Where America’s first superhero was Superman, Japan had Golden Bat, and the Philippines had Darna, Indonesia’s first superhero was Sri Asih, created in 1954 to stand up for the downtrodden and protect the people—with a strong traditional Indonesian storytelling flavor—by R. A. Kosasih in 1953. The Sri Asih comics were tremendously popular and Sri Asih had her first movie by 1954. (The film sadly appears lost). Now we have a chance to see a new Sri Asih in action. Upi’s updated Sri Asih: The Warrior has good quality fights, a great hero, punchable villains, and is a fun time.
Sri Asih is the second entry into the BumiLangit Cinematic Universe of Indonesian comic book heroes structured along the lines of Hollywood’s various cinematic universes. The overall project was conceived and overseen by filmmaker Joko Anwar. Anwar is probably best known in North America for his thrillers and horror movies, like Forbidden Door / Pintu Terlang (2009); Ritual / Modus Anomali (2012); and Satan’s Slaves (2017). In 2019, Anwar released Gundala, the first film in the projected cinematic universe. Anwar wrote and directed Gundala, but Asih is co-written by Anwar and director Upi.
Alana (Keinaya Messi Gusti as young Alana), the girl who would become Sri Asih, was born during a volcanic eruption and raised in a Catholic Orphanage that very much frowns on hugging. Already crazy strong and filled with a sense of righteous justice, Alana was adopted by Sarita (Jenny Chang), a woman who runs her own mixed martial arts gym and teaches Alana to fight and to control her anger. Alana (Pevita Pearce as adult Alana) has dreams of a fiery woman urging her to give in to her anger. But it isn’t that Alana isn’t allowed to feel. It’s that the anger she is being urged to release is all-consuming and Alana will lose herself completely. Instead, Alana follows a path that leads her to become a hero filled with the power of the goddess Sri Asih (Maudy Koesnaedi). Alana must use her power to help people or it will be taken away.
Sri Asih follows the current form of the superhero film. It’s a little over 2 hours long. There’s an end credits scene hinting at a future team up with another superhero. It’s a part of a series of interlocking films that lead to a team up in a final film, in this case the projecte film, Patriot. And it explores a superhero origin story. What Sri Asih—and Gundala before it—adds to the mix is good action. We are awash in superhero movies now. They make up most of the action movies in theaters and while the digital effects are state-of-the-art, the action is, well, often bland and repetitive. I prefer good fights and shaky effects to current state-of-the-art digital effects and listless action, because effects always age, but a good fight is a good fight forever. Sri Asih‘s Alana is a champion of underground Mixed Martial Arts. Pevita Pearce is absolutely believable in these fights. The action is choreographed thoughtfully and a pleasure to watch before and after Alana gains her full powers. There’s even a fun fight scene that didn’t involve Sri Asih, but rather her friends Tangguh (Jefri Nichol) and Kala (Dimas Anggara) trying to rescue a whole housing complex worth of people who were about to be exploded by the villain. Tangguh and Kala’s fighting style seemed so familiar to me and then I saw in the end credits, the action choreography was by the Uwais Team, founded by Iko Uwais (The Raid).
One last thing, I’m focusing on action and fights, because I have an ax to grind with superhero films, but in case it isn’t clear: I liked Alana and Sri Asih. I liked her focus on helping ordinary people against the malevolent rich and the corrupt police who protect them. I appreciated that Alana fights one villain, an entitled failson scion, before she has her powers, and his father after she becomes Sri Asih. I laughed when a little girl, not child Alana, gave a cop an ACAB speech. I liked the roles for women in the film overall. There were a lot of women. They did a lot of things good and bad. And they were just people, you know. So if you are looking for a fun superhero movie, with a hero you can get behind and quality action, Sri Asih is absolutely for you.
Check out the next film in the BumiLangit Cinematic Universe, Virgo & The Sparklings (Indonesia, 2023).
I received a review copy of the film. Sri Asih: The Warrior screens again on Thursday, Sep. 28 at 1:50 pm at Theater 7 and Theater 10.
~~~
Carol Borden is an editor at and evil overlord of The Cultural Gutter, a website dedicated to thoughtful writing about disreputable art. She was a writer for and editor of the Toronto International Film Festival’s official Midnight Madness and Vanguard program blogs. She has written for Biff Bam Pop, Soldier of Cinema, Mezzanotte, Teleport City, Die Danger Die Die Kill, and Popshifter. She’s appeared on CBC radio, The Projection Booth podcast, The Feminine Critique podcast, the Book Club for Masochists podcast, and the Infernal Brains podcast. She’s written a bunch of short stories including Godzilla detective fiction, femme fatale mermaids, an adventurous translator/poet, and an x-ray tech having a bad day.You can find them here.
Monstrous Industry 
One thought on “Fantastic Fest 2023: Sri Asih: The Warrior (Indonesia, 2023)”