Foxtrot Six

An impressive directorial debut from Indonesia, which shows that it is possible to make a solid action flick even without Timo Tjahjanto or Gareth Evans. The film is set in 2031 Jakarta, in the near future, where the government is run by the Piranas political party and a group of revolutionaries led by a Congressman are trying to overthrow it. I was disappointed that Julie Estelle, the film’s biggest attraction, is woefully underused and gets no space in the action, and I didn't much care for the "invisible man", even though I understand that the film is revolutionary for Indonesia and they were trying to appeal to Americans, so I can understand these sci-fi flourishes quite well, but for some it may be a distracting element. There are a few familiar faces from The Raid, and some new faces that impress with their fighting skills. The shootouts didn't blow me away that much, but when it came to the fights I was purring with bliss. The action is physical, contact-based, raw and brutal as is customary in Indonesia, and there are plenty of fights where someone is outnumbered (1 vs 5). The stealth elements like from “Splinter Cell” are also cool the finale. All in all a decent film with solid CGI, decent fights and an interesting story. If I wanted to dig into it I would find more flaws, but there's no reason when I've been waiting two years for this film and it gave me what it promised. 8/10. Asia is rocking so far this year. (2020.03.07)