Retro Movie (2025) Review – Will You Watch It Or Skip It?

The much-awaited movie Retro, starring popular actor Suriya in the lead role and Pooja Hegde opposite him, was released on May 1, 2025. It is directed by Karthik Subbaraj, who has given several stylish thrillers before. But how successful is this movie under his direction this time?

Movie Story

The central character of the movie Retro is Paarivel Kannan (Suriya), the adopted son of a gangster. His adoptive father, Tilak (Joju George), is a smuggler. Paarivel falls in love with Rukmini (Pooja Hegde) and wants to leave his life of crime and live a peaceful life. But Tilak’s goal is a mysterious object, ‘Gold Fish’, the location of which only Paarivel knows.

At one point, Paarivel is imprisoned, and later escapes with the help of a man named King Michael. Then begins an action-thriller journey, where the reason for Paarivel’s escape, Tilak’s greed, and Michael’s motives are gradually revealed.

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Pros

• Suriya has done a great job in multiple roles through his acting.
• His action and emotional scenes have a heavy impact.
• Pooja Hegde looks great, but has less screen time.
• Vidhu has done a great job as the villain.
• Some of the action scenes, especially the continuous scenes before and after the song Kannamma, are eye-catching.
• Santhosh Narayanan’s background music keeps the pace of the movie going.

Weaknesses

• The movie loses its balance in mixing multiple genres – romance, action, and crime are mixed together, confusing the audience.
• The first part is a bit interesting, but the second part is quite weak and lacks rhythm.
• The story has less depth, and the emotions or relationships of the characters are not developed properly.
• Big actors like Jayaram, Nassar, and Prakash Raj were not used properly.
• The screenplay needed to be shorter and denser.

Technical Aspects

Director Karthik Subbaraj has tried something new, but the lack of consistency in the story has held the film back. Shreyaas Krishna’s camera work is quite good. However, the pace of the film could have been kept in check if Shafique Mohamed Ali’s editing was sharper.

Retro is a film that, although promising in the beginning, fails to satisfy the mind in the end. Suriya’s acting and music are the strengths of this film, but the weak screenplay and disjointed presentation are its major flaws. This film may be enjoyable only for Suriya fans; for the rest, it may not be that interesting.

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