gets caught between its trademark goofiness and frequently pivoting to a more serious narrative, doing justice to neither.

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Just like the previous films, each group of characters get its own track; but Aadu 3 also introduces a past timeline that has Jayasurya playing a pauper king whose territory is set to come under attack by Tipu Sultan’s commander. Even in this timeline, there are several subplots, including that of British officer Walter (Sunny Wayne), an engineer (Vijay Babu) and the king’s army chief (Saiju Kurup). While you could argue that some of these add to the story, they lack the comedic payoffs to keep the audience engaged.

Even the present timeline suffers from similar issues. It almost feels as if Midhun is trying to accommodate every character, leaving little room for the moments to land.

The scenes that work best in the film are when the group comes together, be it when Pappan’s gang takes him to a black magician in a bid to pull him out of the rut he’s in, or when they travel together in their van and stumble upon a series of hilarious hurdles. But somehow the goofiness that defined the first two movies is sorely missing. Vinayakan’s Dude racks up a few laughs, but Dharmajan probably scores the most in Aadu 3. Jayasurya does justice to both his characters, but is also held back from going all out due to the film’s tonal confusion.

When a film runs over 2 hours and 40 minutes and can’t quite pick a mood to stick to, it inevitably tests your patience. Aadu 3 has more going on than ever before, but just not enough of it truly works.

Aadu 3 verdict: Midhun Manuel Thomas aims higher with this film but in doing so, seems to forget what made the franchise fun.

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