Following a series of films that are quite brutal or horrific (or both), Timo Tjahjanto decided to change his style a bit, by implementing intense comic elements in his narrative in a distinctly comic-book style, retaining, though, the aforementioned aspects. The result is “The Big 4”, which has now started to stream on Netflix.
The intro scene of the movie sets the tone for what is about to follow, as it starts inside an orphanage whose owners use the kids in order to harvest organs. Enter the titular Big 4, leader Topan, sniper Jenggo, tempered Alpha, the only woman of the group, and youngster Pelor, who save the children there while creating mayhem in their path, killing the bad guys in the most brutal, to the point of funny, ways. A bit later on, it is revealed that the group also has a leader, Petrus, who coordinates their efforts, while retaining a father-children relationship with them. As the film begins, he informs the group that he wants to retire, as his daughter Dina, a policewoman no less, is finishing the Police Academy. However, he is soon murdered after that, with the four assassins ending up in a remote island. It is there that three years later, Dina tracks them down, in an effort to discover her father’s murderer and take revenge. Their search brings them across Suranto and his group of assassins, revealing, in the process, that there is a lot about her father nobody knew.
Timo Tjahjanto directs a film that moves from slapstick and crude comedy to brutal and rather intricate action almost constantly, with a number of scenes combining the two with absurdly entertaining results. Truth be told, the quality of the comedy, particularly when action is not included, can be a bit tiring after a point, particularly as the film goes on for 141 minutes, with the same applying to the overall story, which eventually becomes evident that is there mostly to provide a background for the two main elements. This, however, does not mean that the movie is not good or largely entertaining, since there are a number of elements that allow it to move far beyond the aforementioned issues.
The first one is definitely the action, with action choreographer Muhammad Irfan presenting a series of rather impressive scenes, which find their apogee in the rather lengthy finale. The martial art parts are of the same, quite high quality Indonesian cinema has gotten us used to since “The Raid”. However, the truly unique aspect here is the extensive use of guns, which are frequently used in rather close proximity, essentially taking the part of knives previous productions from the country had. This allows for the finales of the fights to be grotesquely impressive, with the blowing up of heads in particular definitely staying on mind. Furthermore, the fact that all the protagonists also get their share of punishment works quite well for the narrative, as much as the combination with comic elements that pleasantly tones down the brutality here.
The mix of all the aforementioned also benefits a lot by the acting, with Abimana Aryasatya as Topan and Putri Marino as Dina being the definite protagonists while exhibiting their excellent (literally ball-busting) chemistry, and Lutesha as Alpha, Aerie Kriting as Jenggo and Kristo Immanuel as Pelor rounding up the good guys group nicely. Regarding the villains, Marthino Lio as Suranto is delightfully over the top, while Michelle Tahalea as Alo is probably the coolest character in the movie, and also the main representative of sexiness, which also gains a lot from the whole “girls with guns” concept.
The third one is the cinematography, with DP Batara Goempar capturing the beauties of the rural setting with artistry, particularly through his panoramic shots, while shooting the action as closely as possible, in a fashion that definitely offers as much entertainment as possible. Dinda Amanda’s editing results in a mixed tempo that gets faster during the action and slower during the rest scenes, again finding its apogee during the finale with the montage of the different fights.
Lastly, and in definitely one of the movie’s best aspects, Timo Tjahjanto does not take his film, himself and his protagonists overly serious, aiming almost exclusively at entertainment as indicated by the style of humor here, in a rather reinvigorating non-PC approach that benefits the title the most, particularly because it does not force him to include unnecessary social comments.
As such, and despite the somewhat overlong duration, “The Big 4” emerges as a highly entertaining movie, and definitely one of the best action films of the year.
