<p class="bodytext">In a big-budget movie that’s reuniting the biggest of Malayalam stars, Mammootty and Mohanlal, one would not expect to see their characters conversing about death. That this sequence is placed right before a high-octane chase is proof that director Mahesh Narayanan has a different handbook when it comes to making a movie with stars. ‘Patriot’ is devoid of the mass sequences, except for Mohanlal, who does get moments to shine.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Written by Mahesh, ‘Patriot’ swiftly dives into the core conflict — spyware Periscope, which is now with a private company. Daniel James (Mammootty) finds himself branded a traitor, forcing him to flee to the UK, where he becomes a vlogger. </p>.<p class="bodytext">You could be reminded of another Mahesh film, ‘CU Soon’, as the editor-turned-director makes the case for how the phone in your hand could be spying on you.</p>.'Ek Din' movie review: Bittersweet tale of love in Japan.<p class="bodytext">Mammootty leads the thriller, and his scenes with Mohanlal are the high points of ‘Patriot’, even when the makers are not playing to the galleries. Mahesh has also ‘dared’ to go for an unlikely closure for one of the star characters, and that is commendable.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The biggest let-down is its runtime of three hours. The final leg feels stretched, even undoing the focused storytelling up until then. Fahadh Faasil makes the most of his vile character Shakthi. Kunchacko Boban, Rajiv Menon, Darshana Rajendran and Zarin Shihab make an impression.</p>.<p class="bodytext">‘Patriot’ is slickly shot across foreign locations by Manush Nandan and complemented well by Sushin Shyam’s music. Mahesh tackles a relevant topic, but doesn’t quite hit it out of the park.</p>
<p class="bodytext">In a big-budget movie that’s reuniting the biggest of Malayalam stars, Mammootty and Mohanlal, one would not expect to see their characters conversing about death. That this sequence is placed right before a high-octane chase is proof that director Mahesh Narayanan has a different handbook when it comes to making a movie with stars. ‘Patriot’ is devoid of the mass sequences, except for Mohanlal, who does get moments to shine.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Written by Mahesh, ‘Patriot’ swiftly dives into the core conflict — spyware Periscope, which is now with a private company. Daniel James (Mammootty) finds himself branded a traitor, forcing him to flee to the UK, where he becomes a vlogger. </p>.<p class="bodytext">You could be reminded of another Mahesh film, ‘CU Soon’, as the editor-turned-director makes the case for how the phone in your hand could be spying on you.</p>.'Ek Din' movie review: Bittersweet tale of love in Japan.<p class="bodytext">Mammootty leads the thriller, and his scenes with Mohanlal are the high points of ‘Patriot’, even when the makers are not playing to the galleries. Mahesh has also ‘dared’ to go for an unlikely closure for one of the star characters, and that is commendable.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The biggest let-down is its runtime of three hours. The final leg feels stretched, even undoing the focused storytelling up until then. Fahadh Faasil makes the most of his vile character Shakthi. Kunchacko Boban, Rajiv Menon, Darshana Rajendran and Zarin Shihab make an impression.</p>.<p class="bodytext">‘Patriot’ is slickly shot across foreign locations by Manush Nandan and complemented well by Sushin Shyam’s music. Mahesh tackles a relevant topic, but doesn’t quite hit it out of the park.</p>