We've been tracking Gareth Evans' upcoming Indonesian martial arts film Merantau for a good long time now, posting up an ongoing series - there are ten so far - of behind the scenes videos as the film has made its way through production. Why all the attention? Simply enough because it was obvious to me very early on that this film was the real thing, the arrival of a major new action star. I'm actually convinced enough of this that I spent a whole lot of time at the Hong Kong Filmart showing Evans the ropes as far as how the sales end of the business works and introducing him to different sales agents. But I digress ...
While the behind the scenes reels have been impressive we haven't yet been able to show any completed materials from the film until, oh, right about now. Evans has promised that the next piece of footage to come out will be the public trailer - in the works right now - but before that arrives we've got the first two finished stills to be released from the film so far, showing off star Iko Uwais and the environments the film takes place in.
These come courtesy of the film's entry page in the Cannes market guide and, yes, for those who will be attending Merantau will have a presence. Roughly twenty minutes of footage will be shown - the public trailer, three complete action sequences and the industry only promo reel - in two screenings taking place May 13th at 11:30 (Palais B) and May 15th at 20:30 (Lerins 2). I've seen all the footage that will be screening and, biased as I am, I think it's pretty bloody amazing. If you want an unbiased opinion, ask Mack. He's seen seven minutes or so and it left him heaped in a puddle on the floor. I'm not going to say that silat master Iko Uwais is the next coming of Tony Jaa - that'll be for the audience to decide, ultimately - but it's pretty damn clear to me that Jaa is no longer the undisputed king of the new martial arts wave. If you were to lock the two of them in a room together and tell each that the other said unkind things about his mother you'd have one hell of a whuppin' break out.
I will say this about the footage I saw. It has been quite a while since I have seen anything that has made me holler out this loud and this much. I thought my neighbor downstairs was going to call 911 and ask the paramedics or police to come to my door and check up on me. Yes, what I have seen of the action sequences is really, really, REALLY awesome and shot without mercy or seeming restraint. Hard Hitting Indeed. And, from the footage that was not of the kicking ass variety it is clear that Evans and his DOP have shot a very nice looking film too.
On par IF NOT BETTER than Ong Bak.
Got word from Gareth earlier today that the edit for the trailer is locked and the color correction is done so it's the last bits of post to do on it now and then it'll be out in public. Should be a week or so.
Check out Impact's February issue for our interview with Director Gareth Evans and some kick ass images - I wanted to put it on the cover but we went with Punisher (Punisher for God's sake!). Go to www.impactmoviemagazine.co.uk for further info.