Killers

KILLERS is something different, a hard-hitting and explicitly violent serial killer outing made as a co-production between Indonesia and Japan. It's a film of two halves, one that tells two separate story lines that gradually merge before meeting up at the climax.

The initial storyline is a Japanese-based tale about a guy who goes around murdering beautiful young women in the most vicious way imaginable. Even worse, he uploads footage of his crimes to the Internet for other users to enjoy. This is in the same territory as THE CHASER or I SAW THE DEVIL, absolutely disturbing viewing without dwelling on needless protracted torture or the like. Needless to say it's gripping, with subtle acting and a mature approach to the story.

The second storyline is set in Indonesia, and brings to mind the world of THE RAID and its sequel; a couple of actors from those films feature prominently. It involves a journalist who fails to bring down a crime boss and soon finds himself driven into his own murky world of vigilante violence. The film's heart is present in the form of the likable Oka Antara, a guy who goes on a dark yet gripping journey.

The storyline is unpredictable throughout, only becoming predictable for the violent climax. But for the most part it's exemplary: dark, harrowing, exciting, the sort of wide-reaching storyline that can only be told through cinema screens. The reason it's so good is that it focuses on the psychology of the killers, which makes this much more than another boring slasher. It's outstanding, in fact.

The synopsis of this Japanese and Indonesian collaboration did have my interest grabbed, and I was somewhat excited to sit down and watch the movie. However, I had set the movie up on a pedestal of sorts, because it didn't impress me one bit, and I found it to be just a very mundane and mediocre movie at best.

The story is about two very different men, one in Japan and one in Indonesia, whom meet on a disturbing site that posts real videos depicting the moments of death of mutilated victims. While far apart, the two men have something in common; they are both killers. One kills simply out of sadistic pleasure and the other kills for a perverted sense of justice.

Right, well the story was good at certain aspects, but at other aspects it was just a muddled mess which made very little logic or sense.

What worked out for the movie was the acting, as the two main talents Kazuki Kitamura (playing Nomura) and Oka Antara (playing Bayu) really pulled their weight throughout the movie with their individual performances.

The effects were also working well in favor of the movie. And there is a fair amount of brutality and gruesomeness throughout the movie, so take that into consideration if you are easily offended by visual violence.

However, the movie just had very little entertainment value, aside from showing some brutal and deranged murder scenes. The storyline was just not functioning on a grander level. It was as if I was watching two different movies; one taking place in Japan and one in Indonesia. And directors Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto (known as The Mo Brothers) were not really successful in trying to intermingle and merge the two story lines into a coherent and fulfilling movie.

I found the overall result of the movie to be a tepid and mediocre one, and as such then I am rating it five out of ten stars.

Don't miss out on this movie, and if you seen I saw the Devil then you must watch this .I saw a trailer recently and I had no Idea what was going on in the trailer. I noticed that Merantua films, xyz films, and Gareth Evans was involved in this project. If you have seen the raid, or raid 2 you know that those three things I've listed are not going to disappoint you. The movie revolves around a Japanese psychopath who kills for the fun and feeling of it. There are very few movies in which they show the mind of a killer and how he thinks at times. The effects in this movie look very realistic . I really love the blend between the Indonesian and Japanese world. Don't give the movie a bad rating because you thought it was disturbing . The movie competes with I saw the Devil, and The Chaser. Acting-9/10 Score-10/10 Violence- 10/10 Story-9/10 Overall :10/10

This is not a critique to other people voting for this movie. This is me trying (hopefully succeeding too) to be funny. And all because of the Distributors and their insistence on making this or better connecting this to "The Raid". Obviously you can connect many movies with each other by producers, effect people and more (see 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon if you haven't heard of that). But this has nothing to do theme wise (or otherwise) with the Raid.

To wrap your head around that fact, you do have 2 hours. And while there is a lot happening, it's the ending that will stay with you (for better or worse). The movie is pretty violent (maybe one connection to The Raid) and very convoluted too. This is either a good or a bad thing, depending on your taste. One thing it definitely is, is strange

First, it has to be said that this film is brilliantly shot. The cinematography really is exquisite, and the whole film's aesthetic reminds me of the TV show Hannibal, in that it uses a slot of slow-motion and classic musical pieces as well as looking very elegant despite a lot of disturbing content and gore. The directing here is fine, the screenplay has some holes though. The performances are quite strong too, and really do seem to elevate their script's material. As a whole, this is very bloody and pretty horrifying, would not recommend it to the squeamish, but as a film, it's a fine one, if even very flawed at times. Seek it out.