REVIEW: Merantau Warrior (2009)

Wow.

What an absolutely fantastic film.

I can’t believe I almost cried at a martial arts movie.

Top five martial arts films ever.

These were all thoughts that ran through my head as the end credits rolled on MERANTAU, or MERANTAU WARRIOR as it’s being renamed in England.  It really was that good.  Why?  Let me count the ways.

Even though many will notice a distinct similarity with another recent action film which introduced a martial art largely ignored by action cinema, this film still remains its own distinct entity.  It feels only slightly unoriginal because of what Tony Jaa has done – the lead actor Iko Uwais even looks like him – but if you’re able to ignore trivial (and inevitable) similarities, MERANTAU WARRIOR will not disappoint.

The story concerns Yuda (Uwais) and his Merantau, a sort of rites-of-passage journey towards finding oneself that is a tradition in his community.  It involves him travelling to Jakarta and aiming to integrate into the society of the big city – in this case by teaching Silat.  Silat is an Indonesian martial art which hasn’t been substantially treated as a focus for a martial arts film before, but a few decades of neglect are certainly made up for in an hour and a half here.  It’s a powerful fighting style that consists of a multitude of punches, kicks, slaps, blocks, grappling, throws and any number of complex combos.  On screen it’s breath-taking, and although it’s clear that there’s a certain amount of artistic licence present in the fight sequences, it still remains an authentic and plausible fighting art that will delight in dropping jaws.

Each fight scene is better than the last and is also privy to the filmmakers cheeky method of allowing each bout to out-do its predessesor, a method akin to a horror film’s technique of only allowing a glimpse of a monster throughout the film before revealing its full fury at the conclusion.  What director Gareth Evans does here is to ensure that the first few fight scenes are only moderately exciting (even if they’re still better than the best scenes in many other films), before gradually building up the quality and complexity before finally unleashing what has to be one of the most pulse-pounding and relentless finales ever seen.

Once Uwais gets into his Silat groove, nothing can stop him.  He proves this through the unyielding barrage of fight scenes that comprise the huge climax.  This 20-odd minute adrenaline rush inexorably and ruthlessly kicks the viewer in the face with wave after unbelievable wave of persistently exhilarating and heady fight sequences.  Whereas most of the early fight scenes involve Uwais destroying armies of unskilled henchmen, towards the end he comes up against some bad guys with a little more martial prowess.  The first of which is a fantastic close quarters fight in an elevator which demonstrates the ferocity of a Silat vs. Silat punch-up, and the final stand-out pits Uwais against two western gangsters who also happen to be martial arts masters (even though Mads Koudal has no background in martial arts – certainly fooled me!).

Aside from the phenomenal fighting on display, every other ingredient in the ‘Good Film’ Pie is present.  The acting is acceptable from everyone, with some standing out a little more than others, and it’s worthy of note that the western actors used in MERANTAU WARRIOR are of a slightly higher quality than is usually found in eastern martial arts films (think back to the terrible acting displayed by westerners in some of Jet Li’s ‘90s output) even if Koudal’s accent does seem to have a life of its own.  This could possibly be down to the fact that Gareth Evans is Welsh and so will have brought a needed western influence into the casting process.

It’s also a well-rounded story that although similar to Jaa’s breakout hit, is allowed to go in a slightly different direction which results in it being a far more nuanced, relatable and most importantly, emotional film than ONG BAK.  It’s a cliché to say that a film makes you care for the characters, but in this case it really does.  Uwais is not a complete one-note killing machine and displays a subtle emotion regardless of his limited lines and chance to develop within the story, and it’s this evocation of pathos that makes him a perfect central pin for around which to hang the film.  This moving performance resulted in, as I mentioned at the beginning, me stifling back the tears, and that’s an unusual occurance when watching a martial arts film (apart from BEST OF THE BEST, which had me bawling like a baby, but still).

Overall, MERANTAU WARRIOR was truthfully one of the best martial arts films I’ve seen and is such a must-see that it’s almost frustrating.  It has everything that’s needed for a great action film; relatable and engaging characters, heart-warming sentiment, an engrossing central concept and fight scenes so good you’ll want to watch them on repeat for at least a week.  It’s not quite a five star film, mainly due to the odd bit of dodgy acting and its similarities to other recent movies, but it’s so close that it doesn’t really matter.  All that’s left to give is the following piece of advice:

SEE THIS FILM.

MERANTAU WARRIOR will be released on Region 2 DVD on 26th April by E1 Entertainment

REVIEW: Merantau Warrior (2009), 8.9 out of 10 based on 44 ratings

by Gazz Ogden

Related Topics:
E1 Entertainment  •  Gareth Evans  •  Iko Uwais  •  Merantau (2009)