Verdict
Summary
Way overlong at 130 minutes and too ambitious for its low budget, Legend of Gatotkaca still has enough action and intrigue to keep it watchable.
Plot:
A low-income college-aged student stumbles onto his destiny, which points to him being a superhero.
Review:
Yuda (Rizky Nazar) is dealing with a lot: His mom has a severe mental illness, and everyone in her neighborhood wants to evict her for being a nuisance, and Yuda has also just gotten fired from his job, which means he’ll no longer be able to support himself at school. Dropping out seems like the next step, but luckily he has a side hustle taking photos, and when he’s photographing the school graduation ceremony, he – and everyone in the auditorium – witnesses a baffling and shocking supernatural killing of a student speaking at the podium. The killed student was a friend of his, and Yuda and another student track the seemingly impossible event to a sect of ancient worshippers and believers in a prophetic text that says there are old rivalries between a good set of super powered heroes and a set of super powered monsters. The good ones are the “Gatotkaca” (pronounced “gat-a-kocha”), and as it turns out Yuda is the prophesied hero long awaited. But in order to access his dormant powers, he’ll have to train and become the hero he doesn’t believe exists. We learn about Yuda’s ancestry (his father is a mute hero), and how he was whisked away many years ago as a baby to protect him from the evil warriors who are out to eradicate his existence, and luckily Yuda has some buddies (and a plucky girl sidekick) to help him along on his journey. The final confrontation will be skull cracking!
Way overlong at 130 minutes and too ambitious for its low budget, Legend of Gatotkaca still has enough action and intrigue to keep it watchable. It lacks a compelling edge, though, and from a cultural perspective (it’s from Indonesia), Western audiences may find themselves bewildered by all the spiritual mumbo jumbo it goes on and on about. It tries to kick start a franchise and a mythology unique unto itself, much like the recent Bollywood myth and legend epic Brahmastra did, but at least that one had a budget to sustain all its wacky action and set pieces. There’s still a market for under-the-radar international superhero movies, and so Gatotkaca will find its audience. Yayan Ruhuin from The Raid movies plays the bad guy. From director Hanung Bramantyo.
Well Go USA’s new Blu-ray and DVD of this one comes with an English language track and the trailer.
