aj-to

Dumbest movie I've seen in a long time. Childishly flat attempt to imitate American action films. Every country has its own values, but Indonesia's is certainly not making an adult action film. Make one about wajang dolls or something, but don't reach for what's beyond your power.

Predictable scenes and vulgar violence are apparently what this film is all about. Not for me, and probably not for anyone who has outgrown their teenage years.

After the first fifteen minutes I gave up. I'm not going to waste my time on this. Then I can watch the children's theater at the primary school even better. Causes a lot less annoyance and vicarious shame.

I almost always get disappointed in oriental films. They are childish and meaningless, displaying a hopelessly superficial sentimentality. While they clearly try to imitate the American examples, they fail in a pathetic way. I think the high rating of these products is mainly due to political correctness or bad taste. So do yourself a favor and use your time more wisely.

1 out of 10.

The difference between old and new films is the content of actual emotional values. Movies from the 1930s to the 1950s often have a depth that brings out the best in people. The problem with current productions is the masking of the lack of such veracity through the pursuit of effect. Bad times at the El Royale also tries very hard to look like an impressively good film, among other things by - what's new? - a frequent use of shock effects and a forced plot. But it is not convincing, despite the excellent acting that in advance we can expect from the protagonists. What is shown are plastic emotions, mutatis mutandis to be found in most creative expressions of art today, be it film, TV, theatre, drama, literature, pop music or visual arts. And everyone copies the other in it, because good example is good to follow. Cause? We are too well-fed, too consumptive, too spoiled and therefore too blasé. We draw our depth from platitudes spawned by these factories of second-rate emotions, rather than let life itself mold our feelings. In the past - the period I mentioned above - people were not yet so pre-modeled by the media. Give me a Gone with the wind (1939), a How green was my valley (1941), Blossoms in the dust (1941), Cassablanca (1942); the movies with Bette Davis, Jean Arthur, Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman, Deborah Kerr, Alastair Sim, Joan Crawford, Kenneth More, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, John and Lionel Barrymore, Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy and so on. That does not alter the fact that I also have many more modern films extremely high in my ratings list, but that appreciation is then based on the inherent tension, humor or otherwise. For the inartificial depth I move to the time of many decades ago.