295_One_Movie_Punch_The_Night_Comes_For_Us_2018

Hi everyone!

We’re taking a format break this week on a few days to get caught up on all the Netflix Original films that have appeared in the last couple of weeks. I guess this is still technically Matinee Monday, because today’s film is appearing in select theaters, but most of you will catch it on Netflix. And while I still have a few to go, I wanted to move this one to the top of the list. The reason? Iko Uwais, one of my favorite action stars, whose film from earlier this year “Mile 22” (Episode #232) didn’t really stack up against his normally action-filled performances. I’m hoping today’s film lives up to my first exposure to his skills in “The Raid”. And speaking of “The Raid”, don’t miss Gareth Evans’ latest film “Apostle” (Episode #287). It may not be a modern-day brutal action film, but it is still pretty awesome. Suggestions? Hit me up at onemoviepunch.com or on social media.

And now...

Today’s movie is “The Night Comes For Us” (2018), the Netflix Original Indonesian action film written and directed by Timo Tjahjanto. The film follows Ito (Joe Taslim), a triad defector trying to protect a young girl named Reina (Asha Kenyeri Bermudez) as his former friend Arian (Iko Uwais) and his gang attempts to kill them both.

Spoilers ahead.

Today will be a short review, because I can sum up this film in just a few sentences. The Triads control most of the smuggling in Southeast Asia, enforced by an elite group of killers known as the Six Seas. Ito, one of the Six Seas, teams up with his former crew to protect a young girl, and a whole bunch of the characteristically brutal action of the Indonesian action film scene follows. And ultimately, Ito does save Reina, at the cost of himself, and most of the folks behind his torment are taken down along the way, including his friend Arian. That’s all there is to it, so we’ll see you next week.

Did I forget to mention that Joe Taslim is an absolutely perfect Triad assassin character, elevating the performance past the mediocre story, and easily matching (and sometimes surpassing) Iko Uwais in terms of fighting skill? Or how the weapons Ito gets to use include (but are not limited to): knives, axes, hatchets, machetes, lead pipes, short blades, meat hooks, electric batons, multiple firearms, grenades, pool cues, a sack of pool balls, a metal baseball bat, and an actual broken bone, both the blunted and pointy edges? Or how Ito and his crew engage in a nearly continuous 35-minute action scene, involving Ito taking on a small group at a butcher shop, his crew defending a young girl in an apartment against 30 or so assailants armed with machetes, and Ito trying to escape from the back of a police van with five police officers? Yes, well, besides those things, there’s not much else to talk about with this film.

Did I forget to mention the opening action scene with Iko Uwais taking out multiple people in a strip club with nothing more than a great suit and a broken wine bottle? Or maybe the incredible performance by my new favorite Indonesian action character, White Boy Bobby, who reminds us what crazy actually looks like? Or the final action sequence split between a mysterious agent tracking down Triad killers who ends up protecting the young girl in close-quarters apartment building combat against two members of the Six Seas while Ito moves his way through a pool hall full of Triad gang members on his way to the most incredible brutal showdown with Arian in a metal shop, making use of all the wonderfully deadly tools around them in new and excessively horrific ways? Or how this film made me sit up and scream out “HOLY SHIT!” over thirty times because of just how much carnage is in this film from start to finish? Yes, well, besides all of that as well, there’s not much else to talk about with this film. You just have to see it, if you can stomach it.

“The Night Comes For Us” (2018) is the most brutal action film I’ve seen since “The Raid 2” (2014), proving once again that the Indonesian film scene is the reigning champion for action films, excessively violent in the same way that the “John Wick” fight choreography is excessively elegant and measured. It may not be the best, nor my favorite film that I’ve seen this year, but I can say it is my favorite film right now, and that if you love action films, and don’t mind the brutality, that this will likely be your favorite film of the moment as well, if not of all time. Don’t sleep on this if you love action films.

Rotten Tomatoes: 90%

Metacritic: 63

One Movie Punch: 8.8/10

Podcast: onemoviepunch.libsyn.com/episode-295-the-night-comes-for-us-2018

“The Night Comes For Us” (2018) is rated TV-MA and is currently streaming on Netflix and playing in select theaters.

Episode 295 - The Night Comes For Us (2018)

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Episode 490 - John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

Episode 489 - A Dark Song (2016)

Episode 488 - Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé (2019)

Episode 487 - Burning (2018)

Episode 486 - The Legend of Cocaine Island (2018)

Episode 485 - Suzzanna: Buried Alive (2018)

Episode 484 - Mirage (2018)

Episode 483 - Paskal (2018)

Episode 482 - Tully (2018)

Episode 481 - Unicorn Store (2017)

Episode 480 - Border (2018)

Episode 479 - Burn Out (2017)

Episode 478 - Girl (2018)

Episode 477 - Walk. Ride. Rodeo. (2019)

Episode 476 - Lady J (2019)

Episode 475 - Mom and Dad (2017)

Episode 474 - Inception (2010)

Episode 473 - Destroyer (2018)

Episode 472 - The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)

Joseph Dobzynski, Jr.

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