The first hour of this Indonesian Super-Hero Origin story is compellingly dark, imaginatively plotted & cleverly structured, so well handled and involving that the film’s second half, over-elaborated with special effects, action set pieces & commonplace character conflict, feels like an insult to the emotional investment we’ve worked up. From talented writer/director Joko Anwar, something of a puzzle, and a lesson in the law of diminishing returns.* The opening is just great as young hero-to-be Sancaka (Muzakki Ramdhan) loses father & mother thru a series of unfortunate incidents: workers’ strike riots, a comrade’s treachery and corporate sponsored disappearance. Bullied & bruised as an orphaned street kid, wary even of helping hands, a few lightning bolts start him on a super-hero’s journey that land him in the middle of urban & political warfare by the time he’s matured. Djakarta’s frequent stormy weather a big help! Canny compositions, a cast you don’t need a scorecard to follow and combat that stays on a human-scale (for a while), lend a naturalistic vibe to this live-action comic book. (Not far off one of those Literary Comic Classics, say, Zola’s GERMINAL as Graphic Novel.) But once Sancaka (well played as an adult by Abimana Aryasatya) gains full power & tacky costume, while various conspiracies close in (Armies of Orphan Thugs controlled by a government minister with a half-melted face!), GUNDALA grows progressively less specific, less special. Worse, a sequel-teasing epilogue defrosts some ancient villain as new nemesis. Too bad they didn’t think to go back in time.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Anwar shows exceptional facility spotting unexpected framing devises inside already framed compositions, like a stealth editing tool.
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