VOD Review: Headshot (2017)

"More hyper-kinetic martial arts awesomeness from Indonesia."

After seeing the fantastic martial arts films The Raid (review HERE) and The Raid 2 (review HERE) , we instantly became fans of Indonesian genre films, marveling in the rapid-fire ferocity that is the Pencak Silat fighting style.

We then found a flick by The Mo Brothers called Killers (review HERE) that deepened our admiration of the small Island nation's ability to capture our imaginations.

From that point on, anyone who had anything to do with those films were on our radar, and we aggressively sought out anything we could find starring, produced by, or even choreographed by them, and ate them up: Macabre and Safe Haven (from The Mo Brothers); Merantau (by Gareth Evans, starring Iko Uwais); we even geeked out when we learned that the guys from The Raid flicks would have a small scene in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

So it goes without saying that when we heard that Iko Uwais would be starring in the new Mo Brothers flick, that we were instantly on board. And while it might not be quite as good as The Raid flicks, Headshot is one hell of a fun ride that gave us our fix of Indonesian ass-kicking.

After a nefarious crime boss, Mr. Lee, makes a bloody and ingenious escape from prison, we see the body of a man washing ashore on a small island in Indonesia, after being shoot in the head. Are the two events connected? Obviously. The unconscious man is taken to a local hospital where he's cared for by the beautiful med student, Ailin, who for some reason sleeps in his room and reads to him. Maybe she's lonely, and a guy in a coma just fits the bill, you know?

OR MAYBE THIS KIND OF SHIT IS JUST PART OF NORMAL, EVERYDAY LIFE IN INDONESIA.

When he wakes up, he remembers very little about who he is, or how he came to be shot in the head and dumped in the sea. Calling himself Ishmael, he and Ailin become fast friends, taking long walks together, and maybe even falling in love.

OR MAYBE HE JUST WANTS TO STEAL HER PHONE.

Word spreads about the new man with a head wound, eventually getting back to Mr. Lee, which sends him into a fury. You see, Ishmael was his student, and it was Mr. Lee and his gang of elite assassins who shot him and dumped him into the sea to begin with, and just knowing that he's still alive means that they've got to find him, and finish the job that they thought they had finished.

Good luck with that.

SORRY DUDE, HE'S MADE OF IRON!

Sure, the movie gets a bit repetitive, what with it being mainly Iko Uwais beating the living shit out of people over and over again, but it's such a brutal, fantastic spectacle to behold, that who cares if it's repetitive? Should you get mad when there are too many sex scenes in a porno flick? No, because that's why you're watching a porno flick. Same goes for martial arts flicks like this; yes, we want a good story, likable heroes, and intense villains, but what we really want are fight scenes. Lots of brutal, kinetic, flashy, insane fight scenes.

And that is exactly why Headshot is so great, because it gives us nothing but that. The fight scenes in this movie are so beautifully choreographed that any of them could the final showdown in any number of action flicks, and it's filled with them.

Iko Uwais is a special talent. He's kind of got these boyish good looks that make him come off as really likable, and then he unleashes a barrage of Pencak Silat moves on demand, which makes him seem formidable and deadly. Because he is. He's a treat to watch, to the point where J.J. Abrams decided to "get the guys from The Raid movies" to be in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, just because he loved what they do so much. He just makes for a good everyday-man kind of hero, and he makes me wonder just how many people like him in Indonesia could lay a brutal ass-whipping on someone if they wanted to.

MR. LEE AIN'T NO SLOUCH IN THE ASS-KICKING DEPARTMENT EITHER.

As per the usual with recent Indonesian martial arts flicks, Headshot is an unflinchingly brutal movie, full of fights-to-the-death galore.

OH, THERE IS PLENTY OF PAIN!

No sexy time in this one, only fighting.

JULIE ESTELLE IS ALWAYS SEXY THOUGH.

There are lots of great scenes throughout this one, but the opening fight in the prison was my fave. That firefight!

LIKE THE HALLWAY SCENE FROM OLDBOY, BUT WITH GUNS. SO IT'S OVER WAY QUICKER.

I gave Headshot a B+ because I loved every minute of it, even though I should have been more critical of its shortcomings. Any movie that can make me look past its bad points because it's so much damn fun, deserves a good grade. As an individual film, minus the bump for my personal enjoyment, it's probably more of a C+ affair.

If you liked The Raid movies though, then there's no reason that you won't dig this one just about as much, even if it's not quite up to par with them.

B+

Headshot is available now on VOD.

There's something intriguing about a beautiful woman who can kick your ass, and Julie Estelle is that woman. We're not messing with Chelsea Islan either.