Tik Tik Tik Movie Review

If you'd told me 10 years ago, that a Tamil, hell even an Indian space film was going to be made, I would not believe you, at all. Technology, audience preferences and producers' risk-taking have significantly improved or changed for the better over the years; and here we are with the 1st Indian space film, "Tik Tik Tik", directed by Shakti Soundar Rajan, who previously ventured into the new "zombie" genre for Tamil cinema. I like it when directors experiment by exploring new genres, and this movie sure is one of such experiments.

(Source: Tik Tik Tik Movie Poster)

First things first, the VFX is quite commendable for a 1st time effort. They were very impressive and believable (although the teaser trailer had almost spoilt the entire thing), and considering the budget, time and other constraints, it worked, as I did get convinced they really are in space. I also liked the 1st half, where the build-up to the space adventure took place: What event triggers this mission, introduction to our hero and his companions, the training scenes and so on (The film requires a great deal of suspension of disbelief, especially as to why and who are being recruited for the mission). You kept waiting for what would happen next. The fact that Jayam Ravi's reel son is the real son, added a heart-warming touch to the story, through the "Kurumba" song, which I really liked. Still, the director could have spent some more time in exploring further into their relationship.

The avoidance of unnecessary romance sub-plots, the BGM which was captivating and suspenseful, and some light-hearted comedy thanks to Ramesh Thilak and Arjunan entertain you for the most part, and are some of the positives of the movie. Another plus point is the set designs. You could see that apart from the CGI, considerable time and effort in designing the interiors of the space shuttle had been spent, which was really impressive, for a 1st time try...

Aaaand that's about all this movie managed to do well.

Faults? Yes there were many. The villain was so predictable and weak. Right from the get go, you know who the villain is. "Life in space is impossible" and "In space, no one can hear you scream" are taglines of 2 amazing space movies in Hollywood. Space in itself should have been a terrifying antagonist, but it was not. We do get scenes of our characters in peril when in outer space, but they felt very brief and out-of-place for some reason. You never get to experience the danger, the magnitude  of the entire situation, the fact that 40 million people are going to die, if the mission goes wrong. Scenes such as "the first Indian to land on the moon" and many more, felt very unfulfilling. The director had the vision, but the story and screenplay lacked the right execution, which was needed to make this movie much more than a "semi-commercial Tamil movie in space"

Commercial, you say? Yes. Although the "boy loves girl" romance cliche was avoided, the movie sadly has your usual fight scenes (Really? In space too?), the "kidnapping the kid" sub-plot, the villain who has your usual reasons of being a villain, and so on. All this left me disappointed with the 2nd half. What seemed to be a promising start, led to the movie ending up flat on its face, leaving you in the end with a few interesting and fun-to-watch scenes, and the feeling of some unexplainable emptiness in the whole movie.

In the end, Tik Tik Tik is a must watch in theaters, simply for the efforts in terms of CGI and set designs, taken to bring a space film to the Tamil film industry. It is a film that is risky and ambitious on paper, that just wasn't translated well on-screen. I'd probably give it around 5.5 to 6/10. Watchable once, with family.

Oh, and it's a 1000 times better than Miruthan...

(On a side note, DO NOT compare "Tik Tik Tik" with films like Gravity, Armageddon, Interstellar etc. while watching it. Only then you'd enjoy the movie for what it offers best. Movies like Gravity took nearly 5 years to complete filming!)

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