'The Night Comes for Us' Has the Best Cinematic Fight Scenes of the Year

A couple of years ago, Indonesia introduced to the world the The Raid duology, which revolutionized the R-rated action thriller genre as we knew it.  It since then served as a benchmark for gritty martial arts films.  Other countries even utilized its formula, putting their own spin on it, to mostly favorable results.  However, none have been able to live up to it.

Indonesia tried last year to make another Raid-type film with Headshot.  But even though a couple of The Raid’s actors are in it, and even though it’s also gratifyingly badass, it’s just not quite as strikingly resonating.

But, this year, there’s an argument to be made that Indonesia has finally succeeded in creating a spiritual successor to The Raid in The Night Comes for Us.

The plot centers on Ito, one of the “Six Seas”, the Triad’s elite enforcers.  However, when tasked to kill a young girl named Reina, he instead turns against the Triad, and decides to protect her and send her to safety – believing this to be his opportunity of redemption.  With Triad assassins closing in, Ito seeks the help of the last members of his old gang.  Meanwhile, among the assassins that are sent by the Triad to kill Ito is Arian, who is also a member of Ito’s old gang, and Chien Wu, another member of the Six Seas.  The situation only becomes more chaotic when an enigmatic female operative – simply introduced in the credits as “The Operator” – joins the fray.

The film’s cast is made up of familiar faces from The Raid and Headshot – Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Sunny Pang, Zack Lee, and Julie Estelle (and it’s extremely likely that the extras and stuntmen here also worked in either one or both).  However, this time around, Iko Uwais plays the antagonist (Arian); Joe Taslim – who was Sgt. Jaka, the police officer who had an epic fight with Mad Dog, in The Raid – plays the main protagonist (Ito).  Sunny Pang – who played Lee, the big bad in Headshot – is also a major villain in this film (Chien Wu), but he unfortunately wasn’t given a fight scene to perform in.  Meanwhile, coming into this movie, I really didn’t know that Julie Estelle – the unforgettable “Hammer Girl” in The Raid 2 – was going to be in it, but I had a strong gut feeling that she would show up; and she did; and she stole the whole movie, as her character (“The Operator”) turned out being, probably, the strongest and coolest fighter in the film.

And as expected from such a cast, they totally brought it in the fight scenes – which are, hands down, the best from this year’s cinema.  Due to taut direction and beautiful but brutal choreography, what’s produced is a visceral action fest, brimming with no-holds-barred hand-to-hand combat and gory violence.

Most notably, (kind of a SPOILER) the final battle between Ito and Arian – showcasing incredible chemistry between Joe Taslim and Iko Uwais – is an eye-popping, breath-taking treat.  A lot of memorable action sequences lead up to this, but that climactic final battle is easily the highlight of this film.

Aside from having superior action, what I think made The Night Comes for Us a more accomplished film than Headshot, with regards to recapturing the magic and intensity of The Raid, is the fact that the former’s story has more emotional depth than the latter’s run-of-the-mill one.  It’s another reason why the aforementioned final battle is resonating, for a well-built-up drama is behind it.

Nevertheless, it’s not immaculate.  First of all, it has noticeable hiccups here and there.  One of the most obvious ones is a scene where it starts out as night, but after the next cut, it’s immediately dusk.  Second, it doesn’t quite feel like a complete, satisfying story.  A slight annoyance is left in the air when the movie ends because some plot threads are still untied.  Unless a sequel is planned, this is not really acceptable.  But if there is going to be one, which should be centered on Julie Estelle’s The Operator – I still have a lot of nagging questions about her – then everything’s totally fine.

In relation to this, its worldbuilding paints a John Wick-ish criminal world in its depiction of the Triad.  And it’s an incomplete “painting.”  The Six Seas are hyped from the very start, but only two of them are shown (plus, another one is name-dropped).  In addition, there’s this other group of Triad enforcers called “Lotus”, and also, only two (three at most, if that sniper counts; there’s no definite identification if she is) of them are shown.  Come on.  The rest of them need to be revealed.

In the end, The Night Comes for Us is pretty epic.  It’s not as great as The Raid, but it’s definitely the closest thing to it that I’ve ever seen.

But, seriously, give me a sequel, with The Operator as the main protagonist.  Please!