I do love a good mashup of genres in a movie. From Horror Musicals to Sci-Fi Actioners, a blending of ideas and rules often hits my cinematic sweet spot and probably explains my penchant for Korean cinema. So when I heard of Edwin’s 2021 Indonesian film Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash and it is a romantic comedy Martial Arts movie (one that would be a million miles away from the usual 90s Wuxia Wire-Fu that is associated with such plots), well I came over a little giddy for a moment.
However, as is often the case, Vengence is Mine (as it will be called from now on, but not to be confused with the Shohei Imamura film from 1979) couldn’t carry the colossal weight of my expectations, but this isn’t to say that it doesn’t have its moments.
My biggest bone of contention was how aimless it all felt. Spanning over several years, beginning in 1989, we are introduced to our main protagonist, Ajo (Marthino Lio). A rough and tumble troublemaker always looking for a fight or risking his life to fill the void left by his inability to hold an erection (oh yes, this will be brought up on more than one occasion). This has meant that Ajo has never really been interested in relationships, that is until on a mission to look for a boss man that has tried to collect money from a friend, where he runs into Iteung (Ladya Cheryl). Iteung is the bodyguard of the man that Ajo is after and the two throw down like only Indonesian MA films can, dirty.
Vengeance is Mine… suffers from an identity crisis, never really appealing to any part of my love for any of the genres included, and yet still having a good enough time to warrant a recommendation… with huge caveats.
At this point, it is important to point out that the fights that are on offer are not on par with some other Indonesian action films from the last decade (eg The Raid/The Raid 2 or The Night Comes For Us), but what this does is lend an authenticity to the fights that are often missing when you have characters running up walls and taking out multiple combatants that have waited on the periphery of the action, waiting their turn to be thrown through a table or over a bannister onto the stairs below. It’s not big, it’s not spectacular, and at times it is a little clunky, but it is solid and damned entertaining.
From here we follow our two fighting lovebirds through those early days of courtship, and this is where the film lacks the direction of purpose because we go from anarchic martial arts action with a touch of romance to a full-on romantic drama, which then, in turn, goes somewhere else entirely. This is the part that left me confused as to who this film was for. The action wasn’t grandiose enough for Fu-Fans, the love triangle was at times awkward and out of place, and the conclusion felt tacked on. So whilst I would usually call a Horror Musical like Anna and the Apocalypse a fun time for anyone that likes either genre, Vengeance is Mine… suffers from an identity crisis, never really appealing to any part of my love for any of the genres included, and yet still having a good enough time to warrant a recommendation… with huge caveats.
Filled with great music, a rustic feel to the entire film and some excellent performances (including a cameo from The Raid 2’s Cecep Arif Rahman in one of the more high-octane fight scenes), Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash is an odd film for sure, but one that, with a little patience, has its own rewards hidden away amongst its convoluted journey.
VENGEANCE IS MINE, ALL OTHERS PAY CASH IS OUT ON ARROW PLAYER
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Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash (2021)
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