For many moviegoers, the phrase “American remake Train to Busan” is offensive. Who can compare with this film for its mixture of horror, humor and pathos? Well there’s that guy Timo Tiajanto — and they actually hired him! The Indonesian director has passionately called for open-mindedness on Twitter, but for many Other moviegoers, it was not necessary. With his contribution to V/H/S series, horror veteran standing by Ti West and Gareth Evans; his 2018 film The night is following us was really Raid 3 our dreams. Netflix’s terribly ultra-violent martial arts film rivaled even South Korean extremes like I saw the devil and Sympathy for Mr. Revenge. In December 2022, Netflix released another Tiadjanto epic, big fourwhich reached the top ten in 53 countries, including the US. It’s more of an action comedy, yet it combines its signature blood with slapstick and even some heartfelt drama.
The Big Four in the title are the killers introduced in the film by liberating the orphanage from organ harvesters. Such dirty work requires John Wickgun fu style, a bomb pulled out of a man’s ass, and maybe just a bit of anger. These killers were themselves adopted children, adopted by a kind man named Petrus (Budi Ros). How murder figured in their upbringing is irrelevant, and the film’s flexible tone causes a suspension of disbelief. The butt bomb vaporizes a group of people inside its fiery explosion, and by the end of this opening scene, there was enough vomit and blood to put the audience in a cartoon world. The Big Four flee the carnage in slow motion of the 70s funky hero as if it were a movie Grindhouse finally made it to Southeast Asia and Tiajanto had records. First, this cartoon may be silly, but it’s not a farce. This is the kind of movie that ends with a theme song that reintroduces all the characters whose names are important enough to be lyrics.
The Big Four is real movie night
If anything big four reminiscent of the old tradition of American blockbusters when the competition didn’t grow so exponentially and one movie was the whole experience. Laughter, awe and even poignancy, without the demarcation that allows modern marketing to target niche audiences. So Indonesia feels like a young film industry despite being as old as any other. With Netflix funding the production of directors like Timo Tiadjanto and Joko Anwar, there’s money and creative freedom making bold, exciting touches possible, as well as possible growth challenges. Possibly both The night is following us and big four run for a long time, but Tiajanto will make sure to build a world for these stories. nobody sees Jaws only for shark attacks but they watch godzilla vs kong for everything the title suggests and absolutely nothing else. Perhaps this is an inefficiency, and it may not survive creeping budgets, but in big four, there is a welcome feeling of creation. These characters have relationships, backstories, and desires, all of which were communicated prior to the introduction of something called “Lucifer’s Fart”.
By the first 30 minutes, we witnessed brains splattering the walls and a woman, completely devastated, crying for her dead father. What sounds like a whip, from the absurd to real drama, is secured by the best performance for each job. In this case, this Putri Marino as police officer Dina, who had just discovered Petrus’ body. Dina is the biological daughter of Petrus, and their relationship has always been difficult. He was often late or missed important events in her life because he secretly looked after his family of adopted outcasts. As Dina investigates his death, she crosses paths with a secret family, the Big Four, on the sun-drenched island of Bercy. Between Dina and these stupid killers led by older brother Topan (Abimana Aryasatya). Where she is honest and serious, we find that the Big Four have gone to work befitting their stupidity, not least Alpha (Lutesha) show “Mermaid at sunset”. Yet, there is an unshakable morality that unites them all, and they clashed together when Dina became the target of a ruthless gang.
The Big Four Find Comedy in the Most Unexpected Places
The gang can be ruthless, but sometimes they justify being late as “traffic”. Their vengeful leader Antonio Sandoval (Martino Lio), a man who tries to act cool, but his sunglasses and salsa dancing hide his barely contained anger. Creating a good villain is difficult because character arcs tend to lean toward empathy, which can be inappropriate. If the bad guy is doomed to fail, why not make the process fun? Sandoval slowly loses his cool as his efforts are thwarted by Dinah and the Big Four, and Martino Lio picks up on both brashness and hysteria. This is a movie where comedy tends to work, even though it’s predictable. During the extended action climax, Alpha challenges a minion with a bazooka (Michelle Tahalea) to a fistfight - in a typical macho pose - and is immediately beaten. In particular, when raisins are literally punches, big four also conveys the spirit Jackie Chan. In one memorable scene, Topan fights off two assassins while doing his best to divert Dina’s attention.
In another, Topan fights an opponent of equal strength in a swift rhythm. Kensuke Sonomura. Truly, big four was delivered Muhammad Irfan, but it seems like a knowing, even winking homage. Of course, by now the film described here must sound like a mixture of influences. However, big four is also filled with his directorial features, not the least of which is film violence. Tjahjanto manages wide spaces with dozens of fighters and the spectacle is easy to follow and full of splashes. But what’s so refreshing about splashes is that, despite the bodily fluids, they never feel unpleasant. Through his films, he demonstrates the disinterest in violence against women that characterizes shock-meisters such as Takashi Miike. Part of building the world in big four egalitarianism, which undoubtedly contributed to the co-author Joanna Wattimena. Whether it’s Dina, or Alpha, or that cool henchman, it doesn’t feel like this is a boys-only club. If that’s frustrating, look to the rest of the action pantheon instead.
And unlike John Wickor films by Jackie Chan or Takashi Miike, big four is proudly an Indonesian film. The last genre in this plural hyphen is “tourist advertising” because although the island of Bercy is fictitious, Tiajanto embodies it in stunning color and beauty. Filming in Bali and Timor, the director wanted to showcase the country’s islands in one location, in addition to what he calls Jakarta’s “urban blight”. Overall, this vision of Indonesia - and possibly much of Southeast Asia - does not fit Western stereotypes. People here fish, repair cars and live their lives. The violence is so overblown that it comes from a crazy mind and not from post-colonial comments. Indonesian cinema is not everything, and the industry is growing steadily like South Korea in the early 2000s. Tomorrow’s superstars of the Asian cinema world may have already arrived, and big four is the perfect introduction.
Source: Collider
