Friday, April 13, 2018

ReuniZ - A Pretty Decent Indonesian Zombie Comedy Movie

Last night, my wife and I decided to see this comedy movie because we were intrigued by the trailer which promised a different kind of comedy with zombies. So when we checked the schedule and found out it was playing at Setiabudi One which was a walking distance from our home, we immediately bought the tickets for 7.15 PM show. Without further ado, here are more details of the movie.

Brief Story Line

Juhana aka Joe Hanna (Soleh Solihun - Hang Out, Mau Jadi Apa? etc) was invited to his 20th high school reunion and decided he wanted to meet up with his old friends. Before he became a rather well known actor, he was in a band during his high school years. Juhana finaly met with his former band members during the reunion that included Jeffri (Tora Sudiro - Warkop DKI Reborn: Jangkrik Boss part 1 & its sequel etc) with his wife and high school girlfriend Lulu (Ayushita - Berangkat!, Kartini etc), even though their relationship was a bit sour due to some incident happening 20 years before. 


In the reunion, they would also meet with other friends such as the very funny Marina (Dinda Kanyadewi - Hang Out, Cinta Fitri series etc), the bully Jody (Surya Saputra - Arisan!, Ayat-ayat Cinta etc) and his pals, the successful event organizer & MC Raina (Fanny Fabriana - Hari untuk Amanda, True Love etc), the irritating Budi (Verdi Solaiman - Java Heat, Garuda 19 etc) including a separated couple Rudy (Anjasmara - Joshua oh Joshua, Si Cecep series etc) and Nining (Dian Nitami - Perwira dan Kesatria, Rudy Habibie etc). Things would soon start to fall apart during the reunion, when some of the current school cheerleaders were somehow infected by a virus that turned them into zombies.

Could all the alumni be saved from the zombies attack? Or would everyone be infected and no one survived? Find them all in this fun zombie comedy movie.

End of Brief Story Line

Well, the movie was just what I expected. It was filled with quite a lot of humor, some rather cheesy but generally quite funny. Few of the jokes were a bit vulgar which was understandable as it was supposed to be jokes among ex high school students. My most favorite character that was fun to see would definitely be Jody played by Surya Saputra. Somehow his performance was very natural and very convincing. My wife's favorite was Dinda Kanyadewi who I also think really believable playing her character (if you have seen the movie, you would know why she was wonderful in here). And I love their chemistry.

This movie was co-directed by Soleh Solihun himself together with an experienced director Monty Tiwa (well known for some drama & comedy movies such as: Shy Shy Cat, Get Married 3, Sabtu Bersama Bapak etc). I have gotten to know Soleh Solihun since the move Hang Out and I think he was 1 of the best performer there, including in this movie where he was quite fun to see. The movie's plot was quite simple and surprisingly apart from having the fun moments, it also provided some more emotional or dramatic moments. And they also put emphasis on details that normally would be overlooked by other movie makers such as the handphones left behind, the locked doors, even the fate of every characters introduced in the movie were all shown.

When you see this kind of movie though, you need to understand that this is a movie aimed for entertaining the general audience and not the critics. So you would have to excuse things that might seemed illogical or did not make sense. For the make up effects, I got to give this two thumbs up. I think they did a great job of making the zombies real life like. I think it was not too far off from the more established Hollywood movies. And of course the supporting cast who played the zombies were also awesome. Their body movement were quite convincing as zombies, added with a decent sound effect, make them pretty realistic. 

I am not sure if this is the first zombie movie ever in Indonesia or not, but if yes, then it was certainly not bad. Though of course you should not be comparing it with the first Korean zombie movie Train to Busan which was a very seriously executed high budget movie. At least if people ask is there a zombie movie in Indonesia, we could definitely say yes. Btw, the movie did not have any post end credit scene. Ooh before I forgot, the movie also had appearance from other quite well known actors/public figures like Henky Solaiman, Ence Bagus, Joe P Project, Joko Anwar and young performers such as Cassandra Lee and Kenny Austin. So yeah, it was filled with quite a lot stars.

Overall, if you are looking for some comedy with zombies in an Indonesian movies, then search no more cause it is available now and still playing in all cinema chains. But if you are looking for a more serious and very scary zombies, then perhaps you would be more satisfied watching films such as The Walking Dead TV series (the first & second season at least), or Resident Evil series. The choice is yours.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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