"The Raid" trailer will blow your mind!!!

It's been some time, or maybe a very long time since the last time I was totally excited to watch an Indonesian movie on the big screen. If I can recall, perhaps "Berbagi Suami" was my last one, and even I watched it on DVD (bought original one, of course).


Suddenly, when I was following the movies screened at the Toronto Film Festival, I read the hype on the web, people claimed that they just saw 'the best action movie' of 2011, and it happened to be....surprisingly,  Indonesian movie...


I immediately gave it a look, and damn man...it was like blew my brains out! Not just that it was cool, but it was ass-kicking altogether....Similarly, I remember I was quite interested also when I saw "Killer Elite" trailer...but this one totally nailed it...


Brought by the same team who created "Merantau" (another martial art / silat fighting movie back in 2009), Gareth Evans and his team (including the main man, Iko Uwais) are back and take it to the next level...


you can check the link below for the trailer...reminder, it's kinda violent, but I guess it's better than to see any  'pocong' or anyone 'ngesot'.

I'm just a little kid from Brooklyn...

It was WWII, America was recruiting and rebuilding its military power to overwhelm Nazi's resistance in Europe. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a young kid from Brooklyn, had been refused to join the army because of his physical disability. Amused by his determination, Dr Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), a German miltary scientist who crossed allegiance to the US, decided to admit him into a special group. Admitted into the 'Super Soldier' program, this was the point of no return for Rogers, a start of something heroic, in the name of America.

Finally the last piece of the Avengers puzzle has been thrown to the audience. Following the similar trend of previous Avengers member team (that being Iron Man, Hulk , Thor, Hawkeye, and Nick Fury himself), I found Captain America is quite fun and entertaining. but sadly that's all. In term of action, plot, characterizations, I hardly found something new and exciting. Previously, Iron Man's suit was awesome, Bruce Banner's Hulk was intense and emotional, while Thor was elegant and action packed. In short, Cap is not as mesmerizing or even captivating as a super hero icon. True he got the bulky body. agility, and the infamous shield, but what this movie offers is something that we have seen many times in many other movie. Nevertheless, this is a comic book adaptation, and I never read any of Cap’s comics, so who am I to judge whether the story sucks or not?

The action scenes were okay and entertaining enough. I was expecting Cap doing amazing things with the almighty shield, and it turned out to be quite good and versatile enough. Okay, perhaps it’s not as destructive as Thor’s hammer or as cool as Iron Man Suit, but the idea of a very strong shield which can withhold any projectile? Gotta see that in the Avengers for sure!

The plus point of the movie perhaps lies in the retro vibe feeling. I think Joe Johnston (director) is doing a good job at creating the 1940ish scenes, reminds me of ‘X-Men: First Class’ production. Perhaps that’s why some of the action scenes were kinda old-fashioned blockbuster movie. Although I must say, Red Skull hideout and war factory are a bit to modern for that era.

On the bright side, I think Chris Evans is a good cast for Cap, he embodies the physical character and embraces his patriotic attitude convincingly. Although I think his face is a bit to boyish, but nevertheless he delivers well. Sometimes I tend to think Rogers being both himself and Captain America is being too good-hearted and naïve. I like the his intention and determination before he was being submitted into the Super Soldier programs, which can be a great plot afterwards. Before the incident at the lab which costs (SPOILER!) Dr. Erskine lab, he made Rogers promised to still be the old himself. Too bad, I think the plot went haywire afterwards, until he jumped into the action to save his bestfriend, Bucky.

Every superhero needs 2 elements, the villain and the chick. In this case, we got Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). As the main villain, Red Skull probably the worst from all previous Avengers movie. Poor in character and undeveloped, and not to mention it’s a waste of Weaving talent. His bad antics are not menacing nor intimidating, it’s like old school James Bond villain. I thought he built a good tension, by creating super weapons and a massive army, but how come they are so easily infiltrated, trespassed, and defeated. Give me a break, I cannot even remember seeing these bad guys in action let’s say, threatening the Allied forces or occupied important cities. All we got is their secret hideout maps, and one by one was taken down by Cap and the gang.

While on the counterpart, Hayley Atwell might be the strongest female character I’ve seen compared with Pepper Pots or Betty Ross, but lack of chemistry. As Peggy Carter, she was really captivating, I really enjoyed her presence in every scene (her appearance with the red dress made me drooling). But her love interest with Rogers was a bit rushed, or even forced in halfway through. But it turned out better near the end, which has lots of potential to be a tear-jearking moment (such in Star Trek opening), but it didn’t.

Tommy Lee Jones, in my opinion gave the best performance as Col. Chester Phillips. He’s both funny and not to be messed up with, especially with his one-liner jokes. The scene where he was interrogating Zola, Red Skull main scientist, was hilarious. It’s just that I can’t believe he really looks old, but I guess he has been that old since I saw him at ‘The Fugitive’, almost 2 decades ago. Another strong performance was delivered by Stanley Tucci. That man was the heart of the movie in the early part, and unfortunately his character didn’t last long enough. Dominic Cooper also made a short appearance as Howard Stark, but effective enough to bridge this movie with Iron Man.

As a conclusion, Captain America is a happy-go-lucky superhero thing, easily digestible, but nothing revolutionary. A lousy mid-part may prevent this thing being the best of recent Marvel adaptation, but with great cast and an attempt to take the character on faithfully and without irony works more often than not. In the end, the moral message we can get from the Cap is his undisputed determination, loyalty, and lastly never-run ethos. Finally, after a great run from all the Avengers member, I must say I’m a bit burnout by them. I’ll see you all in the next summer.

My Rating: 7.5/10