Fantastic Fest Day One: Merantau
According to the film's introduction, Indonesian cinema hasn't produced martial arts flicks in awhile. I can't speak to that, but if it hasn't it really should begin again and Merantau was a great first step. The story (such as it is) is nothing special. Boy leaves home to go to the big city as a rite of passage, it doesn't go as planned. Boy meets girl, boy rescues girl. Boy rescues girl again. And again. She even has a spunky street-urchin of a little brother to sweeten the pot.
But really, who cares about the plot, we want some action right? Right. And we get it, with some top-notch choreography, too. As an American audience, you get the impression that you might have seen some of these fights before, but then something happens and you realize that while you're not watching something completely new, you are seeing something that's been re-imagined and remastered. The lead, who in and of himself is something of a cinema-worthy story, carries the weight of the action-hero while still looking all of sixteen years old. I hope like hell he gets more work, I think he's worth it.
And because parts of this movie feel cribbed from the Van Damme/Segal heydays, you have some truly over-the-top villains to contend with. And I mean over-the-top in the sense that half the time you're laughing, the rest of the time they're so depraved and despicable you want a piece of them, too. Especially worth noting is the middleman who is a pimp/strip club owner/stooge who would probably be just as at home in a slapstick comedy - hell, at times he practically was, but kudos to him anyway.
Final Call: 8 of 10, it would have been 9 save for the fact that some of the hilarity was undoubtedly unintentional, but it's not a seven because, dude, those FIGHT SCENES.
But really, who cares about the plot, we want some action right? Right. And we get it, with some top-notch choreography, too. As an American audience, you get the impression that you might have seen some of these fights before, but then something happens and you realize that while you're not watching something completely new, you are seeing something that's been re-imagined and remastered. The lead, who in and of himself is something of a cinema-worthy story, carries the weight of the action-hero while still looking all of sixteen years old. I hope like hell he gets more work, I think he's worth it.
And because parts of this movie feel cribbed from the Van Damme/Segal heydays, you have some truly over-the-top villains to contend with. And I mean over-the-top in the sense that half the time you're laughing, the rest of the time they're so depraved and despicable you want a piece of them, too. Especially worth noting is the middleman who is a pimp/strip club owner/stooge who would probably be just as at home in a slapstick comedy - hell, at times he practically was, but kudos to him anyway.
Final Call: 8 of 10, it would have been 9 save for the fact that some of the hilarity was undoubtedly unintentional, but it's not a seven because, dude, those FIGHT SCENES.