The Night Comes for Us review (2018)
What The Night Comes for Us lacks in terms of an engaging plot it more than makes up for with some of the most brutal and satisfying fight scenes in years. Not that action movies need to have the most complex and elaborate script, but this film can easily get by with a barebones plot when the fights are this intense, intricate and exhilarating.
The Night Comes for Us is required viewing for fans of The Raid — and not just because of the similar style of bloody violence. Most of the movie’s main characters were prominent players in the two Raid films with some of them switching to take on heroic or villainous roles.
Joe Taslim (Mortal Kombat) stars as Ito, an enforcer for The Triad. Ito has been a faithful heavy for his territory for three years but reconsiders his allegiances when he’s ordered to kill a young girl, Reina (Asha Kenyeri Bermudez) to make an example. Ito’s act of mercy is taken as an act of defiance by his boss Chien Wu (Sunny Pang), who sics his crew on Ito and Reina.
Director/writer Timo Tjahjanto does a solid job of modernizing The Lone Wolf and Cub trope in a gangland setting with Chien Wu unleashing hordes of assassins of various skill and competency against Ito. Chien Wu’s ace in the hole is Ito’s longtime friend, Arian (Iko Uwais, The Expendables 4), who also joined the Triad and cultivated a reputation as a skilled and efficient enforcer.
Arian isn’t thrilled with the idea of taking down a close friend, but the appeal of ascending up the Triad ranks is too appealing to turn down the assignment. Knowing that the whole sector’s Triad members are gunning for him. Ito seeks aid from his old crew, Shinta (Salvita Decorte), Bobby (Zack Lee) and Shinta’s cousin, Wisnu (Dimas Anggara).
Tjahjanto lets viewers know early on what kind of action is in store with The Night Comes for Us after an absolutely incredibly insane fight in a butcher’s shop. The number of cleavers swings, bone saw carving, bloody stumps and diabolical ways characters get killed is just a fraction of the creativity on display throughout the rest of the film.
The Night Comes for Us plays out in a lot of ways like an 80s beat ’em side scrolling arcade game with increasingly more difficult boss battles and battlegrounds full of objects to smash and use as weapons. Fight sequences continue to build on each other with arcade style levels like hallways, crowded rooms, parking garages and warehouses.
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Taslim is a modern-day legend in this bloody action genre. He exudes charisma and a locked-in focus that’s ideal for a determined, heroic character. Taslim has no problem conveying Ito’s despair and desperation to protect Reina as a means of salvaging whatever good is left in him after being a tool of the Triad. In the same way, Uwais goes against his typical protagonist role in showing a cooler, more calculating side who is still just as proficient a tail-kicker as a complicated villain.
Tjahjanto adds another element to the fun in The Night Comes for Us with Chien Wu’s deadliest assassins — Alma (Dian Sastrowardoyo) and Elena (Hannah Al Rashid). Alma is vicious and cruel while Elena takes a far more business-like approach to her kills.
She doesn’t worry about an opponent and treats them like minor nuisances to successfully completing her tasks. Al Rashid oozes big screen cool and can cash in on silent, but deadly assassin roles for as long as she wants them.
Fortunately for Ito he finds an ally in the mysterious Operator (Julie Estelle). Estelle made a major martial arts impression with her role in The Raid 2 and shows even more smoothness and grace here. She has a serious presence and should be a mega-action star at this point.
The Night Comes for Us boasts one of the most stunning, jaw dropping final acts as the clash between Arian and Ito unfolds. First, Ito has to contend with Arian’s forces while the Operator battles Elena and Alma. Both final fights deliver above expectations culminating in two legendary modern-day fights in the same film.
If there’s one area where The Night Comes for Us falters is its final scene, which essentially repeats a fairly momentous sequence from earlier just far less satisfactory.
The Night Comes for Us delivers one massive, jaw-dropping action spectacle after another in this not for the squeamish bloody epic. Whatever misgivings exists with the final act, it’s hard to get too upset with a film that so consistently delivers all it promises on the action scene and then some.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Photo Credit: Netflix
After watching The Night Comes for Us, check out The Raid/Raid: Redemption two-movie set on Blu Ray at Amazon.
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