Saif shines in a slick spy ride that loses itself in its own tangled plot.
Verdict tier Mixed, lukewarm or divided, on a scale of Unfavorable, Mixed, Recommended, Exceptional.
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Critic consensus
Critical reception for Agent Vinod is mixed, with reviewers divided between those who found it a stylish and entertaining spy thriller and those who felt it failed to live up to its ambitions. Saif Ali Khan's performance and the film's slick visual style, action sequences, and cinematography drew consistent praise across camps. The most common criticisms center on a convoluted, emotionally thin narrative that fails to sustain momentum across its runtime, with several critics noting that the globe-trotting plot grows exhausting and the script lacks coherence. A handful of reviewers acknowledged that the film raises the bar for the Hindi spy genre in terms of craft and cool, even if it does not fully deliver on that promise.
Positive = 6.5/10 and up · negative = below 5/10
AI-generated summary of 11 critic reviews · may contain errors
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Top critics first, then by score · not-rated last · updated
Top critic
Film review ·
The result is that Agent Vinod never becomes more than the sum of its parts and even though it picks up speed in the second half, it leaves you both exhausted and unsatisfied. But I enjoyed the character of Agent Vinod. If he does get a sequel, I hope he has a better narrative to romp in.
Top critic
Film review ·
Agent Vinod wants to be funny, and while there is the occasional burst of wit, it's exhaustingly rare. Sriram Raghavan is, first and foremost, a film fanboy, and sure this film has references sprinkled through it - the greatest salutes being to the 1978 Don, with a mention of that immortal character's dislike of a person's shoes, and with inconveniently dead Iftekhaars who are the only ones aware of a protagonist's true allegiance - it doesn't make the cut.
Top critic
Film review ·
Most gobsmacking brilliant portion of Agent Vinod is a roughly 3-minute shootout scene set in a seedy East European motel. Even as bullets fly in the lobby between RAW-agent Vinod (Saif Ali Khan) and deadly assassins hot on his trail, a love ballad drowns out the gunshots. The action is captured almost poetically, as Vinod and his accomplice run in and out of corridors and motel rooms, dodging the firing. Now imagine all this in a single tracking shot!
Top critic
Film review ·
The new 'Agent Vinod' checks off each item on the list, holding out the promise of a well-crafted, high octane spy thriller. But practically from the moment it started to unspool, I began being assailed first by doubt, then with sinking conviction : this was not the Sriram Raghavan film I'd been waiting for. This around-the-world in two-and-a-half very long hours is all dressed up, with some slick set-pieces, but it spends most of its time in plodding through genre conventions. Where's the crackle?
Film review ·
On the whole, AGENT VINOD is a hi-octane espionage thriller with a heart. It is not just brawny and dynamic, but witty and crazy too. Ultra slick and stylish, this desi Bond movie adheres to the formula and succeeds in meeting the humungous expectations. AGENT VINOD has all the potential to develop into a triumphant franchise!
Film review ·
All in all it is a Saif Ali Khan film. A male hero finally surfaces to give Vidya Balan, the current real hero, a run for her money.
Film review ·
The film starts with an interesting prologue in Afghanistan and ends with a witty epilogue in London. How we wish the globetrotting in between was as much compelling. The film is entertaining but not in entirety. Agent Vinod gets the nod though not whole-heartedly!
Film review ·
Agent Vinod is not quite the overwhelming experience that you would want a global espionage thriller to be. More thoughtful than thundering, more la Carre and less Bond it nonetheless take the spy genre in Hindi to a new level of finesse. Finally, the cool quotient in Raghavan's chic spin on the espionage thriller is so high that you forget Bond and all his bloody brothers.
Film review ·
Agent Vinod is smartly put together and works because of Saif. That is enough reason for you to go watch it.
Film review ·
Overall, the story has flaws, there is too much travelling to make you go dizzy and it's not the Raghavan you wanted that you see. But it's not all that bad either. The movie works in bits and parts and shines in a few sequences. A one-time watch.
Film review ·
What's Good: The action sequences; the stylized cinematography; the snappy editing.What's Bad: The ordinary story; the unnecessarily confusing script; the lack of an emotional connection between the audience and the protagonist; the absence of chemistry between Saif and Kareena's characters; the laughable climax.Verdict: Agent Vinod is a bold experiment gone wrong; certainly not something that entertains in its entirety.Watch it only if you want to see an Indian spy movie. But be warned that it comes nowhere closer to the Bond or the Bourne series of Hollywood films.
Credits
Saif Ali KhanAgent Vinod
Kareena Kapoor KhanIram Parveen Bilal/Ruby Mendes
Adil HussainColonel
Ravi KishanMajor Rajan
Prem ChopraDavid Kazaan
Ram KapoorAbu Sayed Nazer
Shahbaz KhanColonel Huzefa Lokha
Gulshan GroverTehmur Pasha
Dhritiman ChatterjeeSir Jagadishwar Metla
Rajat KapoorISI Chief Iftekhar Ahmed
Arif ZakariaLashkar Suicide Bomber
Vasilisa PetinaMysterious Girl
Maryam ZakariaSpecial AppearanceHindi films like Agent Vinod
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