While Marvel may be the big dog when it comes to the superhero films they are far from the only one. Over the years there have been many coming from around the globe with the latest from Indonesia Gundala:  Rise of a Hero based on the 1969 comic Gundala Putra Petir. Could this film launch the franchise it hopes to or will the lightning fail to strike with fans?

 

Gundala: Rise of a Hero follows Sancaka, a security guard who was struck by lightning, giving him superhuman powers and turning him into the superhero Gundala. I don’t know anything about this comic, but it’s clear they are hoping or a new franchise. After further research it looks like this film is meant to be the beginning of a possible eight film series to create this new world for them to play in with a variety of characters from BumiLangit Studios.

 

Being the first film in the possible franchise, this feature does take its time to tell the origin story of Gundala. This actually works better than some and gets you fully invested in his story and where he is going. Sure there are elements that seem overly convenient to the story, but this is pretty common in the comic world. Thankfully its one that serves a bigger aspect to the story instead of just thrown in to connect everything. There are also some holes in the story here and there that don’t really hurt it but makes it sometimes feel incomplete.

 

Despite some of its flaws the film still delivers. It sets up not only the character of Gundala, but a slew of other characters including assassins, villains etc. to establish this new universe. There is plenty of action here that keeps things moving while still allowing it to give you the time you need with most of the characters. While the action is decent enough, but have to say that some of them felt way more choreographed than they should have to buy into them. Make no mistake they are fun to watch, but with so many great martial arts