Patriot Malayalam movie - quick thoughts?

[Sharmila]

Hey folks who have seen it, how did you find the movie?

[Ananya]

Check here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MalayalamMovies/s/T6IFw53rnV

[Malini]

Overall it's a great watch. The first half is fantastic, but the second half loses a bit of pace. It feels more content‑driven than fan‑service and is technically well executed. It could have been a little shorter. I'd give it a 7.7/10.

[Tejas]

The film is mostly non‑linear, stitching together bits from Western movies and real‑world events like the Pegasus spyware scandal, a Julian Assange‑type fugitive story and a Jamal Khashoggi‑style kidnapping. Those ideas are interesting, but the execution falls short. Several scenes drag, and nothing truly mind‑blowing emerges – the plot often feels accidental rather than carefully crafted.

Right from the opening, credibility is stretched. A distressed pilot in a MiG‑21‑type jet suffers a full HUD malfunction that leads to a cockpit fire – a scenario that doesn't make sense for an analogue aircraft. The fuel‑jettison trick and the reverse barrel roll over an oil refinery that lands the plane in a smoke‑filled coal pit are visually bold but mechanically implausible, reminiscent of the Ace Combat video game.

Revathi and Darshana deliver convincing, decisive performances. Nayanthara and the other lead – a Muslim cyber‑security expert based in London – are almost wasted, with no real backstory or purpose. The London character ends up as a mere companion without clear motivation, missing a chance to add depth.

Many tense moments fall flat, like the Khashoggi‑style kidnapping where the partner is left waiting outside an airport instead of a Saudi embassy, and the reason the assailants don't kill him then and there is never explained.

Luck drives a lot of the plot. The street‑light Morse‑code exchange is a head‑scratcher – Mohanlal somehow notices a flickering streetlight while asleep, and later uses a boat light to signal Mammootty. The whole sequence feels more like a lucky coincidence than a clever plan, especially when they are later discovered by a street camera and a YouTube video of the maid's kids' dog.

Mammootty's character survives an almost comical number of attempts on his life – a chase in Delhi where he falls off a shopping centre, a nerve‑gas attack on a cargo plane, a parachute jump into the ocean, a car chase through a wind‑mill farm, a stabbing inside the car, and a head‑on collision while poisoned with Novichok. Even the women who handled the nerve agent seem unharmed. The climax's nerve‑agent bottle in Darshana's cabinet looks unrealistic; a laced lipstick would have made more sense.

In contrast, Mohanlal's character is stabbed despite a clear chance to escape, a forced and unearned sacrifice that undermines the tension.

The politician subplot raises more questions. A cold‑blooded man who would sacrifice his own son suddenly develops a conscience and decides to kill himself, with no gradual arc or believable trigger. Hacking his phone while it's on airplane mode and still receiving messages on a flying aircraft is simply not how it works.

Sushin Shyam's score is a surprising let‑down. Known for electric compositions, here the music is muted and fails to heighten tension.

Patriot is ambitious but uneven. It borrows from real‑world thrillers yet squanders tension with implausible escapes, under‑developed characters and plot twists that rely too much on coincidence. There's enough entertainment, but it doesn't linger. I'd give it a 6.9/10 – watchable, but far from the sum of its inspirations.

[Seema]

I'm seeing many lukewarm reviews. Is the film actually bad, or is it like Malik - decent but not everyone's cup of tea?