Merantau Warrior

Merantau Warrior

Synopsis

Yuda is a student of Silat Harimau, who is leaving the comfort of home in Minangkabau, West Sumatera, to seek his fortune in the bustling city of Jakarta. Arrived homeless, he encountered a European human trafficking ring. Yuda got involved and saved an orphan named Astri who is about to sold to slavery. On the run with Astri and her younger brother Adit, Yuda has to defend himself, his new found friends, and seek justice along the way.

Official Site: www.merantau-movie.com

Singapore Release Date: 5th November 2009, Thursday

Running Time: Indonesia: 134 min (director’s cut) | International :106 min

Ratings: G

Genre: Action | Drama

Cast: Iko Uwais, Sisca Jessica, Yusuf Aulia, Mads Koudal, Laurent Buson, Yayan Ruhian, Alex Abbad, Donny Alamsyah, Christine Hakim

Crew: Director (Gareth Evans)

The Trailer

The Review

In the spirit of Asian kick-ass classic action movies such as Ip Man’s Wing Chun, to Ong Bak’s Muay Thai, Southeast Asia now has a new action hero, and he hails from Indonesia.

Iko Uwais has a hero-complex in the movie Merantau Warrior, and he uses his skills in Indonesian traditional martial art, Silat, to good use against the villains.

Similar to Tony Jaa’s Thai Muay Thai where the action choreography was excellent, Merantau Warrior has a more free flow action to it, different from Tony Jaa’s repetitive action sequences from different camera angles.

The story is about Yuda (Iko Uwais), of the Minangkabau people, famous for their Silat, who leaves his village for his rite of passage in Jakarta to find his fortune. He plans to set up a Silat school when he returns.

Upon arriving, his contact went missing, and while finding his way around town, he chanced upon gangsters who are abducting girls in a sex trafficking ring. Yuda got involved as he intervenes when Astri (Sisca Jessica) was about to be bound for slavery.

His chance meeting with the badmouthed erotic dancer Astri, and her younger sibling Adit (Yusuf Aulia) calls for Yuda to protect them against these Caucasian villains.

The movie itself started quite slow for the first half for character development, but you won’t be disappointed with the wait, as the film picked up when the exciting action sequences unveils. It will, fast, furious, and will keep you entertained.

Props to the director Gareth Evans for his vision, as so far my impression of Indonesia movies are all about ghosts and sex comedy movies for which I’ve grown tired of.

The Good

• Non-stop, adrenaline pumping finale
• The martial arts choreography is superb
• Safe predictable standard heroic plot line

The Bad

• You can see the bloody wires during the stunts!
• The child actor, Adit, is whiny and annoying
• The movie can be a crawl at 2 hour plus

Editor’s Ratings