Dhoom 3 is not well liked in its country of origin, but there is a rather violent contrast between critical reception for this film in India and in Western countries (for example, this glowing review on Roger Ebert's website became the subject of predominant scorn in the comments section). I personally found a lot to love in it, although it is a vastly different film from its predecessors. As opposed to being a distinctly Bollywood action movie, it's a Hollywood action blockbuster through a purely Bollywood perspective-- most of it is shot in Chicago, but it doesn't feel at all like a Hollywood film... and considering the current shape of Hollywood blockbusters in this vein, that's for the best. Also, whereas the first two films split focus 60%-40% between their villains and the heroes (Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra) respectively, in this installment, 85%-15% would be a more accurate estimate; a startling majority of its nearly three-hour runtime is spent on the always-charismatic Aamir Khan's performance.
The songs this time around aren't as memorable as the first film's, but they are more consistently memorable than the second film's. Of particular note, in my opinion at least, are "Tu Hi Junoon" and "Bande Haim Hum Uske", although the new version of "Dhoom Machale" is pretty good, despite the filmmakers not finding a way to actually get it into the film except for the end credits sequence. The troubling aspect of this disc, however, is the abhorrent compression, thanks in no small part to the notorious loudness war. While the soundtrack for Dhoom 2 had been showing a little too much compression over the soundtrack of its predecessor, this CD shotguns the dynamic range to hell. Another unfortunate victim of this terrible, terrible plague.
The packaging here is pretty large, a bit taller than your usual jewel case, which makes it a bit of a pain in the ass on a shelf. Unfortunately, my particular copy isn't in great condition-- a bunch of cracks happened throughout its odd case, part of the back jewel case insert is slightly crinkled in the spine, and the front cover is also victim to a couple serious crinkles as well. This packaging isn't totally unique, but the last time I saw something in this packaging at a retail store was a Miley Cyrus tour DVD, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna spend money on that garbage just to replace a case. It still functions well, so I don't feel any particular need to replace it.
The tracklisting is as follows:
1. Malang
2. Kamli
3. Tu Hi Junoon
6. Dhoom Tap
7. Dhoom 3 Overture
8. Dhoom Machale Dhoom (Arabic Version)
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