The film opens with a spectacular action sequence aboard an aeroplane that is seconds away from crashing, as two men somehow manage to save the aircraft.
The action is staged with such flamboyance that this is the point where 7 Dogs shifts from being merely a loud action film to an entertaining one.
They even get to live a vlogger's life, as one action sequence has them holding a camera on a selfie stick while fighting.
The film wants you to care, but rarely pauses long enough to make you care.
It is action, action and more action, sometimes to the point of excess.
There are films that take their time building a story, and then there is 7 Dogs, which seems to have only one rule: keep moving. The film opens with a spectacular action sequence aboard an aeroplane that is seconds away from crashing, as two men somehow manage to save the aircraft. One of them is Khalid Al-Azzazi (Ahmed Ezz), an Interpol officer. The other is Ghali Abu Daoud (Karim Abdel Aziz), a criminal and an important member of the notorious Seven Dogs syndicate. That opening is essentially a trailer for what follows: big action, international locations, guns, explosions and barely any time to breathe.
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Khalid is ready to step away from field operations. He is getting married and wants a quieter life, but that plan is short-lived when a dangerous new drug called Pink Lady begins spreading through an international criminal network. Khalid is pulled back into action for one final mission, and the twist is that the man helping him is Ghali, the very criminal he once captured and saved. The unlikely cop-and-criminal partnership is hardly a new cinematic template. We have seen variations of it in Bollywood and Hollywood actioners. But 7 Dogs gives the familiar formula a genuinely global playground.
The seven members of the syndicate are spread across different countries, turning the hunt into a globetrotting chase. That is perhaps the film's biggest strength, as every new location brings a new flavour of action. The China chapter, involving Lee Chang (Max Huang), is where the film really begins to find its rhythm. The action is staged with such flamboyance that this is the point where 7 Dogs shifts from being merely a loud action film to an entertaining one. The sequence, accompanied by Priscilla Chan's iconic Cantonese song A Thousand Que Songs, has an infectious energy and gives the set-piece an unexpectedly playful quality.
Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who have helmed films including Bad Boys for Life and Bad Boys: Ride or Die, clearly know how to make action feel like entertainment rather than just choreography. Ahmed Ezz gets to carry much of that burden, and he has a striking screen presence. He is charismatic, physically convincing and completely at home in the film's increasingly outrageous action world.
There is also a lovely comic streak running through the film. In the middle of one chaotic action sequence, Khalid gets a call from his fiance, who is more concerned about figuring out where they should get married, oblivious to the fact that he is practically fighting for his life. These interruptions give the otherwise relentless film some breathing space.
For Indian audiences, of course, the big attraction is Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt. Their screen time is frustratingly limited, especially considering the anticipation around their presence, but both stars make their moments count. Salman plays Johar, a close aide of Khalid, and gets his own share of swagger, action and even a rather amusing auto-rickshaw ride.
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Sanjay Dutt plays Ranjeet, one of the criminals in the India chapter, and gets to unleash a more action-heavy avatar. Their sequence together is one of the film's most enjoyable portions, particularly because they are not treated as conventional Hindi-film heroes. They even get to live a vlogger's life, as one action sequence has them holding a camera on a selfie stick while fighting. It is strange, fun and memorable.
The film then moves through Las Vegas and its desert landscapes before arriving at Giulia, played by Monica Bellucci. Bellucci is easily one of the strongest parts of 7 Dogs. She brings a sense of elegance and menace to a film otherwise packed with testosterone-fuelled action. More importantly, the film makes room for several women to participate in the action rather than simply stand around waiting for the men to finish fighting. Khalid's female colleagues also get their own moments, a refreshing change in a genre where women are often reduced to either glamour or emotional anchors.
Yet 7 Dogs is not entirely about the brawn. Khalid's past, including his father's death, is woven into the story, while Ghali's wife and child become part of his emotional journey. Khalid's impending marriage also gives the film a personal stake. The problem is that none of these threads is developed deeply enough. There are relationships, family histories and emotional stakes, but very little actual emotion. The film wants you to care, but rarely pauses long enough to make you care.
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And perhaps that is ultimately the trade-off 7 Dogs makes. It chooses momentum over depth. It is action, action and more action, sometimes to the point of excess. But because the film moves so quickly, there is rarely enough time for boredom to set in. There are several characters, multiple subplots and an enormous international crime network, yet the narrative never becomes particularly confusing. That is a credit to the filmmakers, who keep the sprawling story moving without losing the audience.
The climax, set in the desert, is pure spectacle. Dust storms, guns, fire and explosions collide into one enormous action canvas.
7 Dogs is not a film you will walk out of thinking about, but it makes for an enjoyable experience in the moment. You may wish the characters had been given more depth and Salman and Sanjay more screen time, but as a big-screen action entertainer, it knows exactly what it wants to be.
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Published By: shweta keshri Published On: Aug 21, 2026 09:10 IST
