Mat Kilau - Kebangkitan Pahlawan [Movie Review]

Mat Kilau - Kebangkitan Pahlawan [Movie Review] | I am not a big fan of a biography movie, but that doesn't mean that I don't watch them. 

Why not a fan? I don't like crying while watching it as you know that incidents in the film are based on true event.

So, I was invited to watch Mat Kilau - Kebangkitan Pahlawan last Thursday at Starling Mall. Since it has been ages that I got invited to movie premieres, I quickly accepted the invitation. And of course I was excited to see a huge budget movie - how it fares in the hands of Syamsul Yusof as the Director. 

SYNOPSIS

Mat Kilau - Kebangkitan Pahlawan (2022) Trivia 

• Starring: Ady Putra, Beto Kusyairy, Fattah Amin, Johan As'ari, Rahim Razali, Nam Ron, A. Galak, Wan Hanafi Su & Jalaluddin Hassan
• Directed by: Syamsul Yusof
  
• Production Companies: Kembara Studio, Skop Productions
• Release date: June 23, 2022
• Running time: 120 minutes
• Rating: 15
  
• Country: Malaysia
• Language: Bahasa Melayu
  
• The movie is inspired by Mat Kilau's resistance and not based entirely on facts.
• There were bumps since the idea conception, way back in 2017 when Syamsul first announced that he is interested in directing a biopic movie of a Malaysian historical figure. 
• In 2018, he announced the movie would revolved around Mat Kilau and started filming in April 2018, before stopped due to a few reasons.
• The filming continued later in 2018. In 2020, he announced that the filming is nearing the end.
• The filming completed in Feb 2021 but the release was postponed due to Covid. 
• The overall cost is RM8 million with 100 days of filming in Perak, Pahang, Melaka and Selangor. 

The movie starts with the British attacking a village, looking for three young men who were accused of rebelling against the British. When the group refused to disclose the whereabouts of the men, Captain Syers instructs the Gurkha army to kill everyone in sight, women and children included.  

This action worries the Malays - from the village people up until the royals. They decides that it is time for them to stand up against the British and agrees that the pupils of Tok Gajah should be considered to lead the resistance. 

Even siblings face the test of jealousy when one feels that he deserves better. So is the situation between Kilau, Awang, Wahid and Brahim, the pupils of Tok Gajah. When Kilau was elected to lead the resistance, Awang feels like he was being sidetracked as he thinks he is better than Kilau. 

He acts on his own and causes some trouble, not only to himself but to the community too. 

Meanwhile, Capt Syers sees his opportunity to continue driving the wedge among the Malays - it's like to continue pouring gas on an open fire. He continues to widening the unity gap among the people, and even have his own spies inside the community.

Some are pro-resistance whereas most are afraid for their lives and believe that if they keep to themselves, the British will not interfere with their daily lives. 

Tuan Haji Abdul Rahman Mt Dali, the Managing Director and Director of Kembara Studio shares his gratitude with the masses just as the premiere ended. 

He is especially grateful that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad attended the premiere, the takes it as a recognition for the movie. YB Senator Datuk Seri Hajah Zurainah Musa (FINAS Chairman) and YBhg Prof. Dr. Md Nasir Ibrahim (CEO of FINAS) were among present during the premiere. 

He hopes that Mat Kilau - Kebangkitan Pahlawan, that will start airing in local cinemas from June 23 onward, will be an added value to the local's film scene and will further enhances the industry player to keep on producing great quality films. 

Some famous quotes (not directly taken) from the movie:

Biarlah aku gugur mempertahankan hak daripada melihat tanahair aku dilapah penjajah: Wahid (I would rather die while protecting my land than letting it being colonized)

Salahkah bangsa kita sendiri kerana memberi ruang kepada mereka untuk jajah tanah kita ini: Usup (Is it wrong for us to let the British a little space, even if it means letting them colonizing us?)

Kalau kita tak ganggu mereka, mereka pun tak akan ganggu kita. Maka, janganlah kita ganggu mereka di bumi kita: Awang (They will leave us alone if we do not interfere with whatever they are doing)

Orang melayu mudah dibeli dan tidak bersatu: Syers (The Malays are easily swayed and not united)

How will Kilau manages his relationships with his Silat brothers? And how will Kilau bring the people together to rid off of the British?

MY REVIEW

Plot: 4.8/ 5.0 I am pleasantly surprised by the plot of Mat Kilau - Kebangkitan Pahlawan. It was compact and full of history pieces. 

And it is a straight to the point kind of movie. 

The scripts are great, character development is enough and the fighting sequence is flawless.

But if some dialogues were in Pahang dialect, it would be much authentic. 

Perhaps could enhance the camera works - too much camera movement during the fighting scenes makes me dizzy. Perhaps it was meant to make the movement seems 'fast and fatal' but it made me dizzy - it seems shaky. But perhaps it is just me. 

Another thing, but perhaps this is only me too, the costumes colours are perhaps too striking for that era.

Other than that, YOU SHOULD WATCH  this movie. You'll be proud of our history after watching it. 

Cast: 4.9/ 5.0 Great job to all actors. Even the supporting actors are great! Good job for casting the right actors!

Will I Watch It Again: Yes, I don't mind watching it again.

The pictures are taken from multiple sources on the Internet. Thank you.

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