Indonesians
martial arts.
Notionally
this movie has a plot but it is even more bare bone than the infamous Jackie
Chan early stuff, which was patched together just to move from one set piece to
the next.
From what I
could gather Merantau should be a tradition where the youngsters from this
Indonesian ethnic group spend a period wandering around to gather experience,
knowledge and eventually money.
So we have
this young guy doing his Merantau, he goes from his backward idyllic village to
the big corrupt city where he run afoul of the local bad guy. Luckily for him,
and for us spectators, he is a master of Silat, the Indonesian martial art. A
lot of fighting ensues.
The acting
is wooden, the plot bare bone and tedious, the cinematography of the city uninspiring.
But the fights are good, very good.
There is no
cable work here. They do it all there, for real, Ong Bak style. It’s all very
hardcore and fairly brutal.
It’s also
refreshing for martial arts movie connoisseurs watching a new martial art.
Silat is cinematic and distinct enough from the usual fare.
If you are
not a martial arts fan this is not the right movie to start with. The action is
good but not that good; it will not blow your mind. There is some interesting
stuff in there but all the people involved need that little bit of experience
to make the next step and craft the perfect action fest (which they did in “the
raid” coming in a couple of days).
Conclusion:
Interesting for martial arts fan but, apart from the action, a very boring
experience.
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