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!

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.

I feel like the pacing of this movie is kinda slow. I mean the guy doesn't even become his alter ego until over an HOUR into the movie. Also his power is kinda lame in the movie. He can absorb thunder and shoot it back, it also heals him, and makes him indestructible. but it is almost like if he shoots a single bolt he can't use those powers until he is struck by lightning again. This dude's main way of beating baddies is martial arts. Now I love a good martial arts film and this was enjoyable BUT I wanted to see a superhero throwing thunderbolts not punches. This dude is just basically daredevil that can throw a bolt every once in a while.

Plus you think a hero who NEEDS thunder to use powers would fight crime during thunderstorms

From the very start to the middle of the story where we are brought throughout the harsh life Sancaka has to endure at a very young age until he was mature enough to take care of himself (and anybody else who needs help), I was ready to give it a 9 out of 10, a rarity for a superhero movie, especially local superheroes (as there weren't so much of Indonesian comicbook movies before): great character build up, better than most superhero origin story, without having to impose so much of Marvel-style forced jokes, that reflects the condition of the real life of low class Indonesian citizens.

But alas, "wasted potential" was the common theme that would, I think, perfectly describe the execution of the third act, where our hero was faced by his hardest test of strength and faith: it was so rushed that almost none of the interesting, strong bad guys (and girls) has any value at all. why not make the movie a little (or much, depends) longer then, to make space for the development of these badass bad people that would automatically lift the movie to the same world-class level of "The Raid" and "The Raid 2"? Well, maybe it's the matter of the budget or the family friendly rating, I don't know for sure, the point is, for a director as hard-working and dedicated as Joko Anwar, it's pretty disappointing.

The CGI isn't so great by Hollywood standard. Fighting scenes kind of remind you of action movies like "The Raid" instead of a comicbook movie (without so much of lightning power, Gundala's iconic attribute), maybe it's the impact of the budget problem, but I think it was intentional as the great director himself has declared that in this movie, Sancaka hasn't even realized about his true potential, his true identity.

But still, it's a good start for local heroes to rise up in their own cinematic universe against the hagemony that is the MCU and DCEU among local movie-goers. Something that probably only my country is confident enough to do so.

Not bad but the editing movement is too fast when how did he get his strength. In this scene we need something more dramatic like in the film Dragonball when a superhero character is transforming to gain power. Slowing down on that scene, then it will be more exciting to watch.