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BUFFALO BOYS
Director: Mike Wiluan Cast: Ario Bayu, Yoshi Sudarso, Tio Pakusadewo, Pevita Pearce, Reinout Bussemaker, Daniel Adnan, Mikha Tambayong, El Manik MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:42 Release Date: 1/11/19 (limited) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | January 10, 2019 A Western transplanted to the East, Buffalo Boys tells the story of two brothers who return home to Indonesia in order to avenge the murder of their father. That story is set in the 19th century, at a time when the Dutch East India Company, under direction of the country's government, held control of the island nation. It's fascinating to see how the dynamics of the genre translate into this scenario. The heroes become a combination of outlaws, righteous gunslingers, and oppressed natives. Meanwhile, the villains are men of law, trying to bring order to the local "anarchy"—an anarchy they created by destroying the actual law and order of the land. The protagonists are the elder Jamar (Ario Bayu) and the younger Suwo (Yoshi Sudarso), who, as infants, escaped the island of Java for California, under the care of their uncle Arana (Tio Pakusadewo). The men have grown up with the dress, the weaponry, and the skills of cowboys, and Arana decides that it's time for the three to return home and to hunt down Van Trach (Reinout Bussemaker), the ruthless company man who destroyed their family. Along the way, they end up fighting for the people of a local village, and Suwo falls for Kiona (Pevita Pearce), who's introduced a fearsome warrior, only to be placed in near-constant distress. The dynamics of the setup within the screenplay (written by director Mike Wiluan, Raymond Lee, and Rayya Makarim) may be somewhat unique within this cultural context. There definitely isn't anything novel about the story itself, though. It is, mostly, about personal revenge and societal justice, presenting a group of villains so dastardly that the only option is a series of shootouts, armed and unarmed brawls, and a climactic battle in the streets of a town that might as well have been shipped over from the American West of the era. The action is competently orchestrated by Wiluan (especially that final showdown, when it really counts), and there's a bit of vibrancy to the way he combines gunplay and martial arts. As such, the movie only comes to life in its action sequences, when it actively dismisses the contemporary politics that, otherwise, it mostly ignores. The rest of Buffalo Boys feels too familiar and too nondescript to stand out as a Western or a cultural variation of the genre. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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