Review: Dabangg 3

Release date: December 20, 2019
Running time: 160 minutes
Starring: Salman Khan, Sudeep, Sonakshi Sinha

Dabangg 3 follows a super cop who is forced to confront an enemy from his past in order to save his present.  Inspector Chulbul Pandey (Khan) is your stereotypical Hindi action star: great fighter, pure of heart, and always one step ahead of the enemy.  However, in this case an enemy from his past re-emerges and Pandey is forced to make some tough choices that might hurt those he loves.  

Dabangg 3 has an over the top, campy style.  It feels like a combination of an old school spaghetti western and Anchorman.  Pandey has a sarcastic machismo that is very pronounced.  He is ridiculous through and through, from his aviators to his pencil mustache, Pandey is a character.  Thankfully, this doesn't go into a chauvinistic realm; Pandey is a strong alpha character that does ridiculous things, but for the most part he is not patronizing.  And in true action movie form, there are several fight scenes including a very climactic final one.  And in true Bollywood form, this film has about 6 dance numbers.  It feels like they tried to turn everything about Hindi cinema to 11 for this movie!

But as strangely comical as the tone is at times, the movie can't decide on what tone it wants to set.  Certain scenes are dark and serious followed by light-hearted ridiculous humor; the movie switches back and forth between them regularly.  And despite Pandey's pronounced character, this movie does not have much to say.  In Anchorman, Burgundy's character was a vehicle to explore old, outdated stereotypes.  But in this film, Pandey is more of just a funny, extreme character without a greater message.  And Dabangg 3 is a very long movie, with essentially a mini movie in the middle as Pandey's past is explored.  It is an in depth look and sets up the rest of the movie, but it felt like there could be significant cuts to get the film under 2 hours without sacrificing much.  As it stands, this film definitely felt like a two and a half hour plus movie.

Dabangg 3 is a ridiculous comedy with fun action and a quirky but genuine protagonist.  

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