Almost 2 weeks ago, this movie that I have heard for a while, finally premiered in Indonesia. Although it was not shown in Indonesian theaters, but in the streaming service instead (Thank God for Netflix!). Anyway I only got the chance to see it last week. So what was the movie about? We shall go into details now.
Brief Story Line
Ito (Joe Taslim - Star Trek Beyond, Fast & Furious 6 etc) was one of the elite members of the Triad called Six Seas who were their top enforcers and very vicious & ruthless. Feeling fed up after 3 years with the triad, Ito suddenly did the unthinkable by saving a young girl named Rheina (Asha Kenyeri Bermudez) from being killed. This act certainly angered the triad who wanted to make an example of him and Rheina. With the help from his old friends Fatih (Abimana Aryasatya - Warkop DKI Reborn: Jangkrik Boss! part 1, Haji Backpacker etc) and White Boy Bobby (Zack Lee - Headshot etc), Ito tried to bring Rheina out of the country.
Meanwhile, the other Six Seas that included Alma (Dian Sastrowardoyo - Aruna dan Lidahnya, Ada Apa dengan Cinta? etc), Elena (Hannah Al Rashid - Warkop DKI Reborn: Jangkrik Boss! Part 2 etc) and even Ito's old best friend Arian (Iko Uwais - Mile 22, The Raid etc) have been assigned to kill both Rheina and Ito. Things also further complicated by the appearance of a mysterious high skilled woman referred to as the Operator (Julie Estelle - Filosofi Kopi, The Raid 2 etc) whose motive was unclear.
So what would happen to Ito, Rheina and also Ito's friends? Find them all in this truly bloody and violent action movie.
End of Brief Story Line
Ok, first I thought that The Raid, The Raid 2 or Headshot (which all had Iko Uwais in it), were the bloodiest Indonesian action movies I ever saw. Then came this film, which apparently was not inferior in term of the bloody violence. From start to finish, the film was filled with so many fight scenes which were truly brutal, violent and sometimes made me feel painful just thinking about it.
Just like all those movies I mentioned earlier, the focus of the film was the action sequence which was coordinated by Iko Uwais himself. Nowadays, whenever we see film with him as either the fight choreographer or action coordinator, we would be guaranteed with amazing fight or action scenes. And this movie was no exception. The fights were something that would make fans of hard core action movie delighted with the very realistic beatings all around.
What surprised me in this film was the appearance of two actresses who were well known for playing in drama or comedy movies, Dian Sastrowardoyo and Hannah Al Rashid as the dangerous female assassins. They played their roles quite convincingly by showing off some good moves. However, out of all the actresses, the more experienced and ultimately the most convincing one would have to be Julie Estelle. She did not seem out of place, fighting the more established action stars.
The special effects were awesome, especially those blood effects. It's obvious that the director Timo Tjahjanto (who also directed Headshot, Sebelum Iblis Menjemput, Killers and few others) put in a lot of effort to make sure the movie's action part was very convincing (which he did) with the various camera angles. Only thing that I personally did not like was the bit illogical part of certain people who should have died after multiple stab wounds and gunshots (which would have made people die due to blood lost) but still managed to survive and kill other people. It would have been more convincing to my personal opinion, had the persons only gotten 1 or 2 stabs or shots. But that's just my opinion. Other people might have lots of different views and explanations.
Overall I thought this was a pretty enjoyable action movie with the ultimate fight scene being one of the best ones I have ever seen. I think this movie was made few years before it was released in 2018, coz I could see Iko Uwais looked younger than he did in his latest movie. The action and fight sequence were top notch. They were brutal, violent, bloody, sadistic and all those gore scenes really lived up to expectations (it has R rating). However, the violent scenes might not be to everyone's liking and might probably give nightmares to those with weak hearts. So if you are people who like this kind of truly violent movie with 2 hours of almost nonstop brutal fights, then you certainly would love it. But those looking for mildly violent and expecting very good & heavy plot, then you might not be able to enjoy it. The choice is yours.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment