Merantau is an action packed movie that captures the adventure that occurs during Yuda's, the main character, Merantau. In Yuda's Merantau he travels to Jakarta to find that his living accommodations are not correct, and there is no one to call to fix it. Afterwards, he crosses paths with a young boy named Addit and his sister, Astri. I personally found this movie quite interesting between all of the fight scenes, and the shocking ending. This is a really well done movie, and is quite different than what I would have expected had it been done in the "American" type of movie, including tons of explosions, major firearm battles, and a perfectly happy ending. However, this movie not only surprised me with how amazing it is, but also made me think of the differences between normal America movies and foreign films. Overall, I think the movie is a hidden gem, and shows off silat, martial arts, to its fullest potential, along with some plot twists along the way.

I really enjoyed this film because of the intense fight scenes with very good choreography. I really started rooting for Yuda as he fought to save Astri and Adit. One thing that I found really interesting about this movie was how Yuda fought so hard to save Astri and Adit even though he never even knew them before the start of the movie. Some elements of the play that really stood out to me that the movie was't American was how the big main hero died at the end which is very different from what happens in Americans films where everyone ends up alive and well. If I were to put myself in Yuda's shoes, at the very end of the final fight scene I would have killed the European leader when he was down on the ground because due to the fact that Yuda showed him mercy, he ended up dying because of it. I think that in life threatening situations like that there isn't much room for being merciful. If I could I would change the ending by making it more American where everyone gets out happy and alive.

I thought this was a very good film when it came to showing off the mastering of martial arts, but It was very interesting to see how they showed it. The choice of choosing sex trafficking was interesting as it is a very odd way to show how to fight against someone else. The sex trafficking idea also puts that idea into everyone that watches this film's head about Indonesia. Every country around the world has something to do with sex trafficking, yes it is terrible, but I don't think it is fair to Indonesia to be shown in this way. Either way, the story line was very cheesy when it came to there being no guns and no cell phones. Although, that is expected, as the director is going to want to only have the film being based on martial arts and if there were guns, that story would be over very soon. Anyway, when it came to the main bosses, it was very odd the amount of blood that was pouring out of their heads whenever they fought. Now, I understand that whenever their is a major or minor hit to the head, there will be a lot of blood, but this was crazy. It was as if they had a huge hole in their heads. Another scene that I will critic is when Yuda runs into the man he met on the bus and after their fight scene when he is shot to death in the elevator. The amount of shots that were fired out of the two guards pistols, was crazy. It was very unnecessary, but then again, Yuda against bullets would not go down so well. Everything else was very good, I enjoyed the ending and how there was a transition between the young boy and Yuda. The one question I have leaving this film is what happens to the girl that Yuda saved. Overall, I give the movie a 7 out of 10.

Let's start with the bad: the movie is too melodramatic at times, with the use of slow-motion and predictable piano keys making some scenes feel a bit corny. I also found the main villain a bit too simplistic. Those are my only complaints in an otherwise enjoyable movie, that has convincingly 'raw' action scenes and two charismatic lead actors in the distinct and interesting setting that is Jakarta. It's refreshing to see an action-movie situated somewhere else than America and this movie proves that a country as beautiful and rich as Indonesia suits an action movie just as well. Other good points: I liked the camera-work and the ending took me by surprise. Looking forward to see more movies from this director!