'Headshot' Trailer: 'The Raid' Star Iko Uwais Beats The Crap Out Of Everyone
We should probably get this out of the way right now: Headshot is not The Raid. However, anyone wanting to see The Raid star Iko Uwais obliterate a number of other human beings with his fists, feet, and found objects of all shapes and sharpness will find plenty to treasure here. Directors Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto have made an action movie for action fans, where the focus is placed (mostly) on watching tough guys beat each other to a bloody pulp in the most spectacular ways imaginable. It's a ton of fun.
The new Headshot trailer should seal the deal – you're going to know whether you're in or out pretty quickly.
The basic premise of Headshot should feel familiar to anyone who has seen an action movie or two before. Uwais plays a mysterious man who wakes up with amnesia, falls in love with the doctor who saved his life, and tries to live a peaceful existence. But wouldn't you know it? His past life comes back to haunt him in the form of a group of sinister criminals with a penchant for violence. Will our hero's killer instincts awaken in time for him to save the day? Does the young Pope drink Cherry Coke Zero?
The trailer does a surprisingly find job of teasing the film's action without spoiling the best moments. This is a movie that hits hard, consistently finding new and disgusting ways for its characters to obliterate one another. It's a delight. Honestly, the film only falters when it shifts away from the action and into its standard romantic subplot, but that's ultimately a small price to pay for those fight scenes.
The trailer actually quotes our own Angie Han, who reviewed Headshot from the Toronto International Film Festival last year:
Still, Headshot's big promises are no-holds-barred violence and a sky-high body count, and the Mo brothers dish that out with gleeful generosity. So much of the fun comes from the resourcefulness born of desperation. Turns out when you're caught in a corner with a madman out for blood, anything and everything can be a weapon, including furniture and office supplies. Even when guns are in play, they're often used in surprising ways: the recoil becomes a punch in the stomach, the smoking barrel a burning brand. Headshot stops somewhere short of mind-blowing, especially if you've seen Uwais in action before, but it's another thoroughly satisfying showcase for his talents.
Headshot arrives on March 3, 2017.
HEADSHOT centers on a mysterious young man who, after months in a coma from a gunshot wound to the head, is nursed back to health by a young student-doctor, Ailin. Realizing that the man has lost his memory and identity, the two quickly grow closer, not realizing that behind their momentary peace lays danger. Soon their lives collide with a gang of dangerous criminals led by an enigmatic crime lord—and with every violent confrontation, his memory brings him closer to a dark truth as the lethal personality awakening within him starts to reveal who he really is.