Headshot

As an action movie, this one was quite over the top. The action coreographies were done superbly by Iko Uwais (who had a real pencak silat ability) and his team. I love the fighting scenes and there were so many of them that you would be left breathless watching them. They were all brutal and the length of each fight scenes were mostly just perfect. Except for the fight scene with Tejo and Tano which I personally felt was too long. Ooh I also felt that the opening shooting scenes were too exaggerated and did not make sense. However, the rest of the fight scenes were cool! Even the one involving Julie Estelle (I think her fighting scenes here are much better than the ones in The Raid 2). If I had to single out though, my most favorite one would definitely be the "first part" of the final fight of Ishmael with Lee.

In addition to the cool fighting scenes, the movie was also filled with good sound effect & the music was surprisingly good. I personally love the end credit song which felt very peaceful. The make up effects were also pretty good, with the bruises, scars and everything really seemed believable. Another plus point was also the beautiful scenery as the movie were shot in Riau province instead of the congested Jakarta.

There were also some interesting smaller supporting roles in the movie, but the one that I believe really stood out was Romli (played by Epy Kusnandar who was famous for playing in the popular comedy TV series Suami Suami Takut Istri) which I really thought brought some needed lightening mood to an otherwise very serious tone of the movie. Please be reminded also that this is an action movie where the main attraction is the great fight choreography by Iko Uwais. Hence we should not expect a great story line or logic in this movie. It is just pure entertainment. One thing that I originally felt was a plot hole, appeared to be resolved in the ending part of the movie. So kudos on the writing part.

So if you are a fan of this kind of gore, bloody movie filled with various one on one fighting scenes plus some occasional group fight, then this one is definitely for you. However, this is not recommended for the weak heart audience or those who could not stand the sight of those brutal killing scenes.

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"The door swings both ways my friend." This is not something a maximum security prison guard likes to hear when facing a dangerous psychopath and skilled fighter who appears, with the help of insiders, to be on the verge of a break out attempt. The prison guard, as may be expected, is not long for this world. The man he faced, Lee, escapes from the prison over piles of injured and dead. By force of will and fist, Lee re-assumes command of a fearsome gang and drug distributing territory, but he is searching for someone that he desperately needs. The man he is looking for was admitted to the hospital with severe head trauma and amnesia. In the hospital, a burning bus, shadowy warehouse and the remains of a shattered police station, we begin to understand the stories of the two opposing characters. A doctor, Ailin, gets caught in the middle.

This gory, raw and darkly humorous film contains some amazing scenes and lines, especially in the first half. The main characters, both good and evil, repeatedly defy the odds as well as expectations. There are a lot of broken bones and buckets of blood are spilled. I like how the fighters make mistakes in judgment, such as impulsively swinging a machete at someone and not realizing there is an iron beam blocking your arm. These mistakes accord with human nature. Too often in films, action films in particular, the characters and scenes seem devoid of such substance, black and white and no gray in between. In another example of this, Lee chides Ailin; "You should have stabbed me here (points to artery), I thought you were a doctor."

Headshot also includes thrilling music, romances between beautiful people, and unexpected twists and turns. I love the frequent nods to Herman Melville. Even the main character of Headshot is tagged with the nickname of Ishmael, the narrator of Moby Dick. Headshot's theme echoes a theme of Moby Dick; what it means to be strong. The last half of the film is tamer and blander than the first, yet it is still thrilling. Seen at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

Being a big fan of The Raid I & II, I was looking forward to watching this movie once I had seen the trailer. Headshot proves to be one hell of a brutal action film that really earns its R rating. The action is pretty relentless and doesn't let up with with the movie racking up a solid body count within the first 20 minutes. Iko Uwais is a great up and coming action star and choreographs and pulls off some amazing fight sequences like he's done in other films (Man of Tai Chi, Merantau). Although the movie probably could of been more focused and efficient in terms of the story and the characters motivations, it is still well paced for a two hour film and action packed throughout. Overall, a solid early contender for one of the best action films of 2017.

7/10

It's not every day you see a martial arts movie which may be as violent as any horror flick released the same year. "Headshot" is one such movie. It might be second only to "The Story of Ricky" in terms of violence, but whereas that one was a cartoonish gore flick, this one is disturbingly realistic, at least in its handling of injury. Off the top of my head we have people getting stabbed through the head sideways, a loose bullet being jammed into someone's eyeball, and someone being impaled on a broken tree branch and then trying to pull someone else onto the spike. Also, countless people are shot to death. You've heard of the Hongkongese genre "heroic bloodshed"? You don't have to be a hero to shed blood in this one.

The "story" is the usual "violent man with no past saves people while other people come to get them". I think they tacked on some kind of non-explanation for how the violent characters got that way; something about a covert operation training child soldiers. From what you see of this shady business, it is impossible to believe that anyone could come from it and be proficient at fighting; it's one of the dumbest contrivances I have seen in a recent movie. These scenes don't depict a hardcore training program for brats: they're more like an extremely inefficient method to kill children en masse.

But you don't (and won't) care about that stuff. You care about the fight scenes, and yes, they are impressive. I didn't think they were as impressive as "The Raid 2"'s, but it's hard to imagine too many fans of those kinds of movies will leave this one disappointed.

"Headshot" stars Iko Uwais as Ishmael, a man who's found washed up on a beach and put in a coma for two months due to him being shot in the head. He wakes up and doesn't remember a thing about himself. He discovers from flashbacks, gang members sent to kill him, and an incredible set of skills, that he is a former assassin/hit-man for the crime boss, Lee. When Ailin (the nurse who looked after Ishmael for two months and has liking to) is kidnapped by Lee, Ishmael sets on a mission to save Ailin, and to confront Lee once and for all. "Headshot" was the last film I saw at the 52nd Chicago International Film Festival this year and it was a very action packed way to leave the festival till next year.

"Headshot" is directed by Timo Tjahjanto, and Kimo Stamboel who also directed the very successful "Killers" (2014). The two directors have an excellent direction when it comes down to choreographing the stunts and fights and always do it with such flare. The cinematography is very well done, not to compare to "The Raid" films but the camera is much more shakier in "Headshot" and not as smooth and fluid as "The Raid" films, but nevertheless I can see what's going on and it overall captures the action very well.

The acting is overall very well. For an action film of this caliber you don't really need stellar performances but rather great action and stunt work which Iko Uwais is very good at due to him being the star for both "The Raid" films. I had a blast with this film, it was just exactly what I expected it to be, amazing action, average plot, and bad-ass characters. The audience that I saw the film with were super into it, there was always an "oh s***." or "whooo!" whenever a fight scene was happening or when it ended. It was awesome.

Other than the film being action packed and violently entertaining there's nothing else to it. This film is 100% pure entertainment, that's what it set out to be and that's what it will always be. I will admit the violence in the film was very overwhelming, every 5 or so minutes you had someone get shot in the ear, have their arm snapped in half, or burning alive. And much like "The Raid" films the absurdity and unbelievability of the violence is UNBELIEVABLE, and I love it. I mean where else will you see a guy who has his arm and leg broken with nails embedded in his fist and half beaten to a pulp still able to keep on fighting. I was laughing out loud to this stuff because it's so damn silly but so damn entertaining.

"Headshot" is nothing but a pure energetic and adrenaline filled film full of violence to satisfy any die hard action cinephile out there. Thumbs up!!!