**No matter what, the bad past always hunts you down!**

Like everybody, I was anticipating 'The Raid 3', instead I got this one. Iko Uwais is not just a rising star, he is making Indonesian films internationally recognised. But seems as fast he's rising, as fast he's sinking. The reason is heavily relied on martial arts. In real life, he himself an artist too. But taking into the account like from Tony Jaa, and Hong Kong, Chinese film industries. That's a one generation thing. To keep the industry on the float in the long term, it takes good stories and performances, alongside good production.

'The Raid' duology was good, but not lucky anymore. Basically, this is the same pattern with different characters and situations compared to those two titles. The stunt fans might enjoy it, but what terribly lacked in this film was the a good story. The majority of the film goers, including film critics believe in that. Hence it did not deliver as expected. By the way, this is a generation of CGI film like 'Mad Max: Fury Road'. Yet some kids from the 90s still love to see a pure martial art films.

It is an action packed film. A gangster theme. The day when a notorious gangster leader named Lee escapes the prison, a young man was found unconscious on the beach, then he was treated by an aspiring young doctor. Lee finds out about this amnesiac man and sends his finest men to retrieve him. But nothing goes as planned. The confrontation between them slowly restores his lost memory. Defeating all the fighters, he's set for the final standoff against Lee which will bring an end to the narration.

> ❝You saved me before. I need you to save me one more time.❞

The production was good, though the performances were ordinary. Because all the focus were the action sequences. At least I expected decent dialogues. It was a weird romance platform, a sub-genre. Romance can blossom anywhere, anytime, but weakly developed to believe it the least. Not the best martial art film too. There were some twists in the narration, but none were surprising enough. The film would have achieved a better result if it had done well in the stunt parts. I'm sure there will be some people who would like it or liked it. I usually like martial art films, but not this one, not my cup of tea.

Sometimes the opening does not matter if the rest of the tale recovers well. Very clichéd initiation, but it did not get better. Especially the conclusion was a big let down. The entire film was leaned on Iko's role. Also the character Lee was too much hyped. In between them, the rest of the cast was discarded. Overall, I don't think they have missed an opportunity in here, because I felt nothing were designed so well to be a decent film at any level. From familiarity to the predictability, the storytelling never had the upper hand to get better. Some people think it is worth watching at least once, but according to me not. All I would say is it's your call.

_4.5/10_

I should start this off by saying, I am slowly becoming a huge fan of Indonesian films and also embarrassing more Asian cinema as the way that the action and storytelling are done is very different from how Hollywood does it. This film wasn't the best, had a pretty good story and the action was sublime and I can't fault that as I was invested the entire way through and whenever and action sequence was going to happen I found myself on the edge of my seat.

But where this movie has issues is with the pacing and development of characters, this movie can get boring at times and if it wasn't for my investment in Iko Uwais's (Ismail) character I would have become a little annoyed as the movie ramps up its action to a hundred and then can go down zero with its sometimes slow story. Everyone always gives props to Iko and he deserves it, but my standout person for this film and for a few other Indonesian action films is Julie Estelle (Rika) who is always electric when she is onscreen as she is perfect in action scenes but can also do emotional very quickly.

To conclude, if you are looking for a movie with a kickass main character and some really great action then, by all means, check it out (especially if you are a fan of Unleashed or The Bourne Franchise). But I warn you, the pacing can be really off at points in this film and some characters/relationships in the film can come off as a little underdeveloped.

But just remember.......Subs over Dubs!!!!!!!

Not a bad movie, but coming straight off of _The Raid_ and _The Night Comes For Us_ did make _Headshot_ a little disappointing. Iko Uwais movies are still a safe bet in my book though.

_Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go._