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Dragon Movie Review: Ashwath Marimuthu’s Dragon is a coming-of-age comedy that also moonlights as a campus drama, though there are extensive portions set outside the college environment. With a story credited to the director and the film’s lead star, Pradeep Ranganathan, Dragon certainly shows promise in its tale of a good boy turning bad and then striving to redeem himself. Pradeep Ranganathan, who appears in nearly every frame of the film, carries the movie effortlessly with his confident body language and performance. Yet, there are times when Dragon coughs smoke rather than breathes fire, particularly with its inconsistent screenplay. ‘Dragon’ Movie Review: Pradeep Ranganathan and Ashwath Marimuthu’s Coming-of-Age Youthful Entertainer Receives Critical Acclaim.
Raghavan (Pradeep Ranganathan) used to be a studious boy in school who gets ditched by his crush, as she prefers the bad boy of their class. Believing that studies aren’t enough to get a girl, Raghavan decides to become a ‘bad boy’ in college, rechristening himself as ‘Dragon’. The next time we see him, Raghavan is already the resident bad boy of his college, having acquired a girlfriend, Keerthi (Anupama Parameswaran), as well as arrears in 48 subjects. However, he doesn’t complete his degree, instead lying to his parents that he has a job when, in reality, he spends his time at his friends’ flat making reels and sleeping.
Fed up with his lack of ambition, Keerthi dumps him and marries someone else. After moping around for days, Raghavan is determined to prove her wrong and find a job that earns him lakhs. He fakes a degree certificate through a consultancy and lands a job at an MNC, where he actually proves himself to be a good employee through hard work and dedication, impressing his boss (Gautham Vasudev Menon) and earning promotions and salary hikes.
Watch the Trailer of 'Dragon':
Raghavan also gets engaged to a wealthy girl, Pallavi (Kayadu Lohar), whose family is impressed by his ‘honest’ way of living. Just as things start looking up, his past comes back to haunt him in the form of his old principal, Mayilvahanan (Mysskin).
’Dragon’ Movie Review - A Looser First Half
One of the main factors that makes Dragon appealing to a viewer is how much you can connect with Raghavan’s journey, with its ups and downs, and his character. It’s a grey role, and there are portions, particularly in the first half, where he comes across as unlikeable. I’m not sure if the movie realises this - for example, Keerthi dumping him makes a lot of sense, considering he has been sponging off her and his friends for so long. But when she apologises to him later in the movie for doing so, it feels like the film slips into a ‘boys will be boys’ mentality and is trying to show she was wrong in ditching an irresponsible loser.
Yet, director Ashwath Marimuthu seems to know the pulse of his target audience, particularly those with a Y chromosome, and he peppers the film with relatable scenes. There are moments in the first half where I could connect with Raghavan’s plight, but that isn’t enough to stop the first half of Dragon from dragging. The stretch from when he leaves college to when he connects with the fake certificate consultancy feels rather ordinary, with humour that doesn’t quite land. Despite the film’s attempts to add emotional depth to the protagonist’s mental turmoil post-breakup, it mostly falls flat. Tighter editing in these portions would have helped.
It’s after Raghavan visits the consultancy and tries to conjure a fake certificate and job that Dragon finds its wings. The online interview scene, where Raghavan tries to trick his future boss, is a riot, and the montage of his rise in his new company and personal life is neatly done. His courtship of Pallavi is charming enough, and I enjoyed the “Vazhithunaiye” sequence shot around Europe. Now that Dragon has its wings, I was waiting for it to take flight and breathe fire. The potential for this comes with the return of Mayilvahanan into Raghavan’s life, and I hoped the second half would shift into third gear.
’Dragon’ Movie Review - A Slightly Better Second Half
Mayilvahanan’s condition to the hero and how it traps Raghavan with no apparent escape is an interesting plot choice, bringing the film back to the campus genre. The reasoning behind Mayilvahanan putting Raghavan through the grind makes sense and ties well to his introduction earlier in the film.
Yet, while this is where the plot of Dragon actually gains momentum, it moves in fits and starts. We’ve seen films where older characters return to complete their studies, and while the idea isn’t novel, it’s the screenplay that should make the revisit enjoyable. Raghavan’s campus story feels like it’s going through the usual beats, as he tries to figure out how to clear his arrears while keeping his struggles a secret from his boss and fiancée, and despite Ranganathan's harried performance, the campus storyline doesn't get to shine enough.
That’s not to say there aren’t fun moments - like the scene where he learns from a news channel that he can’t leave the campus and has to beg the principal to let him stay. In such moments, Pradeep Ranganathan’s comic flair truly shines. The return of Keerthi was intriguing, but while I thought this would allow her character to develop further, she instead continues to be a plot device to aid the hero. In fact, that’s the problem with the female characters in the film - they’re more or less embellishments for the hero’s arc, serving as milestones or catalysts for his motivations but never becoming fully realised characters in their own right. ‘Nilavuku En Mel Ennadi Kobam’ Movie Review: Pavish Narayan and Mathew Thomas’ Bromance Steals the Show in Dhanush’s Spirited Romcom.
The character of Kutty Dragon, played by Harshath Khan, is annoying - a forced comic sidekick where one wasn’t really needed.
The third act sees some interesting developments. Just when you think Dragon has reached a satisfying conclusion, the film drops a twist that offers the protagonist a moment of introspection. However, it then tries to unpack too many things - a confession, a redemption, a revival, and an unconvincing attempt at romance - all within a few minutes and becomes a bit too convoluted for its own good.
’Dragon’ Movie Review - The Performances
As for the performances, Dragon is undeniably Pradeep Ranganathan’s show, and the actor-director owns it completely. Whether in comedic or emotional scenes, he shines brightly. The two female leads, Anupama Parameswaran and Kayadu Lohar, are presented beautifully, but their impact is severely limited by the lack of character development.
Among the supporting cast, Mysskin stands out as the moralistic principal who believes in second chances. George Maryan is likeable as the hero’s naïve father, and his scene with his son in the finale is touching. Gautham Vasudev Menon is his usual self, though we do get to see him dance well in the “Rise of Dragon” song. That said, his character is one of the dumbest CEOs I’ve seen on screen—what kind of big MNC doesn’t conduct a background check before hiring an employee?
’Dragon’ Movie Review - Final Thoughts
Dragon is a decent watch, but don’t expect it to breathe fire throughout. While it stumbles in pacing and struggles to fully develop its supporting characters, particularly the women, it’s Pradeep Ranganathan’s charisma and earnest performance that keeps the film afloat. The second half, with its sharper humour and emotional beats, shows glimpses of what Dragon could have been with tighter editing and more focused storytelling.
(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 22, 2025 08:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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