Gundala: A Ascensão de um Herói

One challenge when we talk about adapting comic characters into live action is expectation. I warn you, expect nothing but prepare to explore into uncharted territory.

Gundala, the patriot-we-deserve, many people are still afraid that it won't live up the hype. Well, here's a thing, the very first minute I sit, they managed to build a bit of tension, penetrating heart-touching drama, and still turned out great in the end of the first act. Thanks to Joko Anwar who successfully crafted a brilliant storyline, eventhough it's not faithful to comic version.

From my personal standpoint, unraveling the comic's plot is essential in order to satisfy the audiences. He made it more grounded and believable to tackle down the assumption that superhero movie must be CGI-tastic. Instead of enrich CGI fakery like Marvel franchise, he strengthen the characters building. And instead of putting supernatural ability, which is convincingly unreal, he focus on connecting the dots between characters and their backstory so they make it in a perfect circle. It seems, he has a grand vision to upcoming movies in Jilid 1.

Let's dig deeper into the movie. Aesthetically, much like his previous movie "Satan's Slave" (surprisingly, he also make a reference to it), Gundala is quite good at painting the lights. The combination between visual, choreography and scoring make it even more dramatic in consistent pace. Honestly, I got goosebumps on several scene of this movie.

As I mentioned above, grounded story helps Gundala at making sensible issues; addressing topdog vs underdog, racial inequity, civil disorder, moral dillemas and even LGBT. And yes, in Indonesia's context, it's very much relatable. It did something no movie had ever done before.

And what about Sancaka? At a glance, his costume looks a bit silly. But, as it turned out, that's the most reasonable costume with realistic elements, considering what Sancaka has been through. One thing that I have to appreciate about Sancaka is Joko's ability to depict him in a more "human" side. Moreover, the lead-villain Pengkor, is treated in similar way. He's capable at sending shivers down the spine, but at the same time, he delivers something that we choose to believe is for good purpose. These appealing plot will eventually lead us to twist we never saw coming. However, some repetitive scenes throughout the movie just didn't work out for me.

To sum up, Gundala is definitely benchmarking the future movies in Jilid 1 and become the stepping stone of Indonesia's creative industry.

So, are you ready to watch? Here is some advice. Get to know all characters who were introduced in Jagat Sinema Bumilangit press conference last week is highly recommended. Pay close attention, you'll find many easter eggs, don't miss any of them. Stay put, because there will be post-credit scene which some kind of tease for what's to come.

See you in cinema, folks!

At first, I was so excited when knowing that the director is Joko Anwar..the one who broke my doubt of Indonesian horor movie remake. He seemed to be like those British boyband who really good at "remaking" the old tunes.

Well here we go again, back at one as always. Like the circle of life.

No logic nor proper explanation, unnecessary repeated location, poor villain actor especially that "lebay" b**ch the one who can't fight without screaming first.. boring fight scene weighting my eyelid,..

God damned man.. what were you thinking. Too crowded actors.. It remains me of Electra movie but this one is four times crowded. It is like no more room in the stomach but you must eat the whole plate in 2 minutes.. Even the fight coreographer tool part..

The dialog really is like a subtitle for English speaking imported movie..it is very not Indonesian kinda dialog. Even the superhero costume is imported.

I believe that there are some of Indonesian writers who have simplicity mindset. With logical yet entertaining story' telling skills.

For Indonesian superhero movie..It should be a good story' telling. Nothing else.

Damn man, very dissapointing.

Five stats is actually for myself who willing to watch it.

This movie is so cool, i love all the plot twists, i love the heroes that are very 'human', i love the villains that are also very 'human', i love how they show how ugly politics & politicians are in Indonesia, i love how the movie keep me on suspense. AWESOME!!!

The latest Joko Anwar movie GUNDALA is set to be the first Bumi Langit cinematic universe. the story is grim and dark, what I love about this movie is the opening scene that tells a lot about the character straight to the point and it's beautiful.

This Movie has a pretty good storyline, plot, and conflict. It has a grim and dark vibe to it. They made a good job on telling the Main Character childhood life with a really good cinematic, but they're lacking on introducing other characters more (except the Main Villain), and also it feels like there are some plot hole though here and there, like some part of it was skipped and not explained.

The conflict feels real here because they put "real life" conflict of how poor people are treated unjustly, hardship of street life, how money rules everything, and etc, where political is the main focus of it. We can also clearly see what was the motivation of the Main Villain, what makes him become what he is and what drives him to do so.

The pace are slow but well built, except at the third act that the pace are kinda a bit messy and feels rushed. The CGI are mediocre at best with one or two bad ones at some scenes (because of limited budget) but still enjoyable because this is not a typical CGI focused superhero movie. The Fight was kinda sluggish (it's understandable since the director is not experienced in action movies), but maybe it was intentional to make it that way because of the Main Character growth progress.

Overall it's a good movie nonetheless with some small notes here and there, a great opening movie for Bumilangit Cinematic Universe.