Whew... this review is gonna be hella long so bear with me, I'm very hyperfixated rn.
I'll be explaining the plot as best as I can recall
This movie follows a PASKAU team having to survive Namburi, a place where the Northern and Southern militia are fighting. Their plane back to Malaysia was shot down by the Northern, who during a ceasefire, was upset that they were pulling back.
The survivors now needs to find a way to contact help...
(Mind you, I might get the plot a little bit wrong because, for me, everything happened too fast. I had to ask my brother to recount what happened and why it did.)
As the TUDM learns about the disaster, they set up a rescue mission in which they select Zafran ("Mantis") their best pilot to lead and Adib's brother-in-law, to clear the space for the helis to save them.
Okay, so now, my experience; the movie is enjoyable and you can feel for them. The actors does a great job in bringing their character out and they're unique, not bland with a one-way mind. Me, personally, when there's a corny line, it throws me off the whole movie, but this one does it at the right time.
You understand what they feel; the panic they have when the plane was shot; Matno being shook as a civilian, very close to death if he didn't jump; the fart joke to lighten Matno up; their fear when Lejen got dragged down by the militia; the relief when they're finally rescued.
But here's the problem...
I feel like a few things were rushed and some plots cut so they could fit in the 105 minutes.
Zaf (Zafran) and Adib - We segue 8 years into the past and see Zaf unhappy with his childhood friend, Adib as they had promise to fly together, but he decided to join PASKAU instead. Their friendship ends and back to present, we see Zaf learning about their plane being shot down and he's worried for Adib's safety, showing that he still cares for him. He requests to be put into action to save his brother-in-law.
So Zaf gets on his "calibrated-it-to-suit-you" jet and sets off to clear the area for safer rescuing. Cue intense jet scenes and a sad one next.
After all this, we never really see them reconciling. It cuts to the funeral and that's it; I thought the point of their backstory was to see them reunite and reconcile, even for a little bit. Not motivation for him to want to hop on the rescue operation.
Zafran - His character's got so much, but we barely see it. His scenes with Marya was baffling to me; he goes to her all heated that she runs the investigation case and she talks some sense in him and left. You start to wonder, "ooh, will it be romantic?" and even if it's not, it's fine, we can see them be friends after all.
No. Her demeanor changed suddenly without warning and she's super friendly with him and calibrated the SUKHOI for him.
...okay, but will they do anything more with them?
No again, their storyline ends there. We see no development between them.
Even the fact that he flew the jet low, scaring civilians, he faces no consequence from that action. It's just a random plot to make it meaningful? Idk where they were trying to go with that.
Layla - When she appeared, I thought she'd be someone important to the story since they focused on her face a few times, but she's just a side character.
Air base capture - So they've made their way to the air base, only to find it compromised. Alright, wait... why are they showing the people indoors looking for items? Could that endanger them if they continue trying to reach it? No.
If you can ignore the parts that doesn't make sense sometimes, then you'll find it good because I did. It's a good movie with a couple mistakes that's easy to ignore/overlook if you're more of a casual viewer.
If you're pro-military, you'll like it. Jet go woosh? Yes, jet go woosh.
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