Yowis Ben

Yowis Ben is a comedy film that delivers a lighthearted yet highly entertaining story, especially for audiences familiar with Javanese culture. Directed by Fajar Nugros and Bayu Skak, the film successfully blends youthful humor with a strong local touch. Bayu Skak, who also stars as the lead character, proves his ability to craft a simple yet hilarious and engaging narrative.

One of the film's biggest strengths is its use of the Javanese language, making it feel incredibly authentic. The dialogue flows naturally, reflecting the lives of young people in regional areas, particularly those growing up in East Java. Despite this, the humor remains universal, ensuring that viewers from different backgrounds can still enjoy the comedy.

In terms of characters, each member of the Yowis Ben band has their own unique personality, and their interactions are a major highlight of the film. The chemistry between the actors is strong, making their relationships feel natural and enjoyable to watch. Bayu's character, a young man with big dreams, serves as the heart of the story and is quite inspiring.

Visually, the film does not aim for excessive grandeur, yet it successfully captures the atmosphere of Malang city in an authentic way. The simple cinematography enhances the film's realistic feel. The music is another standout element, featuring catchy songs that reflect the youthful and energetic spirit of the story.

However, the film does have some shortcomings, such as a relatively straightforward storyline that can feel predictable at times. Some comedic moments may also feel exaggerated, though for many viewers, this adds to the film's charm.

Overall, Yowis Ben is a successful comedy that entertains with its unique local humor, strong characters, and memorable music. With its blend of Javanese culture and lighthearted comedy, the film earns a solid 8/10 as an enjoyable and laughter-filled experience.

I have to admit that this movie is looking fresh because it is using Javanese language instead of Indonesian language and this is new for Indonesian commercial movies. Javanese language is an unofficial language in Indonesia which is commonly using in Java Island, especially in Central Java and Eastern Java. As an person who lives in Javanese neighborhood (though I am not a Javanese), I can relate to this movie more than who doesn't. The gestures and behaviors of the characters in this movie really familiar to me because I have seen many people like this around me everyday. People who doesn't live in Java may not understand and relate about this movie and ended give a bad ratings or reviews. So, I can say this movie is a segmented movie.

The story is a about the boys who form a music band in order to become popular in school and attract the girls they like. The story sounds so cheesy and belong to last decade, so does the songs and soundtracks that used in this movie, they are outdated too. But, I still like how this movie utilizing stereotype of local people and make fun of it, I also appreciated how they use some local jokes smartly. Beside that, the plot is so standard, you even already forget how the story ended after watching this in short time.

Jokes impressed not forced natural sangan but unfortunately the female cast is not good

This is the first Film written, play, and co-directed by Bayu Skak (a famous Youtuber from Malang, Indonesia). He put javanese as a main language in this movie like all his videos on Youtube, which is good for the variety and preserving the local culture of Malang. Before I watch this movie, I'm afraid that this movie will copycat thailand movie "Suckseed" (based on the trailer), but that's not 100% true. The only same thing was Bayu and his friends want to show their existence through music, that's all. The comedy was good, especially in the beginning of the movie. But after that, unfortunately there are many hit and miss with the comedy line. About the story, this movie has a good potential, but not executed well enough. At least there was two scene that I don't understand the reason behind the cause and effect as the story progress, It just doesn't make sense. I think there are many plot hole in this movie causing that, or deleted scene maybe, I don't know. About the acting, Joshua did a very great job here.

This is my honest review, please don't bash me Skakmate, lol.

Edit: Seriously, this movie got 9.7 now? C'mon, this is too much. I know that 95% voters was Skakmate. Guys, this is not how you support your idol, give him/this movie an objective score, for his own good, so he can make a better movie next time.

So, I think this film is an example of the generif Romcom Movie. The only specialty is Tha Java factor for representating Jaca daily culture. That's it.