Big 4, The (2022) Review

“The Big 4” Netflix Poster

Director: Timo Tjahjanto
Cast: Abimana Aryasatya, Putri Marino, Arie Kriting, Lutesha, Kristo Immanuel, Marthino Lio, Budi Ros, Michelle Tahalea, Kho Michael
Running Time: 141 min. 

By Paul Bramhall

In the early to mid-2010’s Welshman Gareth Evans put Indonesian action cinema on the map with The Raid and its sequel, and when he left it felt like there was an unspoken hope amongst action fans that the baton would be passed to the Mo Brothers to keep the momentum going. Comprising of Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel, the pair aren’t actually related, instead being Indonesian filmmakers who met while studying in Australia. Showing a clear love of horror and practical gore in their feature film debut Macabre, a theme which continued into their follow up with the grizzly thriller Killers, it was 2016’s Headshot that gave many their first taste of their talents. Featuring The Raid’s leading man Iko Uwais, Headshot combined their trademark gratuitous bloodshed with the distinctive silat style of action choreography, and the combination was a winning one.

As it happens Headshot was also the last time for Tjahjanto and Stamboel to direct together, and in subsequent years the pair have pursued their own solo projects. While Stamboel has returned to their horror roots, helming the likes of DreadOut in 2019 and a remake of the Indonesian horror classic The Queen of Black Magic in the same year, Tjahjanto on the other hand has continued to explore how to combine a love of gore with the action genre. Many would argue that his crowning achievement comes in the form of 2018’s The Night Comes for Us, a movie that for the longest time appeared like it was never going to be made, but proved to be worth the wait once it did finally arrive. A relentless 2-hour bloodbath, what little plot there is becomes a minor quibble thanks to the unapologetically brutal action that rarely lets up, solidifying Tjahjanto’s name as an action movie director to look out for.

It may have taken 4 years for us to get another does of Tjahjanto the action filmmaker, but in 2022 he finally returns with The Big 4. Not that he’s not been busy since 2018, having directed segments in the 2019 sci-fi anthology Portals as well as the 2021 horror series V/H/S/94, and helming a sequel to his own horror flick May the Devil Take You (released during the same year as The Night Comes for Us) with 2020’s May the Devil Take You Too. However The Big 4 is a little different from Tjahjanto’s previous action outings, shifting away from the dark themes explored in the likes of Headshot and The Night Comes for Us, and instead trying his hand at an action comedy.

I confess that, at least from the perspective of my own twisted sense of humour, some of the violence in The Night Comes for Us was cranked up to such delirious levels that I began to find it funny, so to see what Tjahjanto could do when it comes to intentionally bringing the laughs is something I was up for. The plot itself is nothing new. Four orphans have been raised by a professional hitman to be assassins, with the caveat that they only kill the bad guys. Their mentor and father figure also has a biological daughter though, and she’s about to graduate the police academy and become a part of the force. So far he’s been able to keep his assassin hustle (and 4 adopted assassins) under wraps, but with his own flesh and blood now having the power to arrest him, he makes the logical call to retire and call it a day, removing the risk of her ever finding out.

Naturally, on the day of her inauguration he’s unable to make it due to being murdered by a masked intruder, leading to the biological daughter teaming up with ‘The Big 4’ to take revenge on those that killed their father. The four in question are played by actors who are essentially unknown beyond Indonesian shores, with Abimana Aryasatya (Wiro Sableng) playing the closest thing to the leader of the group and best fighter, Arie Kriting (Ghost Writer) is the sniper, Lutesha (Photocopier) is the hot tempered one, and newcomer Kristo Immanuel usually acts as the bait. Similarly, the daughter is played by Putri Marino (One Night Stand). Quite how much you’ll enjoy their comedic shenanigans is probably down to a matter of taste, with Southeast Asian comedy usually falling into the kind of broad category that involves a lot of gurning, hysterical yelling, and prat falls (often with accompanying comedic sound effect).

In that way The Big 4 somewhat feels like its following in the same direction that the action genre shifted towards in the likes of Thailand and Vietnam with movies like This Girl is Bad-Ass!! and Saigon Bodyguards. While it was more straight-faced productions like Ong Bak and The Rebel that brought their action movie output to international audience’s attention, within a decade both countries had moved away from going for international appeal, and opted to target the more comedy-inclined local tastes. I raise this point as personally I struggle with a lot of the comedy in these movies, and the struggle was a real one with The Big 4. We have falls accompanied by “gong” sound cues or “cock-a-doodle-doos”, an ongoing kick in the crotch gag that wasn’t that funny the first time, and a bad guy who loves to Salsa.

Of course all of this would be ok intermingled with some of Tjahjanto’s trademark kinetic action, which here is once more choreographed by Muhammad Irfan (who handled the choreography on Headshot, and more recently the action-comedy Hit & Run), and bundled in a tight 90-minute package. Inexplicably though, The Big 4 weighs in at a whopping 140 minutes in length, which is easily 45 minutes too long. The slightness of the plot simply doesn’t justify such a bloated runtime, and Tjahjanto awkwardly balances the violence that he’s known for with the bawdy comedic elements. One moment we can be watching a bad guy have half his head blown off, then the next we’re being subjected to a protracted comedic sequence where Marino has gotten unintentionally high off a frog skin potion.

When the action does hit it’s Aryasatya who does most of the heavy lifting, throwing down against 2 assailants in the guise of a hotel receptionist early on that heavily leans of the Jackie Chan influence, complete with the shaky hands trope after hitting a metal bucket. Marthino Lio (Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash) makes for an entertaining bad guy, as does his bazooka loving secretary played by newcomer Michelle Tahalea. Lio’s loud and obnoxious approach to villainy is well matched against his fighting prowess and specialty at throwing knives, making the eventual face-off between the pair a satisfying one, even if it does feel derivative of all the previously mentioned slices of Indonesian action.

Mostly though Tjahjanto leans more on gunplay here than martial arts, and in that regard The Big 4 does little to differentiate itself from any of the other numerous post-John Wick action flicks that involve a character brandishing a handgun. While the frantic energy and focus on the damage that bullets (and fists) can do is still there, the extra ingredient of originality that made Headshot and The Night Comes for Us so entertaining feels like its missing, with most of what’s onscreen having been done before. The extreme violence of Tjahjanto’s former action outings may have made it seem like the originality factor isn’t all that important, but taken away even the most showstopper head being blown off the shoulders shot only feels like a cheap thrill at most.

While The Big 4 serves up plenty of both the action and the comedy, there are only a few times when both elements gel together, with the punishing runtime making it increasingly painful every time they don’t. Tjahjanto has already stated he hopes The Big 4 to be the start of a franchise, complete with a mysterious character entering the final scene to end things on a cliff-hanger, but if the next instalment offers up more of the same, I think I’ll likely bow out at this one.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 5/10