Movie review: THE NIGHT COMES FOR US - Photo credit: youtube.com, edition by Amber255 via Bitlanders.com
Would you like to see an absolutely meaningless bloody action movie? It is THE NIGHT COMES FOR US, one of the IMDB films of the 50 best movies of 2018 list. Indonesia has become known for its The Raid: Redemption action movie. But let me remind you that it was filmed by the British Gareth Evans, so it is not fully Indonesian. Actor Iko Uwais became famous there, and now he is also one of the main actors in a new Indonesian film.
Indonesians once again surprised us shooting films for pennies that attract attention. This time, too, a very dynamic action film was revealed, whose hurricane action does not stop even for a minute, irrigating the space with liters of blood, while maintaining the highest level of quality of special effects.
If you like ultra-violent, brutal combat (bones breaking, knives slashing, bloody organs and severed limbs) THE NIGHT COMES FOR US (Netflix) has the best fight scenes I've ever seen. Each one is more over-the-top than the next! Forget the plot and ignore the subtitles, watch it to appreciate the high-body-count, spectacularly-staged battles.
Credit: metacritic.com
The action thriller THE NIGHT COMES FOR US is the project of Netflix. In recent years, Netflix has turned into a real media giant, with whom it is obviously not so easy to compete. Netflix bosses are definitely trying to please the tastes of literally every part of a huge global audience, and in general, Netflix films succeed. With this film, Netflix once again fell right on point pleasing the fans of two The Raid films. There Netflix was clearly counting on the fans of Iko Uwais.
The action film THE NIGHT COMES FOR US is filled with fights from start to finish. The bloody meat grinder continues without stopping there.
THE NIGHT COMES FOR US Official Trailer - Video credit: youtube.com
The Short Story Of The Movie
Probably even the most brutal and bloody killer can get his chance at redemption. Such a chance saw the killer of one of the triads - Ito (Joe Taslim). The fact is that Ito for several years carried out the most brutal orders to eliminate those who somehow interfere with the triad.
But he failed his last assignment, as he saved a little girl from a village destroyed by his own fighters, and the latter, of course, is a witness to the atrocities of the triad, and in the future, is able to testify against them. But it is not so easy to retreat from the triad, because in any case, they want to get rid of the dangerous witness, but they still want to punish Ito who has stepped to his own side.
This film is full of fights, so the plot is very poor. The number of guts, blood, broken bones and inventive cruelty exceeds all imaginable limits. So, consider if you want to see all this before watching the movie.
Indonesian film THE NIGHT COMES FOR US - Photo credit: twitter.com
The Content Of The Movie
In general, the plot is pretty banal. Of course, there is no point in the film. The director Timo Tjahjanto talking frankly is not able to work in this format. In his films, there is rarely any moral or something like that. But what he can do perfectly is a spectacular action game. The viewers are waiting for this from him.
It seems very cruel. Thais have become aggressive in their movies, but the shooting is impressive. A number of scenes with long fights keep us in suspense until the end of the film. That's how I understand professionally set fights! Well, how cool are they getting "beautiful" slaughter? In fights, everything is used: billiard balls, stationary knives, and so on. Do not get the idea to count broken limbs in the film.
The bloody episodes remind me Kill Bill of Quentin Tarantino, only in our case, the main character protects the little girl from everyone. But on this similarity with the Tarantino film ends. In the action movie of Tarantino, there is a philosophy, morality, and excellent dialogues, which I did not notice among Indonesians. Probably, THE NIGHT COMES FOR US is praised by teenagers because the score is incredibly high for such kind of film.
50 best films of 2018: THE NIGHT COMES FOR US - Photo credit: imdb.com
No intricate dialogues, forcing to think and no interesting turns of the original plot. You can even look at the original language, that is, without translation, and even better to put your favorite soundtracks - the thrill will be double: both visual and auditory.
Sit and enjoy your favorite music with a view of bone grinder for a good two hours. You can make yourself a break anywhere in the viewing, without even pressing a pause: the feeling will be as if you did not stop watching - so much the film is stuffed with exciting action scenes. Even if some scenes are just fantasy, unthinkable by the mind when 30-40 healthy, armed men cannot cope with one only: they attack strictly observing the sequence; it seems that they all hate the Indonesian bandits' honor code.
It is clear that in the cinema this was done not for the sake of bloodthirstiness, but for the sake of entertainment specifically for Asian viewers, and not for you and me. Therefore, fights here are just beyond the limits of fiction: people are shot, cut, pricked, shred into pieces in all imaginable and unthinkable ways. And for the sake of what is all this done? Really only because of one innocent girl who a professional killer left alive?
Netflix film THE NIGHT COMES FOR US - Photo credit: thehipfireblog.wordpress.com
Of course, the matter is not in her at all, but in the betrayal of the professional killer, who broke some sacred oath there and now has to die at any cost. And at the same time all those who help him. And so this story, seemingly starting off with a trifle, rolls downhill like a snowball, overgrown with new and new victims along the way. Until it ends by itself at the foot of an imaginary mountain.
Timo Tjahjanto does not pursue a drama, which he does not know how to work with, but gives the viewer exactly what he expects - an awesome, stylish action game with a minimum of conversations. The plot here is only a reason to break someone's skull. There are so much blood, murders, fights and shootings that would probably be enough for two more films. The fights almost never stop, and the episodes with action follow almost one after the other.
