VALENTINE THE DARK AVENGER (2017)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *uncanny*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*

If anyone doubted the influence of the Batman franchise upon cultures outside the sphere called "The West," VALENTINE THE DARK AVENGER would refute that skepticism. Not only in this Indonesian film does a character tell the titular heroine to jump from one moving vehicle to another "like Batman," one of the villain's henchwomen inexplicably wears a Bat-emblem on her shirt.

Of course, imitating Batman doesn't mean that the producers get anything right about the formula. VALENTINE is supposedly based on a character published by "Skylar Comics," which I assume is also Indonesian. The film's introduction of its hero takes place in an Indonesian metropolis named Batavia City (Bat-avia?) and in the same timeframe as the film's genesis, since there's a reference to an event taking place in 2010.

Sri (Estelle Linden) lives with her widowed mother and grown brother. She holds down a job as a waitress while attempting to win roles as an actress (though she's never seen attending casting-calls or the like), and she practices the Indonesian martial art of silat, taught her by her late father. When she defends another waitress from some rough customers, she's spotted by a man named Bano. Bano claims to be a film director, though Sri never sees him with any other personnel but a hair-stylist who doubles as a camcorder-operator.

Bano has a weird proposition for Sri: he wants to make a superhero film, with Sri playing a masked vigilante named "Valentine." However, as publicity for the film before it's even shot, he wants Sri to run around Batavia City in a mask and costume, thwarting minor crimes with her silat-skills. One would think that any sane person would reject such a crazy proposal. But Sri has to agree in order for the script to work, so she does, without even a hint of psychological motivation. Had Sri been shown to be a "danger junkie," that would have provided a very weak justification for her decision, though it wouldn't make her decision any more believable.

Sure enough, the vigilante Valentine spends the next few weeks cleaning up crime in Batavia City, always facing down just two or three thugs at a time and never crossing the path of police. It takes a really long time for Sri to figure out that the two goofballs have an ulterior motive and that they don't plan to make a film at all. Bano, who lost his sister Valentine in a car crash with escaping robbers, wanted to create a real-life superhero in his sister's memory. Sri is understandably honked off by this revelation and quits.

Now, some superhero films have a villain crop up in reaction to a hero's appearance. However, long before Sri dons the costume of Valentine, a villain in black armor, name of Shadow, begins a campaign of terror. Accompanied only by three martially trained henchwomen, he slaughters the occupants of a sex club. Later, Shadow and his lady-thugs take a bank hostage and strap bombs to three of the citizens just to draw the cops out. The innocents don't get blown up, but unbelievably, the high armed city cops invade the bank, and the four evildoers beat them all with their kung fu. 

VALENTINE depicts a world where guns don't count for much, like one of the old modern-day Hong Kong chopsockies. Inevitably Sri puts her concerns over safety aside and dons the Valentine costume again. We also get a subplot about why Shadow's got a hate on for Batavia City, but the villain's motivations are even dumber than Valentine's-- as is the revelation of his true identity.

There's nothing worth seeing about this film but some decently staged fights. If anyone tries to give this VALENTINE to a loved one, the recipient is likely to deem it a poison-pen letter.

Note: though there are no marvelous phenomena here, a coda suggests a sequel with some sort of superhuman character, but I doubt any such film was made. There's also a weird assertion that there's been a catastrophe in VALENTINE's world where many countries have suffered drought and the glaciers have melted, but this may just be one character's wishful thinking, since there's no evidence of such calamities.