Gundala (2019)

Never thought I'd see an Indonesian superhero movie, but here is one!

It starts a bit like Batman, but not really. There's the little boy who loses his parents, but keeps fighting, and eventually becomes a hero. Not by choice, but fate, maybe?

He's one with the lightning too. He avoids the rain because he doesn't want to get struck by it, yet he learns that the lightning makes him temporarily invincible. A useful but painful power to have. And so begins his quest...

The movie has potential, the fights are fun to watch, there are some colorful characters in the mix and plenty of that trademark Indonesian (at least in movies - well at least in Indonesian action movies) rage/violence/savagery, and a sinister plot a brewing in the background but... it's not perfect.

The fight scenes are clearly staged. The main hero doesn't seem as confident a fighter as he's supposed to be. The special effects are decent, but authentic fights would've made it so much more.

Overall it feels like a somewhat big budget thing, but they didn't get the fights right all the way, nor the relations. The red thread's not the clearest either. Awesome becomes average.

But the legend of Gundala...? Maybe sequels may take him further yet and truly cement his place in movie history.

Looking back the first Batman movie wasn't all that amazing either. This just might be even a little better than that was back then.

 rated 3/5: not bad