Iko Uwais is entirely known for kicking ass with some serious ferocity. His debut film “Merantu” set the stage for his breakout role in “The Raid,” which he followed with “The Raid 2,” and a part in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” which you probably blinked and missed. But now he’s back in a starring role, toplining “Headshot,” and yes, Uwais delivers the bone-breaking, gravity defying flurry of kicks, punches, eye gouges, and throat throttling you’ve come to expect. But he’s also given lots of opportunity to act across the overlong two hour running time, and depending on the reason you buy your ticket to “Headshot,” mileage may vary.
At least in fits and starts, “Headshot” is never lacking for explosive action scenes, and starts off with a bang as as the film’s big bad Lee (a deliciously slimy and evil Sunny Pang) orchestrates a vicious and bloody prison escape, that also happens to leave everyone involved dead….except him. Meanwhile, a mysterious man, who washes up unconscious on the shore of a seaside town, is being brought back to health in a local hospital. The doctor charged with his care, Ailin (Chelsea Islan), names him Ishmael (Uwais) after, of course, the character in “Moby Dick.” It’s a clumsy metaphor that never quite makes sense, but the message is clear: Ishmael is soon going to be on the hunt for his white whale — Lee.
However, getting to that part of the story takes a while and far too much plot. You see, Ishmael survived a gunshot to the head, but its left his memory fried, with only bits and pieces of flashback fragments filling in what actually happened before he landed in the hospital. Everything from being dragged out of the water to the eventual explanation of his past bears a striking similarity to Jason Bourne, but even before that’s revealed, there’s still more narrative to get through, mostly involving a fairly undercooked romance between Ailin and Ishmael, and the latter’s reluctance to reconcile with his past and use his lethal gifts to kill. But when Lee comes looking for Ishmael and Ailin gets kidnapped, well, it’s game on.
READ MORE: Walter Hill’s ‘(Re)Assignment’ Can’t Find The Fun In Its Bonkers Premise [TIFF Review]
Directed by Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel aka The Mo Brothers, with a script by the former, what they lack in original or even compelling drama in “Headshot,” they make up for with the film’s multiple action scenes. Choreographed by Iko Uwais’ team, the setpieces are often breathtakingly realized, featuring minimal cutting, and inventive scenarios. Even if the structure is akin to a video game with Ishmael essentially working his way through various boss levels with increasing difficulty, the fight scenes are maximized to their fullest potential. Even the gunplay is fresh, and with The Mo Brothers whipping cameras around and seemingly slightly punching up frame rates, “Headshot” rarely has a problem entertaining when our hero is forced to fight.
However, this kinetic momentum is consistently underdone by the film’s bland story. Stretched out perhaps in an attempt to achieve some kind of emotional impact, none of it works, partly due to the generic beats (we’ve seen the hero-has-to-rescue-the-girl premise dozens of times over, not to mention five Bourne films with which we’ve seen a trained killer grapple with his memory) but also because, at the end of the day, Iko Uwais is not Matt Damon. He manages his way through the non-fighting scenes decently enough, but he’s simply not as charismatic a presence as he is when fighting for his life while chained to a table or kicking his way out of a burning bus. Unlike Jackie Chan, for example, who has shown at skillset at being dramatic or comedic when the required, in addition to a propensity for standout action scenes, Iko Uwais is not similarly gifted. Or if he is, “Headshot” is not the movie that highlights those non-fighting tools, and the picture suffers when it pretends that the audience is showing up for reasons other than to see Iko Uwais do what he does best. And unfortunately, with nearly half the film featuring the actor doing things other using his hands and feet to bring down bad guys wielding batons, machetes and guns, the pacing can be plodding.
Thirty minutes shorter — and it’s possible to recut the picture, given that portions of the storyline are repetitive or could be rejiggered into montage — and “Headshot” is a much different movie, one distinctly focused on Uwais’ finest talents. As it is, the action movie hinders the immediate and palpable energy that begins to stir any time Uwais clenches his fist, and makes you wait, and wait again, for the good stuff to arrive. [C]
Click here for our complete coverage of the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival
