Feels Like Two Different Films In One
I was pretty excited to watch this since the trailers looked good, but I must say I was let down. Some good things here and there, but lacked substance.
The biggest issue for me would be that this film feels like two different films. You have the Japanese guy who is a pro serial killer and seems to have a troubled past, which I preferred of the two, and then you have the Indonesian guy who kind of becomes connected to the other guy. The only thing is, how he becomes connected is silly. Minor spoilers since this happens early on, but he kills some guys who are trying to rob him. It's a heat of the moment thing. But he then records them dying and uploads it online. There is no reasoning for this, other than the fact that they try to portray him as some kind of "Hulk" like character where he loses his mind and kills without regard, and all of a sudden he will snap out of it and regret it. It was completely unbelievable and felt contrived just to get these two main characters together, which is where another issues arises.
The poster says "From The Producers Of Cold Fish And The Raid", and thats what it feels like. It's like two different directors shot their own films, and then added in scenes where the two main characters talk on webcam and the finale. The reason why they connect at first seems to make sense, but how it ends just feels completely unmotivated. There was barely any connection between the two throughout, and then they expect us to find the finale really riveting. It just didn't work.
If this had JUST been the Japanese guys story, I would have liked it a lot more. His story had the most going on and brought up some interesting ideas that never really get fleshed out because we need to go back to the other guy in Indonesia. But together, they feel so disconnected and just make the run time longer than it should be.
While there was some good visual stuff that I liked, like the club scene, there were many editing and directing issues. A character runs through a group of guys who want to grab him, and somehow through wonky editing, he gets through them and ends up on the floor a few feet away from them. It seems like the directors just said "Yeah I really don't know how he would get out of this one... but it looks cool so just make him somehow escape."
If you liked the trailer, watch this at your own caution. It probably won't deliver in the way you expected.
The biggest issue for me would be that this film feels like two different films. You have the Japanese guy who is a pro serial killer and seems to have a troubled past, which I preferred of the two, and then you have the Indonesian guy who kind of becomes connected to the other guy. The only thing is, how he becomes connected is silly. Minor spoilers since this happens early on, but he kills some guys who are trying to rob him. It's a heat of the moment thing. But he then records them dying and uploads it online. There is no reasoning for this, other than the fact that they try to portray him as some kind of "Hulk" like character where he loses his mind and kills without regard, and all of a sudden he will snap out of it and regret it. It was completely unbelievable and felt contrived just to get these two main characters together, which is where another issues arises.
The poster says "From The Producers Of Cold Fish And The Raid", and thats what it feels like. It's like two different directors shot their own films, and then added in scenes where the two main characters talk on webcam and the finale. The reason why they connect at first seems to make sense, but how it ends just feels completely unmotivated. There was barely any connection between the two throughout, and then they expect us to find the finale really riveting. It just didn't work.
If this had JUST been the Japanese guys story, I would have liked it a lot more. His story had the most going on and brought up some interesting ideas that never really get fleshed out because we need to go back to the other guy in Indonesia. But together, they feel so disconnected and just make the run time longer than it should be.
While there was some good visual stuff that I liked, like the club scene, there were many editing and directing issues. A character runs through a group of guys who want to grab him, and somehow through wonky editing, he gets through them and ends up on the floor a few feet away from them. It seems like the directors just said "Yeah I really don't know how he would get out of this one... but it looks cool so just make him somehow escape."
If you liked the trailer, watch this at your own caution. It probably won't deliver in the way you expected.
- TheFilmGuy1
- 17. Dez. 2014