Slow, lack of story in the middle. Avoid it. Don 2 promised a bit. Don, the remake by Akhtar was extremely slow but you could excuse it as it was a remake. Usually making a quality remake of a good film is pretty tough. In Don 2, Akhtar had the opportunity to experiment as there was no Don to bind him. Given the pedigree of Akhtar with Dil Chahta Hai and Lakshya, you would want to think he would create some magic at least.
What we see in Don 2, however, sadly is a good opening 20 minutes or so followed but mindless action, no real story and a movie which cannot be differentiated from the hazaar Hollywood blockbusters. Action with a story line is okay but when you have repeated action scenes without any thing much at stake, you do not care about the action. The action itself is not very interesting. People fighting with hands mostly means it gets odious pretty soon.
The film is a bank robbery and I do not get how it is 'carrying the story forward', some thing Akhtar claimed when he started on the movie. This could have been any bank robbery film from any where. It could have been Italian Job or Inside Man, for all we know, though it was not as good as either. It could have been the recent Game starring Abhishek Bachchan produced by Excel, Akhtar and his friend's company for all we know.
One can argue the James Bond films didn't have plot similarities but this is a 3 movie thing by Akhtar and I would have liked to see it as part of a trilogy which stick together in storyline some how. The last 5 minutes of the film where the explain things is nice but it doesn't excuse for the boring tirade which precedes it.
On Priyanka Chopra - I am not sure why you need to keep on speaking with a sultry voice to try and appear sensuous. Angelina Jolie didn't need to do it any where and it looks desperate and is a big turn off. The idea of Chopra not killing SRK when she gets the opportunity as she might have developed a soft spot for him despite him killing her brother is cringe worthy to say the least. Their weird scenes are more vomit inducing than any incest, old man-young woman relationship which you might find awkward. While they are entering into a bank, SRK finds the time to ask her about her other relationship. Err, really? Farhan Akhtar was some one I had high hopes from after he did Dil Chahta Hai, even higher hopes after he did Lakshya. However, as I have learned over the past few years, it takes more than 2 films to make some one a genius. Perhaps his directing skills have become weak because of lack of keeping at it or perhaps he has been lacking in ideas. I do not know what the reason is.
If I want to pinpoint, I would say he has terrible editing skills right now. This was evident in Don and even Karthik Calling Karthik. I know he didn't direct Karthik Calling Karthik but seeing the similar slow style with even Don 2, I am convinced about the editing aspect at least. He needs to sit down with Aamir Khan, who is a master editor, which would make a big impact I am sure. In the interval of Don 2, I saw the trailer of the Agneepath remake. Get some original ideas people.. I know the film industry is risky business but they don't call it a creative medium for nothing eh? After Dil Chahta Hai, Akhtar was the director whose movies I looked forward to the most. Today, he is way down the pack. Anurag Kashyap takes his place and there are others like Dibakar Banerjee whose films I look to watch more.
Finally on SRK - He acted well and it isn't really his fault here but I wanted to punch him as he kept speaking and speaking and speaking. As Boman Irani said to another actor in one scene, shut up! His stocks are falling though as Salman Khan appeals with the masses and Aamir Khan appeals with the urban folk. Needs a bit of reinvention and let's see how he does on that.
Don 2 Rating - 3.5/10.