One Two Jaga

Our movie industry is so far behind because we never make a movie about us, about human. We just keep making the same fun popcorn movie every year until a lot of moviegoer have lost their hope in our cinema. We have a lot of story to tell about our people, our country, our culture, our history but we keep making normal movie. Its a waste, its a big waste. Suddenly, Namron come out with ONE TWO JAGA, a movie about our country's problem. Immigrant. Then, people dont like it, they said its too serious and everything, till it make Namron feel frustrated and he said that he just want to join the mainstream, keep making "normal" movie to make money, he dont care if he keep fooling people with lazy writing, cheap joke & everything. As long as people laugh and he got money out of it. Seriously, malaysia is lack of serious moviegoer. We just want to have fun, until we forget that film is not only a fun thing, its also an art.

I watched this movie last night and found it a surprisingly very honest portrayal of things that are not highlighted in Malaysia. Things that normally are quickly swept under the carpet like police corruption, illegal bodies disposal, fights where the authorities are not heroic and lose and daily money issues that compromise the work done by law enforcers as they eke out their living. This movie does not go too far in it's realism with annoying and highly obvious bleeping of some dialogue and blurring of certain visuals showing the heavy hand of the official censorship board marring the quality throughout. Aside from the off line censoring it was also clear that the bad cops were not allowed to don their official uniforms and the audience only saw cops in uniform at the very end when the good guys went into action nabbing their corrupt colleagues. The action was good and the storyline kept my rapt attention throughout without a moment of checking the time. A very positive sign of better things to come and certainly worth the admission price.

"This is the first time I've written a review on IMDB, and I must say the film is excellent. I think it portrays not just the shadow of Malaysia's wealth and prosperity, but also the harsh realities of life. As a Vietnamese viewer, I appreciate how the film communicates its message effectively within its boundaries, allowing everyone to understand its intent.

The film is touching; it portrays characters who are not inherently wrong but are pushed to desperate corners by life and their environment. They explore, feel anger, and even turn against each other. It's a story that resonates with the difficulties faced by immigrants in various countries, from the US and UK to Germany, Japan, and other Southeast Asian nations.

I truly love this film, and I commend the director for using the "show, don't tell" approach. Unlike some popular Vietnamese directors who tend to be verbose or focus on superficial elements, this film delivers a meaningful message without unnecessary clutter."12.

The good cop/bad cop theme is the most overused theme in Hollywood in the past but it is kind of refreshing to see it in Malaysian film. If you had already saw Training Day played by Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke then this movie has some similar plot in it.

In respond to realism depiction of the story, I don't think you should treat this movie as a medium to promote stereotype towards the authority. Just enjoy it like any other films and learn something good from it.

From technical point of view, one obvious weakness of the movie is bad color grading which is in my opinion too much green. But overall I was impressed by solid performance of the actors. If you are Malaysian, do yourself a favor and go see this movie.

The people involved in the making of this movie are very brave. I was surprised to see this movie made it to the cinema, as the authority in our country is quite sensitive to this kind of portrayal.. ehem, corrupted cops & VVIPs. The movie is very engaging from start till end. I was hoping for more when it ended 😄 Yes, please, Namron. Don't give up to make more movies with deep, rarely-explored message like this.