The Shadow Strays

"The Shadow Strays" is marked by its shocking gore and unrestrained, exaggerated violence, but it lacks depth. It follows the familiar trope of a skilled assassin who, weary of her secretive existence, risks everything to save someone she hardly knows.

Thirteen (Aurora Ribero), a 17-year-old assassin with a compassionate side, takes on a formidable Jakarta crime syndicate after they threaten her young neighbor, Monji (Ali Fikry). Monji's mother, Mirasti (Jesyca Marlein), was a sex worker exploited by the brutal pimp Haga (Agra Piliang), who is linked to the sleazy nightclub owner Ariel (Andri Mashadi) and his politically influential father, Soemitro (Arswendy Bening Swara). After Haga murders Monji's mother, Thirteen forms a bond with him and finds herself in a deadly game of cat and mouse with Haga, Ariel, and their associates. A series of gruesome and dramatic showdowns decimate their ranks.

The film drags on with relentless fighting and lacks the substance needed to unify its elements. While the cinematography is commendable, some early fight scenes are poorly executed, featuring adversaries lined up to be taken down one by one. This isn't the kind of movie I'll get excited for.

Let me just say the movie is worth a watch for sure. It has great fight scenes and a cliche but serviceable plot. My main issue with this movie is the finale and just how silly it gets. There is a big shootout in the movie that is just horribly done and every sequence that involves a gun is badly done. There is not consistency or any realism to it. Now don't get me wrong I'm not looking for any realism in this movie but at some point it just starts to get jarring. It also drags on for way to long, there is another sequence after the main finale that should just have been cut. It's another one of those movie that suffers from a horrible final act. Overall it's a great first time watch but I personally wouldn't rewtach. The Night Comes for Us is the better movie for sure.

Now this is awesome action movie. There was no such action movie since Raid 1-2. But it was more brutal then Raid's. This is not for those with weak stomachs , because here you have some scenes which can easily be part of some slasher horror. But don't get me wrong. This movie was not some meaningless violence flick. O no,he is much more then that. Storyline was very good for action movie and acting was great,especially from lead actors. Music is very good to .And I like this director,he is good. I like him since Macabre. He was mostly horror director,but then came When the Night Come For Us where he chainge his course and it was great turning. And now he gave us somenthing like this.

Action scenes are fantastic. Fighting coreography is great. One of the best fighting scenes since allways. So if you like action movies this is must watch for you!!!

It's a cool action movie with some particularly graphic violence to accompany the well-choreographed action scenes. And by graphic violence, I mean some of the killings of standard action-movie henchmen reach body-horror levels of brutality. The story is reasonably straightforward: an elite assassin gets suspended from active duty after fumbling a mission. She soon finds new purpose in protecting/avenging a local kid. Performances are good, there's lots of wild action and the story is familiar but compelling. Unfortunately it gets bogged down in an extraneous subplot at the start of the third act and said subplot subsumes the finale.

What The Shadow Strays lacks in coherence, depth and story is made up by the relentless, almost non-stop, action. There's plenty of blood squirting out of bodies, impossible fight scenes wrapped up in a rollercoaster of guns, swords and an occasional explosion.

If you desire intellectual stimulation, look elsewhere. The characters are two-dimensional, singularly focused on... in fact, I don't think we were even introduced to the characters' motivations. I'd go as far to suggest that the dialogue wasn't necessary, subtitles in my case as it is a non-English film.

Anyway, if a hypnotic opera of blood and action will help you relax, then sit back and enjoy.