Photo courtesy of Bumilangit Studios & Screenplay Films.
Gundala, directed by Joko Anwar and based on a 1969 comic book character created for Bumilangit, is an interesting phenomenon. With a budget of at least 30 billion rupiah and over 600 fx shot it is, by Indonesian standards, a bone fide blockbuster. It says that the domestic film industry in Indonesia has the stones to stand on its own and create a home-grown super hero cinematic universe based on original local content. And moreover, it says that the film-going public is ready for such a movie.
All signs point to that being right. In four days since release the film has done 700,000 admissions - not quite Dilan-level numbers yet, but there is a lot of buzz about this movie. The number one thing the film has going for it, is that it’s good! Even my wife, who went in expecting not to like it, had to admit that it was pretty good. Especially when you consider the budgetary constraints, the effects deliver and are applied for maximum impact. When some guy gets blasted with lightning, it never looks like a cheap Power Ranger knock-off or anything.
I think a lot of that comes down to the skill with which the film is shot. The cinematography is very good, gritty and often switches into a handheld aesthetic which puts you right in the action. Speaking of action, I was deeply impressed with the fight choreography. One thing that I felt held Halfworlds back from being great was that the fight scenes were a bit of a let-down. But as The Raid and The Night Comes for Us showed, there is no lack of talent in the Indonesian film industry when it comes to people who are supremely gifted at choreographing elegant, brutal and fast-paced sequences of people hitting and kicking each other in the face. And the fight scenes in this film are one of its major strengths.
But the most interesting thing about Gundala is that it’s an Indonesian film made by Indonesians for Indonesians, drawing on indigenous myths and cultural lore to create a home-grown super hero. Sure, Joko and Bumilangit borrow ideas and visual references from Marvel and Tarantino, but they are applied in service of an origin story that traces its roots back to Javanese legend. White people who look like Thor weren’t the only ones to have the idea of demi-gods who could shoot lightning out of their fingers.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable home-spun Indonesian super hero flick. It’s cheeky, broad and has fun with the concept, just like a Marvel movie. It’s well made, with great action choreography and it’s a good example of the kind of film Joko Anwar likes to make - one that uses the medium of film to celebrate and promote uniquely Indonesian symbols and myths, and targeted at a domestic audience. if there is ever any doubt about who this film was made for, look no further than the fact that the villain’s evil plan involves poisoning the city’s rice supply. Only in Asia would a master-criminal cook up a scheme like that.