The Big 4 Review: Rhythm and Variety Of Visual Solutions, Little From The Narrative
Cast: Abimana Aryasatya, Putri Marino, Lutesha, Arie Kriting, Kristo Immanuel, Marthino Lio, Michelle Tahalea, Kho Michael, Budi Ros
Director: Timo Tjahjanto
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
The Big 4, an action comedy from the Original Netflix Indonesia production, tells the story of 4 ex-gang killers who are adopted by their foster father and trained to be killers who take on the job of eliminating the bad guys. But when the adoptive father dies So they hid. until the daughter of the adoptive father came to meet them with an assassin coming after her as well, they must work together to return to the operation to restore justice to their father again. Here then is that among the releases that precede the start of the holidays – in addition to The Big 4 – the new action film by Timo Tjahjanto, a talented Indonesian director known for the action Headshot and The Night Comes for Us, the horror May the Devil Take You and the beautiful Safe Haven, a segment of V/H/S/2 co-directed with Gareth Evans, in whose future it seems there are a series of commitments in America such as the remake of Trappola on the high seas and Train to Busan titled The Last Train to New York.
But in the meantime, what today is undoubtedly one of the most famous and established directors of Indonesian cinematography continues to churn out films in his native land, which thanks to Netflix have been able, like the films of other compatriots, to cross their borders and reach thousands of km away. And it was probably this enormous visibility that attracted the attention of North American manufacturers, always on the hunt for interesting profiles to grab and import from different latitudes.
The Big 4 Review: The Story Plot
What is this film about with such smoky but also so interesting premises? The plot of The Big 4 has at its center a police detective who is always very precise and dutiful in her duty investigating the death of her father with tenacity and courage. One clue, in particular, opens a trail that leads her to a tropical island in a remote and exotic location. Here, the detective discovers to her great surprise that her late father was the leader of a gang of unscrupulous assassins.
Enemies of the deceased begin to hunt her down, and she is forced to team up with an outlandish team: the men who had been trained by her father before his death, four hapless and theoretically retired assassins who are dying to get back on track. This wacky group of characters will team up on the hunt for an elusive and fearsome assassin, and it will be daring, grotesque and action-packed.
The Big 4 Review and Analysis
Tjahjanto has the talent to spare, and he has amply demonstrated it in recent years, which is why it was only a matter of time before he was noticed on the other side of the world. In this sense, Netflix has only speeded up the process, acting as a sounding board and showcase with the inclusion of some of its previous works in its catalog, to which The Big 4 has now also been added, his latest effort behind the camera. Here he was able to further showcase his undoubted qualities in framing, not so much from an aesthetic-formal point of view, but rather from a stylistic and technical one.
His direction has nothing elegant or refined in its composition, but it has a lot to say and show in terms of dynamics, rhythm, and a variety of visual solutions. Also, in this case, yours proves to be a cinema more devoted to cheap entertainment, a cinema of facts rather than words, without authorial pretensions and above all with very clear ideas. In his wanderings in the range of genres, judging by the results, it is certainly in the action that he expressed himself best, see for example Headshot and the night upon us, films where the speed of execution, the spectacularity of the action scenes and the quality of the martial choreographies, have allowed streams of adrenaline to pour onto the screen in a continuous jet. On both occasions, star Iko Uwais ‘ contribution to the cause in front of the camera was decisive, but it must be said that Tjahjanto was able to put it to good use.
From this point of view, The Big 4 is no less, even if on balance it does not reach the same heights. The ballistic, dynamite and martial show is not lacking, but on the one hand, the absence of the cast of Uwais and on the other the use of an ironic register makes themselves felt in the long run. But if the former can somehow be remedied with the presence of Abimana Aryasatya among the protagonists, as Topan, one of four retired hit men who accept one last mission when they are assigned by a policewoman to capture a heinous criminal who always evades the authorities and who is responsible for the death of his father, for the second instead c ‘is little to do. The choice of the director and co-screenwriter Johanna Wattimena to abandon a serious tone in favor of a more comical one has generated a narrative and dramaturgical short-circuit against their will and against us which ended up negatively affecting the final product.
