Legend of Gatotkaca
“Legend of Gatotkaca” sees the creation of a new mythology that involves modern young adults accepting responsibilities that were passed down to them over the generations. It’s a very familiar YA genre premise, and there are times when Hanung Bramantyo’s film has some pop to it visually, especially in its utilization of visual effects for the fantasy battles. Unfortunately, it also has many images that are drab and too dark in the way too many American fantasy action films have leaned in to over the past decade or so. The story is interesting, but it also feels like it’s going with the flow of how American superhero films are structured without having much to say in its own right. Overall, though, there’s enough to keep our interest, but not as much as you’d like.
The film begins with a flashback to when the main character, Yuda (Rizky Nazar), is a child, and he and his mother are attacked by mystical warriors. In the present day, he is a college student just trying to live his life. When his best friend is killed by a masked assassin, he finds his past catching up to him. Discovering that you may be the prophesized key to winning a battle with an ancient evil will certainly upend anyone’s life.
If there’s one thing I do truly enjoy about “Legend of Gatotkaca,” it’s that the film actually seems to ground its world in the real-world of the past few years, with brief mentions of a pandemic and Coronavirus near the beginning; we also see people wearing masks, but that was more common in Asian countries even before COVID jolted the world. We don’t really get a lot of fantasy/action films that acknowledge the world in which they are made, and that was good to see. The world building in terms of the fantasy aspects are good- and the opening is strong- but the characters are not as compelling as you would like them to be, and the film devolves into very familiar superhero cliches when the story gets to its climax. This is a film where moments appear to stand out more than the whole- especially as Yuda begins to figure out his abilities, and sometimes, that is enough, but for a film that seems designed to create a new mythology for us to be engaged in, “Legend of Gatotkaca” feels too generic to hold our interest if Yuda’s adventures continue in the future.