THE NIGHT COMES FOR US review - Photo credit: imdb.com
As a standard for such works, the film has a pretty nasty and unpretentious story about the salvation of a little girl and the conditional forgiveness of own sins. I think literally everyone will remember about fifty similar stories, but the emphasis on the plot was clearly not in the plans of the creators.
The Personages Of The Movie
I think there is no sense to talk about personages as the film is created not for the sake to say something meaningful to us, but to show spectacular fights.
Anyway, a few words about characters. All the main characters turned out colorful, and the villains really stand out. Iko Uwais is among them too with his Arian's personage, just this time we cannot treat him precisely as an antagonist here. The creators have tried to prescribe him a certain edge, which does not make him look like the worst villain.
Martial arts movie THE NIGHT COMES FOR US - Photo credit: imdb.com
The leader of the punitive grouping of one of the most powerful and cruel gangs rethinks his way when his subordinates decide to kill the little girl - the only one left alive after the sweep of the village, whose inhabitants were to be killed one by one because a few of them had stolen drugs from suppliers. Realizing that calling the nobility of his subordinates is like asking for mercy a snake which caught the mouse, he shoots them, but he himself is wounded.
By some miracle, he manages, together with the rescued girl to get to his home, where friends try to help him and his companion to flee the country. But he cannot hide from the former owners' all-seeing eyes, and soon the slaughter begins, ruining lives with a bloody hurricane.
Joe Taslim in THE NIGHT COMES FOR US - Photo credit: imdb.com
With all the simplicity of the plot, it has a solid basis: you believe the motives of the characters.
But the presentation is somewhat crumpled and intermittent, leaving the story and the fate of some characters in obscurity. And this despite the fact that the film last two hours, so it looks creators had enough time for personages' disclosure and development.
Photo credit: imdb.com
The Technical Side Of The Movie
The only advantage is the staging. Excellent direction and camera work, when the fights look quite realistic, beautiful, and not inferior to the best American counterparts. It will allow you to enjoy fights, of course, if you love such a view. The visualization of bloody scenes in the story outweighs much, so children should not watch the movie.
All special effects and battle scenes performed perfectly! Without any monkey style shouts. Hard, brutal approach. Martial arts and hundreds of corpses, not dozens, because with what speed and ease people die in this film is in the order of things for films made in Southeast Asia, but for us, they have already passed 25 years ago when we loved such films as Rambo. But apparently, every country must go its own way in cinema
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A sea of blood, beautifully set scenes of hand-to-hand fighting, pistols and knives, machetes and tomahawks, and most importantly, Joe Taslim and Iko Uwais in good physical shape. Professional camera work and montage eclipse all the film's flaws. And the deadly fight of the girls, skillfully shredding each other up to the release of guts, was just something.
Musical accompaniment sinks into the soul, but the plot is overflowing with physical abuse, so there is very little background music. The musical soundtrack does not strain in this film; music complements the picture on the screen with naturalness and plunges deeper into the film.
THE NIGHT COMES FOR US Team Breaks Down, Epic Final Fight - Video credit: youtube.com
The Collective Work Of The Actors
The main roles in this movie went to already familiar Joe Taslim and Iko Uwais.
Iko Uwais for me in this film stood out the most. Though he plays the villain character, and at the end of the film a sad ending awaits him, but he played and fought great. For all the years of his career, I have not yet been disappointed in him. And it's very nice that he plays both good and negative heroes equally well.
These are guys who know how to show martial arts in front of the camera and will show you a master class.
And of course girls. They are adorable in this movie despite the fact of how they behave in this film.
In general, I liked the actors. Very believable. Starting from the emotions and ending with the battle scenes, they do everything believable.
THE NIGHT COMES FOR US review - Photo credit: soyleyendacharlie.blogspot.com
On A Final Note
As a result, this action thriller, as it seems to me, cannot please the mature viewer. This film will love only the immature brain, which requires more brutality and blood. Undoubtedly, thеre are a lot of flaws, but I did not try to count them; I just perceived the creation of Timo Tjahjanto as an entertainment, a great drive without any claim to serious cinema.
Yes, there are certainly enough of these or other shortcomings, and the main one of them is beyond doubt the plot. But as soon as the scenes with action and fights, really impressive by the standards of many modern action films, are shown to you in detail, you immediately forget about the shortcomings and simply with pleasure sink into all this wildest meat grinder and self-harm.
Just with one but! You watch it with pleasure only if you are a fan of such cruelty, even if it is shown quite creatively.
Movie review: THE NIGHT COMES FOR US - Photo credit: netflix.com
Also, it was nice to see Iko again, who, in his 35 years, has quite a few films in his movie collection and each film with him is a kind of gift, especially if you are a fan of pictures about fights, martial arts, and watching acts of violence on the TV screen motivate you to engage in sports, but not to become a maniac, rapist, murderer or any other kind of criminal authority.
The Night Comes for Us is the movie for those who thought The Raid was too tame.
Credit: fanboynation.com
My rating: 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 88/100
Metacritic: 69/100
Critics average: 8.4/100
IMDb: 7.0/10
HAVE FUN!
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