There are not many movies in Indonesia that revolve around police officer or the action of police officer in order to take down a cruel and evil villain. Police officer or secret police agent versus a deathly threat from an evil villain is actually a mainstream narrative in Hollywood but not in Indonesia.
I personally like most of the movies with that kind of narrative because I can see the high level effort and the clean cut action from the officer that I have never seen in real life and maybe I will never see.
A good story narrative about the clean cut and heroic action from police officers can be seen good if there is a smartass evil villain on the opposed side. No matter how good the action is, the story is, the action choreography is, if there is no equal villain then everything is meaningless.
That is 22 Menit movie. To make it simple, the movie has stupid and weak villains that don’t look cool. On the other hand the police department and the protagonist are too strong, the main character Ardi (Ario Bayu) can find the enemy easily, and can easily shoot the enemy. It is more like a narcissistic portrayal about a police bureau. Then, the movie comes to the end.
The story of 22 Menit is inspired from a true story. It is about the Thamrin Bombing on 2016. The movie started with personal story of Ardi with his little family and then move into personal stories of some other characters such as Firman (Ade Firman Hakim), Anas (Ence Bagus), etc. Then the story moves into how all those characters crossed path with the bombing tragedy in Thamrin, Jakarta. In a few minutes the terrorists are detected and then they are defeated by the police.
Well, the main narrative is quite good but with so many sub-plot and so many point of views the movie become a little bit annoying. From a story of a character until the bombing happen and then the movie plays another point of view from different character on how he/she experiences the event. It goes like that for like 4-5 times.
Beside the weak villain and the police that is too good for the enemy that is more like institutional narcissist, there is another problem such as no character development. We don’t know the reason why the bombing happen, we don’t know the struggle and the live of the main characters, there is no emotional depth to the story. The movie would better if it has less point of views.
I think the director and the writer forget that it is a movie. There should be some elements that are added such as dramatization, plot twist, characterization, and some other elements.
On the other hand, the movie is quite enjoyable with its very easy storyline. The storyline is easier and lighter than some popcorn movies. The music score is also dope, 22 Menit is one of the Indonesian movies with the best music score. For the CGI, well it’s Indonesian standard.
Our Score (5,5/10)
Title : 22 Menit
Directed : Eugene Panji, Myrna Paramia
Production : Buttonijo Films
Writers : Husein M. Atmodjo, Gunawan Raharja
Casts : Ario Bayu, Ade Firman Hakim, Ardina Rasti
Putu Radar Bahurekso
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