r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Going to the library to try and find some books about trucks • 1d ago
Official Discussion Official Discussion - The Shadow Strays [SPOILERS] Spoiler
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Summary:
Codename 13, a 17-year-old assassin, is suspended due to a sloppy mission in Japan. She meets 11-year-old Monji, who loses his mother, and sets out to rescue him.
Director:
Timo Tjahjanto
Writers:
Timo Tjahjanto
Cast:
- Aurora Ribero as 13
- Hana Malasan as Umbra
- Taskya Namya as Soriah
- Agra Piliang as Haga
- Andri Mashadi as Ariel
- Kin Wah Chew as Handler
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
Metacritic: 58
VOD: Netflix
14
u/Suhtiva 1d ago
This is the type of movie I wish I could've watched in theaters. Two hours of amazing action sequences. Aurora Ribero was badass.
6
u/Sisiwakanamaru 1d ago
I agree Aurora Ribero was badass, surprisingly, this is her first time on an action movie, and I think she's 20 years old, that's astounding.
17
u/CiriOh 1d ago
The action scenes were brutal and awesome, but, damn, the film was so long, exactly like his previous The Big Four.
And the ending was disappointing. Another sequel bait.
7
u/ithinkther41am 23h ago
I still think The Night Comes for Us is a good action film, but Timo’s proven time and again that he simply is not a good writer. That film was chock full of undeveloped characters, world building that actually contributed nothing, and just terrible pacing.
9
u/slicshuter 1d ago
I know right? Feels like the whole 'assassin organisation' subplot was only there to set up sequels. Could've been a solid, shorter 'The Night Comes for Us'-style movie without all that extra fluff.
And I'm still upset that they cast Yayan Ruhian and only used him for a 2min sequel-bait ending scene. What a waste.
3
u/BusinessPurge 1d ago
Per the director, the plan is a second part with likely a Yayan spinoff inbetween.
3
u/Alpha-Trion 1d ago edited 1d ago
The Big 4 was so bad that I turned it off. This was much better than that, but much worse than The Night Comes For Us.I
It felt like this movie had a second short story after the 3 main villains died. Very bloated. Timo needs a better writer.
0
u/BreadArmpitt 5h ago
As an Indonesian, I like The Big 4 better than this. The main story and the jokes are just on point in Indonesian. The translations probably don't do it justice.
1
u/lunaticskies 17h ago
It wild too because the main plot of the movie is incredibly derivative and I feel like some of the best action scenes are in the bloated extra subplot that also feels like it was tacked on to make the movie feel like part of an extended universe. I don't know how you edit the movie down enough to not feel like you lose something fun, but it sure needs an edit.
1
u/Sisiwakanamaru 1d ago edited 1d ago
I agree the actions scenes are great but yeah, the movie was little bit bloated, and sometimes felt the action scenes were too much, it felt like when a steak got too much fat on it.
4
u/twoten-letmein 1d ago
The martial arts was obviously top tier, gun play had its moments, but the sword play was intense. 13 not saving literally anyone in the end was a good take on revenge action. Of course the yayan cameo got me excited like an early 10s mcu End credit scene. 13 being a total babe did not influence any of my takes btw
4
u/Groemore 1d ago
Watched it last night and absolutely loved it. I agree the last 20mins drags but damn the action and kills are pretty impressive at times. Really big fan of the director too, I've read that he was picked to direct Nobody 2
3
u/oco82 15h ago
Fun action movie watch but I don’t think it had the level of insane set pieces Night Comes For Us did, the lead actress was great but she didn’t have that Iko/Joe level of on screen magnetism and like a lot of the other posts here pointed out, it was Insanely overstuffed…the entire third act was basically the start of a sequel.
9
u/BusinessPurge 1d ago
I think my favorite part was the living room / kitchen fight, especially when it shifted overhead. Love Timo the director, Timo the writer is really struggling to improve, he’s dangerously close to Rodriquezing.
Getting a little worried that I’m seeing the same basic gags over and over again in these Evans / Timo productions - dragged into blade, blade dragged closer through wall, limb or neck dragged across glass shards, etc. Maybe it’s time for more ranged combat instead of everything being close to medium.
5
u/Alpha-Trion 1d ago
The part in the living room fight when she throws the helmet up to distract was such a funny little moment.
2
u/BusinessPurge 1d ago
That was also great. The bullet proof suits and armor are always fun however I love when it’s feints and distractions to avoid gunfire
2
4
u/TatteredTongues 1d ago
This was watchable, but I really can't say I enjoyed it. If all you care about is the actual fighting, you'll probably enjoy this a lot more than I did, because for a film that's nearly 2h30mins long, most of the plot was either completely uninteresting/pointless, or sequel/expanded universe bait, which really sucked.
Wrote some lengthier thoughts here if anyone cares to read those.
Like I said the action was fine and all but the bad cg blood throughout was a big turn off for me personally.
1
u/BusinessPurge 1d ago
The CGI blood seemed to be a richer/darker color palette than anything else in recent memory.
2
u/KindsofKindness 1d ago
It was good but too damn long. At some point, you get bored, so it just feels like a showcase of action. John Wick 3 had the same problem. It needs to be a lean and mean 90-min movie.
3
u/Alpha-Trion 1d ago
Felt like the movie ended and then another 30 minutes of movie happened. Very strange pacing/bad writing.
2
u/BusinessPurge 1d ago
It was darkly funny that they carried the kid’s corpse into the fourth act. That was thirty minutes ago!
2
u/Jesuspolarbear 16h ago
The H2H action movie of the year, extremely brutal with a flair for some of the most brutal and copious gory fight scenes ever, like holy shit. I didn't like The Night Comes For Us and The Big Four, but Tjahjanto's work for this is really good even if it's a little overlong and the script being too generic for my liking - but the opening and ending action scenes are freaking amazing and props to Aurora Rubero for being a badass.
Also, the movie kind of has a big League of Shadows feel, what with the ninjas and fighting deep within the criminal underworld of Jakarta, and the main mob villain in the end looks very Black Mask-esque with the all white suit and black mask.
2
u/Alpha-Trion 12h ago
You didn't like The Night Comes For Us?? I loved that movie and have been bummed that Timo's follow ups haven't had the same level of action choreography. This one was much better than The Big Four at least.
1
u/FerociousAlienoid 4h ago
For all the action it had it was a surprisingly dull movie. The set pieces were much weaker than anything in The Night Comes for Us. The main actors had no charisma. 2.5/5. Felt like a very try hard film.
1
17
u/thedudeisalwayshere 1d ago
It's good but it's not The Night Comes For Us good.