Gundala is an adaptation of the first comic book character in Indonesia by Harya “Hasmi” Suraminata published by Jagat Cinema in 1969. The comic has received a great deal of attention from comic lovers in Indonesia and has been published in 23 editions since 1982.

The movie tells the story of Sancaka who lived on the streets since he was a child after being abandoned by his parents. The hardships of life makes Sancaka often think about how he must endure to survive. As things get worse, Sancaka needs to choose to just protect himself or to become a hero to help the oppressed.

Starring Abimana Aryasatya, Tara Basro, Ario Bayu, Cecep Arif Rahman, Rio Dewanto and Muzakki Ramdhan and Malaysian actor Bront Palarae, the film was written and directed by the famous Indonesian director Joko Anwar. Gundala is co-produced by Screenplay Films and BumiLangit Studios, and distributed by Legacy Pictures. It is the first installment in the BumiLangit Cinematic Universe.

What I think about this movie:

The Bad

Plenty of violence against children, too much villains and not enough heroes. It’s really gory and reveals the dark side of politics with plenty of corruption around. For those who loves superheroes movies will find that this is terribly slow paced in the beginning, laced with loads of sub-plot that’s really confusing if you get a little sidetracked while watching the movie. Character development and growth should have been sped up a little faster. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend for young viewers and only great for those 18 years and above. This is not your regular family get-together movie.

The Good

Realistic and impressive hand-combat scene. Gundala does not use those overly pretty CGI too often, and therefore the combat scenes arereally satisfying to watch. Plenty of comic-relief filler and quite a few inspiring and memorable quotes.

Rating

I’d rate this a 3.5 star.

So far, Gundala has won three awards at the Indonesia Film Festival 2019 through the Best Director of Cinematography (Ical Tanjung), Best Visual Effects (Abby Eldipie) and Best Voice Actor (Santosa Artists, M. Ikhsan & Anhar Moha)

The movie will be screened in Malaysia on 26 December 2019 while the Gundala comic book will be on sale at selected MPH bookstores on the same date.