Combining action and comedy, creating a fair and balanced fusion, without the latter negatively affecting the kinetic component to the point of making the whole thing a sketch thus taking over, is not an easy thing. Master in this was Jackie Chan in the good times that were in Hong Kong when with the complicity of directors of the caliber of Yuen Woo-ping and other stars such as Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, he took part in martial arts comedies such as Drunken Master which are not by chance remained imprinted in the common imagination for the ability to combine its components in question. We do not exclude the possibility that the Indonesian filmmaker had precisely that way of mixing them as a reference, see for example Topan’s one against all in the hotel lobby, but unfortunately, the outcome was not the same.
But what looks better than funny is the shooting action scenes of the story that, when watching, know that they imitate John Wick’s style a lot, including cool poses, camera angles, and brutal killing scenes. There are many cutscenes. Which, despite all of this, looks fake. It’s not even a very smooth battle queue John Wick is not smooth. But it gives the movie some action scenes that are quite fun to watch. It is considered better than Thai comedy movies in this genre. And the action scenes were stuffed quite a lot. So much so that it felt like the movie intended to sell more action scenes than comedy in the story. Therefore, it should be pleasing to people to watch movies that are easy to digest without having to think too much.
But even if the story looks fun and moderately favorable but it’s still not so good that it can be admired. Because the script is still out of the way. There is nothing substantive, despite the beginning of the story that has been launched until the heroine meets The Big 4 gang. It is considered that the script looks something deep. Interesting to follow who killed the heroine’s father. Including a villain who is a former child but after the heroine meets The Big 4 gang since accidentally drinks the frog’s skin until it’s crazy. The main character acts retarded just to make a joke. The script after that is very messy, not much different from a Thai movie hitting the head in the house at all. The entire chapter is very sickly illogical.
The actor himself looks like a drug addict. But it plays well and has a cheeky + small charm. That makes us believe that he is the big brother who protects the younger ones. The protagonist is considered beautiful and cute in Asian style similar to A Thai heroine who, if he didn’t know that Indonesia did it, would think that he was Thai. But her role later went wrong. until it looks out of the sea from the very first episode. The rest of the kids are crazy. In the story, the youngest is a person who has no skills whatsoever. Born to be a real lure for the elders, but the villain of the story looks silly. more than too scary It almost didn’t feel like this guy was the first Grand Disciple who was better than The Big 4 at all.
The movie ends without finishing because it leaves a story that continues. which should continue because it seems to be quite popular in many countries in Asia It is considered an original Netflix Indonesian movie that has been quite successful in the world market. which if anyone wants to try and watch it This isn’t a bad movie. But it’s just not different from Thai comedy in our home market. Of course, there is no shortage of noteworthy choreographically choreographic martial and ballistic scenes, such as those that accompany the viewer, between a fight and a shootout, the last frenetic minutes of the timeline.
A timeline, that of The Big 4, which, as often happens in products from those geographical areas, unjustifiably exceeds two hours, reaching a duration that does not reflect the real needs of a story reduced to the bone, which runs through the streets and of the combat-movie and calls into question stereotyped characters without a minimum of one-line and characterization. What goes on stage does not go beyond the punitive expedition against the bad guy of the moment, with the model that in this case perhaps goes more in the direction of The Mercenaries and Hot Fuzz, choosing the beautiful exotic location as a frame and adding a dose of splatter to bring the action scenes even more over the top.
The Big 4 Review: The Last Words
An Indonesian action-comedy that is almost like a comedy in many ways, with Thai dubbing. The story looks enjoyable to some extent for people who like Thai movies like this, although the script is casual in the latter stages to the point of being bad (despite the beginning of the story being quite good), it is good in focusing on the action scenes. There are so many overly cool styles like John Wick that they are almost copied, even if they look fake.
