Well, to begin with it's over all a good movie, that is to say in absolute terms. But if you consider that it has been scripted by the one half of the legendry duo of Salim-Javed who have done together the masterpieces like Sholay, Zanzeer, Deewar, Trishul, KalaPaththar - it's not even a patch on them. Probably, Javed Akhtar missed the other half, Salim Khan. Or the 20 years gap between Lakshya and his last script writing attempt took its toll. This not to say that old man did a bad job, but that he could have done much better.
For his son Farhan , however , it was business as usual. He does a fine job. The direction, screenplay is slick, but you won't feel the same satisfaction as that of DCH. That's probably due to script itself which is has a lot of loopholes. It's seems to be hurriedly done.
To give an example, there is a place when Major Akbar (Sushant Singh) sees a photograph of Priety Zinta in Lieutenant Karan's(Hrithik) wallet and asks if she is his wife. This is stupid, 'cos an officer cannot marry unless he is a Captain. Also, there is no zing in the training. Those moments could have been made a little bit humorous even though it's a serious topic. That was so brilliantly done in Prahar. Also, Priety Zinta makes the decision to chuck out , both Hrithik and her fiancee too quickly. Her character was a bit patchy.
There are many other such instances, but good direction, breathtaking cinematography and above all brilliant acting by Hrithik makes the movie watchable. Rock climbing scenes are brilliantly done - looked like The Guns of the Navorone stuff.
So overall a good movie, which could have been an epic war film, a trend setter like DCH, if the screenplay was also done by Farhan. Go watch it!