Legend of Gatotkaca review by Bobby Blakey
Well Go USA continues to churn out all the top martial arts and action flicks from the Asian film market. They keep bringing the hits in all genres with the latest, Legend of Gatotkaca taking on the superhero theme. The film stars Rizky Nazar, Yasmin Napper, Edward Akbar, Sigi Wimala, and the Raid franchise stars Yayan Ruhian, and Cecep Arif from director Hanung Bramantyo. Could this Indonesian superhero flick bring something new and fun to the genre or will it fail to meet its legacy?
Legend of Gatotkaca follows Yuda who stumbles upon a secret prophecy long concealed by powerful people after witnessing the shocking murder of his best friend by a masked assassin with terrifying superpowers. After unlocking dormant abilities of his own, Yuda discovers that he—an ordinary college kid with no belief in the old legends—may very well be the key to winning the upcoming battle against an ancient evil.
When I saw that Ruhian and Arif were involved I was really looking forward to seeing what kind of action they brought to the superhero genre. While they did bring the usual action fun the film is actually a bit of a mixed bag in its complete execution. The story is pretty slow at times as it is developing this world and the history of what leads into the birth of Gatotkaca. This is all good and necessary for the viewer, but it often times takes quite a long time for anything to actually happen.
As the story unfolds we learn the legends and legacies leading to the proper wielder of the powers and then the usual fights for power. It’s a story we have
seen a thousand times over at this point, but still compelling enough to keep you interested. It is kind of a mash up of the big superhero feature and power rangers like feel in the direction of the character and how it transforms.
I was a bit let down that we don’t actually get the full on Gatotkaca in suit until the last few minutes of the film, but is expected being the origin. It offers up plenty of fights with some great and others pretty average. It doesn’t always work, but it has promise and clearly hopes to set up a franchise complete with an ending setting up the future. I am still interested to see what they can do with the character so hope it brings more entries. This one is fine in its entirety even if it is still pretty generic in overall execution.
Decide for yourself and check out Legend of Gatotkaca available now on digital, Blu-ray and DVD on March 21st from Well Go USA.