An
ultra-violent, slick, non-stop action-fest distributed by Netflix, The Night Comes
For Us is another of the streaming company’s 2018 triumphs, and another jewel
in the Crown of Indonesia’s Brand of brutal, kinetic and brilliantly
choreographed action films. Directed by Timo Tjahjanto (Headshot) and starring
three alumni of The Raid duology, Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais and Julie Estelle is a
gore-tastic treat for action fans.
In the seas
of Southeast Asia, the Triads enforce their ruthless grip over the illegal
businesses (drug-dealing, gun-running, human-trafficking and other such
enterprises) by sending six delegates to make sure things run smoothly in all
the countries where the Triads have a hand in. Known as the Six Seas, these
enforcers go as far as murdering entire villages if the locals are caught stealing
from the Triads supplies. Jakarta gangster, Ito (Joe Taslim) is one of the Six
Seas and very effective on his job, until one day he snaps. Facing down a
little girl called Reina (Asha Kenyeri Bermudez), the sole survivor of the most
recent victim of his purges, Ito decides to spare her and gun down his own men.
On the run after his betrayal, he returns to Jakarta and with the help of his
former best friend Fatih (Abimana Aryasatya) and fellow associates (including
Zack Lee as the memorable “White Boy” Bobby) tries to get new passports and money
to start a new life far away from the Triad’s reach. However, fellow Six Seas
Chien Wu (Sunny Pang) sends his own army after Ito and Reina, and personally
commands Ito’s ambitious former friend and up-and-coming enforcer, Arian (Iko
Uwais), to liquidate the traitor.
What
follows is setpiece after setpiece of bone-crushing, throat slicing, disemboweling,
head smashing action, as Ito and company fight back against Chien Wu’s
seemingly endless supply of blade-wielding mooks. Besides these disposable tin
soldiers, Chien Wu has under his employ a pair of psycho lesbians, Alma (Dian
Sastrowardoyo, with a bob haircut, Mia Wallace outfit, Anime villain contempt
for inferiors and a razor-wire lasso) and Helena (Hannah Al Rashid, Caucasian
with Viking-style long hair shaved on one side and a fondness for Kukri knives),
who are among the most terrifying badasses you have seen. Complicating matters
is the appearance of the also incredibly badass Operator (Julie Estelle), a
bike riding lady with a spy catsuit and a leather jacket who also makes
mincemeat out of a couple people and whose motives are completely different
from those of Chien Wu’s.
Picking a
favorite action scene in this film is quite difficult, for there are a ton of
them. Personally, I quite enjoyed the onslaught on Fatih’s apartment before the
halfway mark, and the badass fighting between the ladies. Joe Taslim is a force
of nature here, bleeding copious amounts of blood while also serving some
unbelievable destruction in a very mean manner. He goes toe to toe with Uwais,
who gets to play a (conflicted) antagonist. The neon-noir backdrop in both Macau
nightclubs and Jakarta’s docks plants this film aesthetically within the range
of the Raid movies and Johnnie To’s brilliant films like Fuk Sau and
Drug War, so needless to say that the photography and set design are gorgeous. The
use of props is also terrific: if you see it on screen, it can be used as a
weapon, even the net for the pool table. Fair warning to those accustomed to
traditional, modern-day Western action cinema: this is an extremely gory movie
that I do not recommend watching while eating anything. Every creative way of
slicing and hacking in every part of the body is demonstrated here and with
thorough realism.
The Night
Comes For Us is an over-the-top heroic bloodshed film in which plotting,
motivation and the distinction between the good guys and bad guys are defined
by a very thin line: the good guys want to save a little girl, the bad guys
want to kill her. Other than that, both sides are involved in awful criminal
activity and have no problem slaughtering people in brutal ways in the midst of
combat. Throw your silly expectations of realism and fully embrace the
pulverizing, blood-drenched, yet very stylish and graceful power of Indonesian
action.
P.S. It was released on my birthday. How cool is that?
P.S. It was released on my birthday. How cool is that?
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