L2 Empuraan review: Menacing Mohanlal holds the fort in a drawled-out sequel

Prithviraj Sukumaran’s L2: Empuraan fights many identities. It comes as a sequel to demystify the central character of Stephen Nedumpally, aka Lucifer (Mohanlal), who was also revealed to be a mighty global diamond-gold trafficker Khureshi Ab’raam at the end of the first instalment (released in 2019). The film also wishes to be a seething critique of modern-day Indian politics and how religious extremism in the country has seeped into even one of the most egalitarian states, Kerala. Add to this its undeniable urge to be a no-holds-barred fan service vehicle that is never far from a dizzying action sequence or a long soliloquy about kingship, lineage and more.

Incoherent tangle

At the centre of it all is the ever-charismatic superstar who exudes great control and breathes life into things when they don’t look good. Yet, with everything laid out for its comfort, L2: Empuraan buckles under its own ambition and ends up being somewhat of an incoherent tangle that fails to make the best of its whopping 3-hour runtime.

One of the chief concerns with Empuraan is the sheer volume of material it takes on. If the opening scene teases us with a kind of transnational manhunt and espionage that one sees in the Mission Impossible series, the very next scene takes us to an unnamed Hindi-speaking region where Hindu-Muslim conflicts are surging and turning gory.

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Blood & power

A Muslim family is massacred by a bunch of Hindu oligarchs in this bloated sequence to give rise to the origins of one of the key characters (we met in Lucifer (2019), in turn bleeding into the present-day political scenario of Kerala. There, the late people’s leader PK Ramdas’ son and presiding chief minister Jathin Ramdas (Tovino Thomas) is corrupt and adrift and is all set to coalesce with the very radical Balraj Patel or ‘Baba Bajrangi’, who not-so-subtly wants to turn Kerala into a theocratic state.

Not to forget that Stephen/Khureshi’s whereabouts are constantly under scrutiny by the dark web geek Govardhan (Indrajith Sukumaran), while Jathin’s sister Priyadarshini (Manju Warrier) fights to find her own identity on the political spectrum held entirely by men.

Old school

As expected, the many narrative threads and the looming responsibility of making them all tick cause the film to feel stifled. Murali Gopi’s writing, on the one hand, is defiantly old-school where in scenes brim with conversations and musings that deftly turn into opportunities for some kickass punchlines and cinematic highs.

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Ambition vs. execution

On the other, the barrage of these sequences overwhelms us because of just how abrupt the tonal shift in the narrative is. If the religious angle threatens the makers of making their film a bit too verbose and descriptive, the compensatory hero-worshipping scenes (overflowing with slo-mo fights, more punchlines and reminders of the biblical reference to the title) become repetitive. It helps that one doesn’t mind seeing Mohanlal, in all glory and trademark restraint, dispense a lot of fun every time he shows, still the lack of clarity and the general excess in the writing cannot be overlooked.

What this, in turn, does is neglect the fundamentals of the Lucifer story. The first part ended on a delectable note, stating that Stephen held a dual identity, and each carried a past or a founding myth that was waiting to be elaborated. Instead, the sequel busies itself with a completely new agenda that, although quite novel and bold in its own right, takes the sheen off the hype that has been building over the last 5-6 years.

The political scenario, in which two siblings are facing off, boasted a lot more promise than what was ultimately delivered, while the militant fundamentalism explored doesn’t influence the narrative the way it was meant to. Of course, Prithviraj and Murali Gopy do a fine job of lending the character of Zayed Masood (Khureshi’s confidant, played by the director himself) a compelling backstory. But a singular focus on this section of the story, instead of the perfunctory globe-trotting action stuff, would have done it a lot more justice.

Rich cinematography

Sujith Vaassudev's cinematography is rich and effective with its wide frames and slow-motion camera work, whereas Stunt Shiva and Wasim Kaushal's work as action choreographers required more ingenuity to impress. Deepak Dev's soundtrack blends well with the film but this aspect, too, could have afforded more inventiveness.

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Depth & spectacle

At the same time, L2: Empuraan sails through as engaging, and that is mainly for its intent not to be any run-of-the-mill franchise vehicle. Despite all the shortcomings discussed above, the sequel manages to hold its own in the current tempestuous filmmaking environment because it wants to probe as much as it wants to appease. The topics it picks aren't tokenistic but well-thought-out, and Murali Gopi's 'philosophical' understanding of India's political and social milieu greatly helps the film.

Simultaneously, it is slick and unabashed in its demeanour as it goes about dishing the kind of massy fun that every Mohanlal fan would have bought the ticket for. It's commendable that the film makes its case without sapping the excitement and uses the 64-year-old star productively, being well aware of the fact that the next instalment(s) will further plug the gaps in the storyline.

The concluding moments suggest that a deadly rival criminal triad awaits his full participation in the near future, while his founding days as a street thug in Bombay in the 1980s become another big chunk of the puzzle.

Here's hoping Lucifer 3 is bigger, meaner, and better.