The Archies is a weak story, executed poorly. You lose interest pretty quickly in this moving at a turtle’s pace film.
Talking about the story, it’s limited to what you have seen in the trailer – the young kids’ fight against a developer, who is also the father of one of their gang members, Veronica (Suhana Khan), who is favoring and convincing everyone for redevelopment for his own benefit. And redevelopment means letting go of Green Park which is the heart of the Riverdale town.
The kids, who are busy living their own lives, chasing their own dreams, eventually step up and decide to save Green Park. They start a petition, get the number of required signatures from the residents, and successfully save Green Park. That’s the whole story of The Archies without any rational or emotional drama. To be honest, it doesn’t even seem fit for teenagers.
Some people might enjoy the look and feel of the movie but it will certainly fail to impress others. Nothing strongly stands out in the film for the audience to either love or hate it. Should I put it this way? The Archies is a game that’s safely played. It feels like the makers did not want to be under the pressure of – whether this movie will work or not work. They just wanted to make it within the boundaries that say, ‘safe zone.’
I would say the same about performances. The Archies is not the right movie to judge the new kids – Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda, and Khushi Kapoor. Being their debut, it felt like kids are learning to write on a clean slate but their hands are tightly held so they make no mistake. Even their movements looked restricted. Maybe, if the makers had chosen a better script to launch them, a story where these kids could behave like normal people and not have to carve themselves to fit into the shoes of known fictional characters, they would have been able to show the world what they are made of.
It’s a learning curve for them so it’s better to not come to any conclusion right now. If they have the potential, they will make it. If not, they will once again go back to being known by their family’s names.
Only time will tell!
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Wonderful review Shreya. Even I tried watching it but couldn’t watch it till end. I would also say that it was a safe play to give them this kind of role, where there personality can be shown neutral to the original world. An attempt to take 90’s kids story to appeal Gen Z. I expected a lot from the maker. As an artist I always appreciate efforts, so I really like Agastya’s appearance on screen. I think he can do really well in future, if he get some good opportunities and if he continues to give his full efforts.
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I watched this film only because it came with Zoya Akhtar label. I love her work but this movie was a disappointment. They have tried hard to ‘fit in the box.’ That is exactly what went wrong.
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True Shreya. I totally agree. Let’s hope for the good in the near future from this label to repay this debt 😀
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Hahahaha.. Fingers crossed 😅
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Thumbs down for nepo kids movie. I couldn’t relate with Archies neither in comics books nor in this movie. It is just full of star kids launch type movie with touch of Hollywood teen movies like High School Musical. Had this movie released in theatres, it would have flopped on day one. Toxic movies like Animal are ruining the art of Indian cinema and nepotism based movies like Student of the year and Archies won’t give opportunities to struggling good actors. I will still prefer to watch Swami and friends from Malgudi days. They are more relatable.
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