Director: Joko Anwar
Year: 2020
Country: Indonesia
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Action/Fantasy
Plot:
Living in a tough Indonesian tenement, a young orphaned boy grows up to be the assuming part of a night-watchman crew looking over a printing company in the outskirts of Jakarta. When his job brings him into contact with a local vendor in the middle of a fight for equality and justice against the corrupt legislators trying to keep a stranglehold on the population, he discovers a special condition from his youth enables him to draw power from thunderstorms which allows him to fight off several groups of thugs harassing them. Trying to do the right thing, he springs into action when a deadly threat to the future of the nation is uncovered and tries to stop it from coming true.
Review:
This was a rather enjoyable and fun genre effort. Like most superhero movies show, the origin of how he came to be created and conceived is quite well-done and manages to serve as a somewhat realistic origin story. Learning how he came from a broken family with both parents passing away when he was a kid and being forced to live on the streets by himself which causes a natural distrust and reclusive attitude towards everyone else gives this a rather intriguing starting point. Already a natural at staying under the radar even before needing to keep it a secret, that he manages to get wowed by the plight and urgency of the topics facing the nation causes him to take up their plight in helping the downtrodden who are being stepped on by the elite. It’s a wholly workable starting point for this kind of story and gets a lot out of the film.
As well, the film gets a lot of enjoyment with a fine story that encourages him to stand-up and fight for the oppressed. Generating a nice multi-pronged storyline about the businessman who’s clearly into illegal practices and intimidation to get what he wants, the continued protests for equality and the nefarious plans for the country that all combine to drive his desire to become a hero, it remains fun and engaging throughout here even though it does generate the lone flaw here. The sadistic nature of the main villain which is known to all but yet nothing is done makes no sense as a realistic scenario where it would be plainly obvious the culprit of the unrest and something would be done about it. However, the nature of keeping him free for a nemesis to battle is somewhat comical and unrealistic, but as this is the only real flaw it’s not that big a deal.
On top of that, the action scenes here are top-notch with a lot of enjoyable aspects. The early gang-fights between the workers and security guards at the complex offers some stylish gang-fights which are fast-paced and brutal, much like the sequences later on where he has to use his skills to survive growing up on the streets always getting into trouble and having to fight his way out of it. The martial arts battles against the street thugs are quite fun and build some excitement throughout while the series of elaborate kung-fu fights against the various henchmen coming after him leading into the big finale where he gets into several battles against the final bosses where not only does it generate the hard-hitting action but also features some decent stunt-work and car crashes to add some variety to things.
Overview: ****/5
A highly enjoyable genre effort that manages to get over as a serviceable origin story to get the character willing to fight while also serving as a genuinely exciting action film on its own merits, this has plenty to like and very few flaws. Give it a shot if you’re a fan of the genre, interested in its origins or a fan of the creative crew while those who don’t enjoy this style might want to heed caution.
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