7 Dogs Review: Big Action, Star Power, But a Thin Story

• 7 Dogs delivers large-scale action across international locations, with Ahmed Ezz and Karim Abdel Aziz leading the story.
• Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt make limited but memorable appearances that add considerable star appeal.
• The film’s strongest sequences combine ambitious choreography, visual scale and the directors’ flair for action entertainment.
• Its central crime-and-drug narrative is familiar, while several supporting characters and emotional arcs remain underdeveloped.
• Monica Bellucci adds sophistication to the international ensemble, although her character is not given enough depth.
• The film works best as a theatrical action spectacle rather than as a tightly written crime thriller.

7 Dogs arrives in Indian cinemas with the scale of an international action blockbuster, bringing together Egyptian stars Ahmed Ezz and Karim Abdel Aziz with Monica Bellucci, Giancarlo Esposito, Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt. Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the film delivers plenty of explosions, chases and globe-spanning set pieces, but its spectacular surface is repeatedly undermined by a familiar and relatively thin story. The film released in Indian theatres on August 21, 2026.

The film wastes little time establishing its intentions. It opens with an elaborate action sequence aboard an aircraft and quickly introduces Interpol officer Khalid Al-Azzazi (Ahmed Ezz) and criminal Ghali Abu Dawood (Karim Abdel Aziz), two men whose paths collide again when a dangerous synthetic drug called Pink Lady enters an international criminal network.

Khalid is preparing to leave field operations behind as he looks toward marriage and a quieter life. That plan disappears when he is drawn into one more mission. His unlikely partner is Ghali, a criminal he previously captured. Their uneasy alliance becomes the engine of the story as they pursue a powerful syndicate operating across several countries.

The action is the real star

The biggest strength of 7 Dogs is its scale. The film moves through different international settings and continually raises the size of its action sequences. Cars crash, explosions dominate the frame and gun battles unfold with the kind of excess expected from a large-scale theatrical action film.

El Arbi and Fallah, whose credits include Bad Boys for Life and Bad Boys: Ride or Die, understand the value of making action entertaining rather than simply functional. The camera keeps moving, the editing maintains momentum and the set pieces are designed to give the audience something new to look at.

The China-set sequence stands out in particular. Its combination of choreography, visual flair and music gives the film a playful energy that some of the more conventional action scenes lack. The desert climax then pushes the spectacle even further, turning dust, fire, weapons and explosions into an oversized finale.

The production’s ambition is also reflected outside the film’s narrative. Guinness World Records lists a 170.7-tonne TNT-equivalent explosion filmed for 7 Dogs in Riyadh in August 2025 as the largest film stunt explosion.

Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt make their moments count

For Indian audiences, the most anticipated element is the appearance of Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt. Both have limited screen time compared with the Egyptian leads, but the film uses their star presence effectively.

Salman plays Johar, an associate of Khalid, and brings his familiar swagger to the action. One sequence involving an auto-rickshaw provides a lighter touch, while his scenes with Sanjay add a distinctly Indian flavour to the otherwise international setting.

Sanjay plays Ranjeet, a criminal involved in the India chapter. His action-heavy appearance gives him room to project the rugged screen presence associated with his larger roles.

Their joint sequence is deliberately playful, including an unusual moment in which the characters carry a camera and selfie stick during an action sequence. It is an odd choice, but one that fits the film’s willingness to favour spectacle and humour over realism.

The directors have also spoken positively about working with the two Indian stars, describing their relationship during production as becoming “like brothers”. ([Research Portal][3])

Ahmed Ezz and Karim Abdel Aziz carry the film

Despite the attention surrounding its international cast, 7 Dogs ultimately belongs to Ahmed Ezz and Karim Abdel Aziz.

Ezz gives Khalid the physical intensity needed for a film built around near-continuous action, while Abdel Aziz brings greater restraint and charisma to Ghali. Their uneasy relationship gives the otherwise conventional crime plot its strongest dramatic element.

The film also attempts to give Khalid and Ghali personal stakes. Khalid’s impending marriage and memories surrounding his father provide a human side to the Interpol officer, while Ghali’s wife and child are used to deepen his motivation.

The problem is that the screenplay rarely stops to explore these elements. Characters have histories and emotional stakes, but the film moves so rapidly between action sequences that those threads seldom develop into substantial drama.

Monica Bellucci adds elegance, but the story stays familiar

Monica Bellucci brings a different energy to the film as Giulia Leone, an influential figure within the international criminal network. Her presence gives the crime world a touch of sophistication, and the film allows several female characters to participate directly in its action rather than relegating them entirely to supporting roles.

Yet the screenplay does not give Bellucci or several other supporting characters enough material to make their arcs particularly memorable.

That is the recurring weakness of 7 Dogs. Its central premise — an officer joining forces with a captured criminal to take on a larger syndicate — is familiar. Drug trafficking, betrayals, shifting loyalties and international conspiracies provide the framework, but the screenplay does little to substantially reinvent those elements.

Spectacle over substance

The film’s pacing is both its greatest advantage and its clearest limitation.

Because something is almost always happening, 7 Dogs rarely becomes boring. The international locations, escalating action and changing alliances keep the narrative moving. At the same time, that relentless pace leaves little room for the emotional or character-driven moments to breathe.

The result is a film that can be enjoyed in the moment without necessarily leaving much behind once the action stops. The visual ambition is considerably stronger than the writing, and the star power often feels larger than the roles themselves.

That imbalance is particularly noticeable with Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt. Their appearances are entertaining, but the film could have extracted more from their reunion. Their limited screen time makes their presence feel closer to an event within the film than a central part of its narrative.

Verdict

7 Dogs knows exactly what kind of theatrical experience it wants to provide: big locations, bigger action and a cast designed to give the film international reach. On those terms, it succeeds often enough to make the two-hour-plus runtime move quickly.

Ahmed Ezz and Karim Abdel Aziz provide the film with a solid dramatic centre, while Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt bring unmistakable star appeal whenever they appear. The directors handle the action with confidence, and several set pieces deliver the kind of spectacle that benefits from a cinema screen.

But beneath the explosions, the story remains conventional. The character arcs are underdeveloped, some supporting roles are thinly written and the emotional material rarely gets the attention it needs.

7 Dogs is therefore best approached as a high-energy action spectacle rather than a deeply layered crime thriller. It may not offer much novelty in its story, but for viewers looking for an international action ride with plenty of scale and star power, it delivers enough to keep the screen busy.