I love all things superhero, but add to the mix a heavy dose of martial arts and I am all in. While not one of the big budget blockbusters raking in the dough here in the states there are still plenty out there all over the world doing some fun stuff. The latest is the Indonesian action Valentine: The Dark Avenger film based on Sarjono Sutrisno, Aswin MC Siregar & Ian Waryanto, Skylar Comics character Valentine. Could this flick offer up something new to the genre as well as the action or will it fail to find justice?

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Valentine: The Dark Avenger follows Batavia City, a beautiful city that no longer safely inhabited. Robbery, violence, and a variety of increasingly rampant criminality. In the midst of this chaotic city, Srimaya, a cafe waitress who dreams of becoming an actress never thought that dream would change her life. Her meeting with Bono, a film director and his friend, Wawan, will take her on a dangerous adventure full of thrilling action with lives at stake. Turning her from an ordinary girl into Batavia City heroine of hope, Valentine.

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I knew nothing about this film going it which is a good thing more often than not. While the film doesn’t always work it does a decent job over all. There is a bit of unevenness to its direction at time, but still manages to work. Without knowing anything about the book I was able to just have fun with the story they were trying to tell. It seemed to struggle a bit trying to initially decided if it wanted to be serious or more of a dark comedy. It plays up some like Kick-Ass, but with less effectiveness. That’s not to say there is no fun to be had as there are plenty of fun fight sequences that are pretty well done for the most part. There are a couple that come off a bit more klunky and staged, but still work.

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Despite some of the films flaws it still manages to entertain with what they are trying to do. If it gets the chance to do another then it has the chance to expand and do something really great with the way it ends, but only time will tell. If you enjoy superhero action flicks then give this one as try and decide for yourself when Valentine: The Dark Avenger hits Blu-ray and DVD on May 14th from Shout Factory.

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For more information head over to www.shoutfactory.com