Warkop DKI Reborn: Jangkrik Boss! Part 2 picks up where a.k.a. Indonesia blockbuster record-breaker left. After some short disastrous tenure with CHiPS, Dono (Abimana Aryasatya), Kasino (Vino G. Bastian) and Indro (Tora Sudiro) were gravely indebted; and the only way to pay the debt, they needed to find a hidden treasure. Along with Sophie (Hannah Al Rashid), they flight to Malaysia, the place where the treasure is allegedly hidden, only to accidentally swap their bag with a Malaysian researcher's bag. There's where Part 1 ended.
Part 2 revolves around the trio's ludicrous treasure-hunt in a foreign country. With the assistance from Nadia (Nur Fazura), the researcher they stumbled into, Dono, Kasino and Indro wander into a haunted island where they encounter 'the real story' of Warkop DKI Reborn and get drowned in an adventure as bizarre and as absurd as in Part 1.
After a prolonged introduction in the first chunk, Anggy Umbara finally brings audiences into the real deal, which is surprisingly more abridged and more compact. Compared to the predecessor, Part 2 doesn't feel as episodic and sketchy. Even it actually 'narrates' the story instead of filling it with heaps of barely related comedy sketches. However, as a body of narrative, it is still the same series of incoherent absurdity with good laugh, which might work for those looking for instant amusement.
The joke library in Part 2 is solid. While the jokes are hit-and-miss at best, the ammunitions are still laugh-friendly in one way or another-unless your sense of humor is of Burj Khalifa height or SNL-exclusive or if you're not a native speaker (mind that humor is the highest level of second/foreign language acquisition). Be it some deadpan bantz or slapstick, the comedy timing in Bene Dion & Awwe's script is legit.
The plot, however, is another thing. Part 2 takes as little exposition as possible before jumping into action; and when it does, it's cringeworthy at best and messy at worst. The plot might jump from one point to another without proper coherence or reasons that actually make sense. The pace doesn't help either. It's basically quick-paced, but the urgency to inject the story with humors gets too overwhelming at some points. Entering the final 30 minutes, the plot goes downhill following a hasty, necessarily unnecessary twist.
Should there be redeemer of the circumstances, it would be the film's self-aware nature. Characters often break the fourth wall, make meta-references regarding the filmmaking and even nudge Warkop DKI's filmography (with Setan Kredit and Sama Aja Bohong as frontrunners). The pinnacle of this self-aware gusto is within final 30 minutes, where the plot goes downhill. Part 2 unleashes its most absurd, incoherent weapon in a series of scenes involving television, alternate universe and classic Indonesian films. It works perfectly for the sake of instant entertainment; at the same time, it sinks the plot completely into aphotic zone.
Abimana, Vino and Tora bring exhilaration in every screen presence, with Abimana stealing the whole show. Indro Warkop gets a more substantial role this time, washing his annoying presence in Part 1 away. Those top-billing actors are the main reason Warkop DKI Reborn: Jangkrik Boss! Part 2 enjoyable despite its incoherent absurdity.
Warkop DKI Reborn: Jangkrik Boss! Part 2 (2017)
Comedy Directed by: Anggy Umbara Written by: Bene Dion Rajagukguk, Andi Awwe Wijaya, Anggy Umbara Starred by: Tora Sudiro, Vino G. Bastian, Abimana Aryasatya & Hannah Al-Rashid Runtime: 97 min
