Review of Merantau (2009) by Steve W — 01 Sep 2010
Hereâ??s the plot: A young boy who is a master of Silat goes into the big city to find himself. The only thing he finds himself in is trouble, as he helps a young woman and her sister when they are being abused by some less than stellar characters.
For a low budget martial arts movie, it delivers the basics. Itâ??s an Indonesian version of Ong-Bak, but less cinematic, less stunts, and less charisma from the leading man. Instead itâ??s a boy with martial arts skill, and he takes on wave after wave of nameless henchmen.
There are some absolutely weird villains. They are sex traffickers who were buddies since childhood and have a homoerotic edge to them, rivaling Top Gun. They aren't menacing until they end when they show their martial arts ability and fight the hero.
Despite its lack of story, acting, and pacing, the fight scenes entertain. Basic and formulaic, but it's a decent martial arts action movie.
This review of Merantau (2009) was written by Steve W on 01 Sep 2010.
Merantau has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
