Max: A career-reviving Sudeep and technical excellence help push the star vehicle into success

Max is Sudeep's much-awaited return to the big screens after about 3 years. It is also Kannada cinema's long-overdue return to a commercial star vehicle that doesn't disappoint fans and general audiences alike. There is a charm in the structure and presentation of Max itself, that serves as a reminder of why this style of filmmaking is popular in Sandalwood to begin with. This is the sort of film that audiences have fallen in love with for years. It gives them the required cinematic highs essential to escape into its world. Once "Max" has successfully gained the viewer's love and trust, it continues to give more such moments while also delivering an engaging experience.

One of the major triumphs of Max is that it is made upon the realization that stringing together multiple "mass" sequences will not result in an ultimately satisfying product. All of the moments designed to have fans hooting and cheering are built upon a strong story that serves as the foundation. Set in a single night, Max follows the valiant attempt of a police inspector and his aides to bury an unfortunate event that occurred in their Police Station. The movie then becomes about the ways in which this group manipulates the truth in order to save themselves from all the threats they would have to face if the information went public. It's an idea that sounds intriguing and is executed skillfully. The stakes are built to a claustrophobic degree with the antagonists banding together to gain access into the station while the protagonist and his team have to fool them under their watch. The parts that are created for the "commercial" audience are all excerpts from the story that are reactionary to a certain unexpected development. The big moments are therefore features of the design of the film and not the design entirely. This makes the film feel like a well-told story and hence these moments are allowed to be an organic manner to elevate the theatrical experience.

The movie is far from flawless. One of the major ones being the tone and pitch at which it is presented. It exceeds the limits of how loud a film can be at some points. This even includes the dialogues of the supporting characters that have been directed to screech and scream to express anxiety, fear, or anger. The movie has a solid opening but it then forsakes it for a while until it gets back to the situation. The initial "setup" process is wonky and stunts the engagement of audiences. Even the performances are uneven; some clearly experienced actors perfectly act out their characters, making the contrast sharp with those that are hamming up their simple roles. However, the structural integrity and technical excellence help overlook and forgive these flaws to have a joyous trip to the cinemas.

Shekhar Chandra's cinematography is a class above magnificent. His camera is able to build a complete universe around the station which itself is situated in Bengaluru. The darkness of the night is captured like an additional tool that aids their mission by successfully masking the activities for the opposing sides. Different parts of the city that sequences and characters are placed in are framed in ways that emphasize on the distance and aspects of these locations while also maintaining the similarity to be set in the same universe and vicinity. The biggest victory of the cinematography is, however, with the way it captures the oozing swagger of its leading man. Sudeep fills up frames with his stature and attitude, which the camera captures in a way that is larger than life. It reminds you of the romance between Bhuvan Gowda's camera and Yash during the epic that was KGF. It gives Sudeep the long-deserved treatment that his "cutout" needed and is an absolute joy to watch on the large screens. Ajaneesh's music is intense and adds the required flair to Shekhar's frames. Songs like "Maximum mass" and the climactic rap portions are designed for the large-screen experience and they work immensely in the film's favor. The background music is near perfect as it balances both the weight of the stakes caused by the situation at hand along with those that are designed to celebrate the star. Action sequences are accompanied by slick music and are deftly edited, making it stand out from other films from South Indian cinema that are edited and scored for the aura rather than the action.

The screenplay is also perfect for the film it attempts to be as it minimizes the amount of halts. Every single development is placed right after the next, and situations are developed as quickly as they are dissolved. The movie is carefully plotted; some scenes even involve the placement of characters in this universe playing a key role in how it develops. This story is handled perfectly by the screenplay that exactly knows where in the film to place these reveals to help amp up the experience instead of taking away from it. The action scenes are built up to, and the payoff always feels worthy of the time it takes to create the scene. Action sequences are crisp and satisfying without feeling overbearing at any moment.

Even through the abysmal product placements and an expensive cigarette shop bill for the producers, the only thing that Max leaves you with is a career-reviving Sudeep. This cannot be termed as a redefinition as this is something fans have known him to be capable of for years. The movie is given its final push by a Sudeep that fills up frames with just swagger and his signature attitude. His stature and atmosphere are perfectly complemented by the film, which showcases him the way everyone has been waiting to see him. Every moment that has Sudeep bashing up goons or even lighting up the above-mentioned cigarettes are reminders of why this man has been given so much love by fans and filmmakers alike. Some scenes feel like a genuine excuse by the director or DOP to show their love for this man's undying swagger, and it is an excuse we're glad to accept. The film compensates for all its apparent flaws, including but not limited to a spelling mistake of Sudeep's title, by being the experience that the fans and more importantly Sudeep deserved from years. Welcome back, Sudeep, we missed you.