Love it or hate it, Animal is all the rage right now in Bollywood. It’s one of the highest grossers of 2023, despite the divided critical reception. Not to mention the filmmaker’s rampage on film critics who didn’t like his movie. But besides all of the discourse, the toxicity and powerhouse performances in Animal, there’s one thing that completely threw me off in the movie. And it’s a very specific Animal plot point that has a similarity to one of the greatest comic book movies of all time. Read on to find out which one.
Please note the following will contain spoilers for Animal, now in theatres.
Animal Is A Bonkers Movie
Animal is the latest from writer-director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, a filmmaker known for his very controversial films that cause a lot of ruckus upon release. Similarly to his last film, Kabir Singh, critics and audiences have strongly voiced their opinions regarding the violence, misogyny and general toxicity of the movie. Animal’s story is all about Ranvijay (Ranbir Kapoor), a petulant man-child dealing with daddy issues. Due to a lack of direction, affection or general parental guidance, Ranvijay has grown up its his own ideas of what it means to be an adult, a man, and a son. All of which are questionable, to say the least.
But Animal itself works as a revenge story as Ranvijay has to hunt down those who want to hurt his father and take over their business empire. In that sense, the movie does its job. It’s got great action and amazing stunt choreography, mixed in with some stylistic filmmaking during those scenes that complement the visuals. It’s everything else that doesn’t work within the narrative. But out of all the chaos, there’s one Animal plot point that stands out. And it’s related to the comic book movie, Logan.
Animal Plot Point Seemingly Straight Out Of Logan
Halfway through Animal, the movie becomes a family vendetta story, as audiences find out that the villain of the story Abrar (Bobby Deol), is exacting his own revenge on Ranvijay’s family. In one of the more convoluted and toxic plot points in Animal, Ranvijay cheats on his wife with a woman sent by Abrar to seduce him. After he confronts her, knowing full well who she is, the girl (Tripti Dimri) reveals one of Abrar’s plans.
Apparently, Abrar has a brother, a butcher in Istanbul, who got plastic surgery to look exactly like Ranvijay. The plan is for Ranvijay-double to pretend to be him and get access to his family, so he can kill everyone. While Ranvijay’s family thinks it’s him killing them, meant to be just another layer of mind games on top of everything else. Nothing ever actually happens with this subplot until the post-credit scene, where we actually see the double. Kapoor appears as a psychotic killer, hacking and slashing at Ranvijay’s henchmen.
Logan Had A Similar Climax To This Animal Plot Point
In Logan, the titular character is paired with a daughter, a young girl cloned with his DNA, whom he has to protect. At the end of the movie, in the third act, a mysterious villain appears who is an exact double of Logan, albeit younger. Audiences learn that they cloned Logan, and this version is a killing machine.
The most heartbreaking thing is how this evil clone is the one that actually kills Charles Xavier, while the old man mistakes him for Logan. It’s a tragic scene as Xavier confesses his feelings to who he thinks is Logan, only for him to stab him with his Adamantium claws. Xavier thinking his close friend Logan killed him, is exactly what Abrar’s plan was by making his brother look like Ranvijay and sending him to kill his family. I think it’s safe to say that Logan exists in this Animal universe and that Abrar is clearly a fan.
Animal is now in theatres.
Be sure to share your thoughts on this Animal plot point in the comments below. Or follow me on X (Twitter) at @theshahshahid for more Bollywood discussions.
