A reluctant superhero

gundala Gundala (Indonesian, 2019)

Sancaka is a lonely young man, working as a security guard at a printing press in a crime-infested part of Jakarta. He stays out of other people’s business and ignores the crimes around him. His father once told him that people become less human when they do not react to injustice. But Sancaka is more influenced by someone who trained him to defend himself after the death of his father, and told him to mind his own business to avoid trouble.

Sancaka is forced to come out of his alienated self when his neighbour and her brother are harassed by some goons. Soon, Sancaka finds himself up against a corrupt system, and a disfigured mob boss, who has been using orphans trained to be highly skilled assassins. Sancaka—who had a phobia of thunder and lightning—gains superpowers after being struck by lightning during a fight, and eventually becomes a symbol of hope for the people.

Directed by Joko Anwar, Gundala, which premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, is more in the vein of The Raid series, The Night Comes For Us and other such phenomenal Indonesian action flicks than the VFX-heavy DC and Marvel films. Rooted in the Gundala comic books published between 1969 and 1982, the movie offers nail-biting action sequences with dollops of humour.  

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