Merantau Warrior (2009)

The Merantau is a rite of passage that young men must take in order to be viewed as an adult. Yuda is one such individual. He sets out for Jakarta with his man-bag (optional) to prove himself and make his momma proud.
Aka simply as Merantau, it's an Indonesian martial arts film written and directed by a Welshman. Hmmm… Alarm bells.
It mimics the work of Prachya Pinkaew in both structure and style. It even wants us to accept leading man Iko Uwais as a kind of Tony Jaa replacement. Uwais certainly has skills and he’s less blank than Jaa was in his early days, but he needs a better film to enable him to prove it.

2½ concrete bunks out of 5