Stealing Raden Saleh

Exceeds my expectation!

The story telling (which I consider usually lacking in most Indonesian films) is very good even with the twists and turns. Very good pacing that makes 2,5 hours gone in a flash.

Great characters introduction and development to make the audience invested in them. No character is wasted. The casts clearly put themselves into their characters to give such great performance.

Great cinematography, action choreography and editing that enhance and emphasize the scenes and story. No scene is wasted or draggy.

And I also love the backstory of the painting itself and the philosophy that becomes the theme of the film.

Mencuri Raden Saleh is the best Indonesian film in 2022 so far.

This film is about a male student whose father is imprisoned. This student has an excellent talent for painting, he has a close friend who is a hacker and a girlfriend who is an judo- athlete. One day Piko (the main character) was given an offer to replicate the painting of the kidnapping of Diponegoro by a famous painter, Raden Saleh for a fee of 2 M. Piko agreed, assisted by his friend Ucup, they carried out the action, on the day they gave the replica painting to the person who order it turns out that the person asked for another request which they could not refuse. Moreover, these individuals threaten the safety of Piko's father who is in prison. Piko, who was trapped, finally accepted the person's terrible request. So far this is the best indonesian movie in 2022, i didn't expect this movie will be so lit. All the actors played very well, there were no cringe scenes and the plot was really really cool. There are many plot twists, being tense, sad, laughing all those feelings got mixed up while watching this movie Although the plot seems kinda fast but I really enjoy this movie. 9/10 !!

This is the new face of indonesian movies! Actually i am not really fans of indonesian movies, but this movie really make me questions myself. The actings is really good, i love the effort from the actors doing some action and make it really cool, their expression seem so natural and make me impressed. The storyline is good, is not perfect but it's still good, there still some plothole in this movies and i hope the scriptwriter can fill it in the sequel, but it's really good, it's so rare i see some good storyline in indonesian action movies. The CGV is really amazing, it's good and felt so natural. The make up artis, they did a perfect job, but For make up after fighting, you have to add more bruises. It's really worth my 2,5 hours watched this movie. Keep the good work guys, and i hope i can hear a good news about the sequel.

This feels weird to me because I can seperates the reviews of this movie into two parts with different impressions. The first part of the movie was very awkward, the actors were overacting, and the catchphrases were very cringe. The personality of actors seems forced that make it looks like they were acting rather than a natural act. It makes me feels like watching a soap opera rather than an action movie. They were very bad at explaining that it feels like they were reading a textbook. The good first part was when the protagonist angry out of stress after done making the art. After that the movie back again with a cringe moment where they create a plan and explaining it. It just very bad in that sense so I score it around 4 only for the first part.

But after the first heist done, somehow the movie feels very different and become more interesting. The acting more fluid and more natural. The heist become really-really good, and the action said the same. The only awkward thing was when they added a new character out of nowhere, who was good at fighting, but there was no explanation who he was. And the other bad thing was about the ending where the movie just ends abruptly, even though there still so many thing that need to be questioned and answered.

Overall for the entire length of the movie, the second part contrastly different than the first part, make it just like a different movie mashed up together, that's how awkward is this. For the second part I give 8.5.

Next is music. The music (or OST) in this movie is very horrible and out of place. It just like an ost out of a comedy sketch. This should be not implemented in this kind of movie. Even if it is, it should not be placed in the entire of movie. It was very unbearable, especially for someone that enjoy atmospheric music in movie like myself.

The Cinematography of this film is superb. That's the only thing I constantly enjoyable from start to finish. If there was no noticable CG, I score it 10 for cinematography alone. But because there were a minor imperfect CG, I score it 9.

Looking at the after ending, my expectation there will be a second movie. I hope the producer learn from mistakes and create more enjoyable movie in the future.

This movie is not exceptional by doing something new, but because they know how to make each part fun and enjoyable. As a heist movie, it manages to capture adventure, drama, romance, and mystery in one pack with great storyline that came up from a single premise.

The writer/director clearly knows how to give an equal spotlight for all aspects involved from character development, technicalities, visual effects, and so on. I still got bored at times due to very long runtime (2.5 hours) and the pacing is a bit odd with few plot holes, but I have to say it's a very great experience to watch a movie as fulfilling and complete as this. Very recommended.