Sri Asih

Dragging... dragging... dragging... great fight sequence... then dragging again... that's what it feels like watching Sri Asih. If you only depend on your super hero fight sequence, you can just be a syrup commercial, because we have those type of commercials here.

I'll point out its flaws as many as I can in this review. First, inconsistent and unlikeable characters. Pevita pearce is sometimes patriotic, but in other scenes, she's like a slacking of character. Her fashion isn't believable either, and it doesn't help make people root for her.

The directing of the opening scene is woeful, was it on autopilot? Also they can make the movie more entertaining by mixing up the plot a little bit, going back and forward. Adding up a little humor wouldn't be hurtful either.

Stealing a bit from wonder woman? I agree. But again, the fight scenes aren't the main problem here.

Plot holes, or can I name them plot holes? It's more like a massive giant hole, were there even a plot to begin with? It's like "where did this character come from?", "where did that character go?", "what is the purpose of this character?", "why is the antagonist doing this?"

I always questioned the decision of making this cinematic universe because I've even seen the best studios crash and burn in attempting to build one of their own. Well if it does succeed... Give a million thanks to the ignorant viewers who support it.

The fighting choreography is incredible, it gave us "the Raid" kinda vibes tho it is not R-rated movie, the CGI is great, some scenes are as good as MCU/DCEU movies, but Alana's character development needs more depth, maybe we will see it in the next bumi langit movie or Sri Asih 2.

The Indonesian traditional culture (specifically Javanese) is extremely rich in this movie but somehow still feels like typical modern superheroes stories.

The humor isn't cringe, the dialogues feels natural eventho it's mixed of Indonesian standard language and jakartan's dialect. The Javanese accents spoken by the actors also sounds natural.

Sri Asih is Bumilangit Cinematic Universe's (BCU) second movie after Gundala (2019). It gives a good impression after watching it.

There are many aspects of Gundala that Sri Asih fix. The pacing is consistent, unlike Gundala, which has a good start in the first half but is rushed at the end. The fight and action scenes are also much better when compared to Gundala, with more "hard" fights.

The most noticeable thing, of course, is the use of CGI. The use of CGI in Sri Asih is more majestic and neat. By this, CGI quality in Sri Asih is the best in Indonesia for now. But, of course, it is still inferior to some Hollywood movies.

Pevita Pearce's effort in preparing to play Alana/Sri Asih is extraordinary. Her performance reflects the physical strength training she has been undergoing. Reza Rahadian and Surya Saputra manage to bring out their respective characters well.

But the character that caught my attention was Jagau (played by Revaldo). As Prayogo's right hand, he has the potential to be a more important character in the future. I will look forward to future stories from this character.

The world-building is also done quite well and gives viewers an understanding of what it's like to be in the BCU. Viewers can feel Sri Asih is part of a much larger and interconnected world. The exposition is done with the right portion, so it doesn't make you bored or sleepy.

The unfortunate thing is the lack of time for the viewers to know Alana more closely before she goes through the "hero" phase in her life. Gundala gives the audience time to get to know who's Sancaka and how his life was before becoming Gundala. One of the effects is that the emotional closeness between Alana and her mother has not developed well enough.

Pevita's acting is quite good, but my concern is when Pevita is acting sad. It's like something is missing from her expression. The sadness feels too bland.

From the cinematography aspect, some shots make the atmosphere feel more cramped. But Sri Asih also has good cinematography, one of which is Alana's fight scene with Mateo.

As usual, Joko Anwar's produced movies always have social commentary. But Sri Asih didn't deliver it very well. It feels not smooth.

There are also two sarcastic dialogues from Sri Asih that don't seem to fit the circumstances. Tangguh also has not contributed enough to the development of the plot.

One more thing that I love about Sri Asih is the audio. Often, Indonesian movie audio dubbing is not aligning with the visual. In Sri Asih, it not happen.

Sri Asih is a superhero movie that is fun and well-presented. Sri Asih has succeeded in making the new standard of superhero films in Indonesia. But it doesn't mean it's perfect. There are still a lot of problems that Joko Anwar and the BCU team need to fix in future movies. One of which is a more focused and grounded origin story.

Good job, Sri Asih, the best Indonesian superhero movie to date!

Score: 7.5/10

P. S.:

• My score for Gundala was 7/10
• Lots of easter eggs and one mid-credit scene, so don't miss it!

• The final battle scene is my favorite!

One of the better produced Indonesian movies. CGI effects were pretty well implemented, although some scenes had it better than others. Action sequences were well choreographed, with some sequences being competitive with other major Indonesian action movies (e.g. The Raid). The storyline was pretty good with even some of the plot twits are sure to have watchers taken aback. However, the pacing could be improved as it was pretty hard to follow at times, jumping from point to point. Nevertheless, it was clear the actors and producers put a lot of effort to making this a successful Indonesian movie, and the final film shows that.

Worth the hype,.. slowly burned on the first act but the character development feels a bit rushed. The writters seems to under develop the script because sometimes the jokes didn't hit and few action scenes had me rolled my eyes, Reza Rahadian prove to us he could do any genre of movies, CGI looks a bit weird at first but decent choreography though, I think the first bumilangit movie was better because it didn't add CGI into every action sequence it had, and also why does she have to always taunting amd smiling even in the middle of a fight? But like I said, just stay... It gets better on the final act.