Assassinos

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.

I was pretty excited to watch this since the trailers looked good, but I must say I was let down. Some good things here and there, but lacked substance.

The biggest issue for me would be that this film feels like two different films. You have the Japanese guy who is a pro serial killer and seems to have a troubled past, which I preferred of the two, and then you have the Indonesian guy who kind of becomes connected to the other guy. The only thing is, how he becomes connected is silly. Minor spoilers since this happens early on, but he kills some guys who are trying to rob him. It's a heat of the moment thing. But he then records them dying and uploads it online. There is no reasoning for this, other than the fact that they try to portray him as some kind of "Hulk" like character where he loses his mind and kills without regard, and all of a sudden he will snap out of it and regret it. It was completely unbelievable and felt contrived just to get these two main characters together, which is where another issues arises.

The poster says "From The Producers Of Cold Fish And The Raid", and thats what it feels like. It's like two different directors shot their own films, and then added in scenes where the two main characters talk on webcam and the finale. The reason why they connect at first seems to make sense, but how it ends just feels completely unmotivated. There was barely any connection between the two throughout, and then they expect us to find the finale really riveting. It just didn't work.

If this had JUST been the Japanese guys story, I would have liked it a lot more. His story had the most going on and brought up some interesting ideas that never really get fleshed out because we need to go back to the other guy in Indonesia. But together, they feel so disconnected and just make the run time longer than it should be.

While there was some good visual stuff that I liked, like the club scene, there were many editing and directing issues. A character runs through a group of guys who want to grab him, and somehow through wonky editing, he gets through them and ends up on the floor a few feet away from them. It seems like the directors just said "Yeah I really don't know how he would get out of this one... but it looks cool so just make him somehow escape."

If you liked the trailer, watch this at your own caution. It probably won't deliver in the way you expected.

Following two storylines that gradually become entwined, 'Killers' represents another calculated effort from Timo Tjahjanto and his brother: a dark psychological thriller that follows a serial killer and a journalist and their murky psyches that lead to their violent actions.

Nomura is the charismatic but vicious psychopath who targets women, kidnaps them, and brutally kills them in a myriad of ways on film, then posts his kills online for the disturbing pleasure of voyeurs. Bayu is an ambitious journalist with issues of his own, and soon his dark side will be unleashed after encountering Nomura's footage online. So begins a descent into bloodshed for Bayu, who's vigilante crusade unlocks grimy secrets while sending him down a path that almost feels like his true calling as he begins to interact with Nomura in more ways then he's comfortable.

Despite the subject matter, the Mo Brothers are keen to keep a focus on their narrative and central characters. They understand what to show the audience, and what not to show, when to show it, and vice versa. This prevents the violence from becoming gratuitous for the sake of it, keeping the murderous acts horrifying and not nauseating for the inclination of viewer intensity.

The story runs of steam towards the end, unable to sustain its carefully maintained momentum in the home stretch, but its an entertaining ride nonetheless. The tone is dark, the kills are bloody, and the line between right and wrong is crossed and re-crossed. It's a film that looks at the nature of violence, the catharsis of controlled torture, and saddles the viewer with plenty to contemplate as the story careers towards an inevitable showdown between two very unique yet ultimately villainous killers.

7.5/10

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

Interesting psychological drama.

This movie had the potential to be brilliant. The first half, the set up, was excellent: Japanese killer contacts Indonesian journalist due to a common interest. Intense game of wits and a sort of mentor- student relationship, interspersed with some fairly graphically violent scenes.

However, given all this potential and a fine platform from which to build, the writer and director don't know what to do with it all. What develops from there is clumsy at times and the second half feels random, and the conclusion unprofound.

Even once we have a seemingly satisfactory conclusion, the movie doesn't end there. The writer and director didn't know when to stop the roller-coaster that is this movie!

Ultimately, a fairly good movie, but could have been even better.