Gundala, or ‘Thunder’, has the look of something that has been seen before but is still enticing enough to show again since it’s a superhero movie, so of course, it’s going to be of interest. Sancaka, the main protagonist, has a tragic and obviously troubled back story, which has become standard for a lot of heroes, but he’s also lacking in confidence at first when it comes to unleashing his powers. In short, he’s the kind of hero that we’ve seen before but from a different country and possibly a movie that might help to push forth the idea of superheroes a little further since for quite some time now the US has been spearheading the whole superhero game in a big way even as diversity has been the call of the day. Based in Jakarta, this superhero movie could help to start covering the globe a little more efficiently since it does sound as though Gundala might be able to take off and do its own thing considering that by the end of the first movie there was an ancient evil that had been revived and there was another superhero that had taken interest in him as well. One has to wonder though just where the mysterious woman came from and why she bothered to help him. There’s a connection there obviously and it would be interesting to discover just what it is.
Superhero movies belong to the world in a big way and that’s starting to come true as movies like Black Widow are making their way across the globe and other heroes have been noted in different cultures. But like it or not, the US is where a lot of them get the most notice and are deemed worthy or unworthy of attention a lot of times. It’s not the fairest way to go about it since the fans in the United States and in other countries do have humongous fan bases that tend to enjoy the more established heroes that have been around for a while. But the name of the hero game in Hollywood has a lot to do with who can grab the most attention and who can keep it the longest. Right now the heroes that are recognized the most in the USA are mostly homegrown, but it’s easy to think that people could start accepting and enjoying heroes from other cultures that have similar power sets to those that they enjoy and could come with very interesting stories of their own. Crime and corruption and the desire to stop its continued spread isn’t anything new really, but a new hero on the scene is still something to pay attention to for a little while at least.
As I said above, Gundala’s hero, Sancaka, has a greater tragic back story since his father dies in his arms and his mom leaves one day and never comes back. He has to grow up alone, fending for himself, and eventually becomes a regular day to day worker. The fact that he has superpowers doesn’t come until he’s tossed off of a building and revived by the same powers that are granted to him when a lightning bolt strikes him during his father’s death. From there though things kind of go in the same direction as many heroes since he’s super-fast, super-strong, super-intelligent, and he’s an expert in hand to hand combat. This appears to be standard for a lot of heroes since without these qualities it would appear that a hero can’t do much, save for the fact that some do far more without superhuman abilities and are a little more interesting. It might be a bit cynical, but the standard superhero package that comes with so many characters is something that’s been played out so many times and has been overdone nearly every time that it was a hope that Gundala might be a little different. There’s no desire to downplay the hero, but it would be nice if some heroes could deal with limitations that go beyond their ego and willingness to get involved in a cause. Heroes such as Black Widow and Hawkeye are great examples of heroes that run with some of the most powerful people on the planet and yet still have enough tricks up their sleeves that they prove to be difficult to just wave off. In a way, Gundala almost feels like a cross between Electro of Marvel and the Flash from DC, with a dash of a few other heroes, tossed in there to make certain that he’s still a unique character.
He could be great, in fact his movie could be something that changes the hero game, but at the same time this hero might have to step it up a bit since he has a lot of stiff competition that won’t just back down from a challenge.
Follow Us
