The Shadow Strays Review: A Bloody Action Epic That's Both Exciting And Exhausting

No one is doing it like Timo Tjahjanto. The Indonesian filmmaker creates movies that make you say "Hell yeah," and his latest digital blood-drenched opus, "The Shadow Strays," seems designed to both excite and exhaust the viewer. It's loaded with killer, ultra-violent action scenes that just keep going, and going, and going, to the point where everything starts to get bogged down. That's not to say the film isn't a hell of a lot of fun — action fans will get what they want here. Still, "The Shadow Strays" is a step-down from Tjahjanto's fantastic "The Night Comes For Us," perhaps because the director seems to be trying to create an entire franchise full of world-building instead of just focusing on the moment. "The Night Comes For Us," one of the best action movies ever made, was perfectly self-contained and focused. In sharp contrast, "The Shadow Strays" keeps introducing new elements that feel like they're designed to be expanded on. Hell, even after the movie ends, there's an unusually long coda that seems to be promising multiple sequels. It's all just a little too sprawling for my tastes. 

Don't get me wrong: I vibed with the blood and guts "The Shadow Strays" had to offer. But as the movie stretched on for 143 bone-crunching minutes, I frequently found myself wishing Tjahjanto would rein it in just a smidge. Perhaps such a wish is silly when watching a Timo Tjahjanto movie — his films are all about excess, after all. They're loaded with big action, big violence, and big melodrama. But I also think if the filmmaker had made his latest just a little more focused, and a little more precise, it would be an action masterpiece. Instead, we'll just have to settle for something that's pretty entertaining, but doesn't quite come together. 

Set in a world of grungy warehouses, neon-lit nightclubs, run-down apartment buildings, and secret lairs, "The Shadow Strays" begins with a bloody massacre at a hideaway tucked deep in the snowy darkness of Japan's Sea of Trees. A group of well-dressed Yakuza goons find themselves slaughtered by a ninja-like assassin decked out it tactical gear. Right away, Tjahjanto is unleashing waves of gruesome, close-combat violence, where nameless characters meet a gory death. In the midst of all this carnage, an innocent bystander gets killed, and this gives the assassin pause, so much so that another assassin has to come in and finish the job.

In the midst of all this, we're presented with the twist that both of these killers are women (one soon-to-be-dead character even proclaims, shocked, "A woman?!" when one the assassin's masks is removed). There's the older, colder Umbra (Hana Malasan), who had to swoop in and clean up the mess, and then there's 13 (Aurora Ribero), the killer who dared pause to reflect on the death of an innocent. 13 is still a teenager, and even though she's clearly skilled at chopping people into pieces, she's still learning. We're told that these two women are part of a shadowy organization hired to dispense death in the darkness. But 13's hesitation has made her persona non grata, and while Umbra is sent off on another murderous mission, 13 is banished to an apartment in Jakarta to await further instructions. Every morning there, she wakes up, takes some pills that are meant to supress her more human impulses, does a lot of push-ups, and looks generally miserable. It's not a fun life. 

Then one day, 13 decides to stop taking those mood-altering pills and begins to change. She soon gloms onto her neighbor Monji (Ali Fikry), a kid whose mother was just murdered. 13 and Monji become awkward, unlikely friends after sharing a meal, and then almost immediately, Monji is abducted by drug dealers. What's a highly-skilled teenage assassin who just stopped taking her mood pills to do but set out on a violent rescue mission? 

I can't help but think that if "The Shadow Strays" stuck with its simple story about an assassin saving a kid, it might work better. Instead, Tjahjanto is just getting started. 13's quest to save Monji leads her deeper into an underworld where she pushes up against not just slimy drug dealers, but also a corrupt cop (Adipati Dolken), political intrigue surrounding an upcoming election, and a full-blown drugged-up psycho named Ariel (Andri Mashadi), who likes to don a leather fetish mask before he kills people. And just to make things extra messy, 13's mentor Umbra gets pulled into the mix as well. All of this is dialed up to 11 (or I guess I should say 13), and while the story is needlessly convoluted,  Tjahjanto delivers on the action. The camera tracks all of the fast and furious movement with superb style, and everything looks extra cool. Indeed, if nothing else, "The Shadow Strays" is a movie designed to be cool. 

It's also a movie designed to be violent, and that violence is so constant and unyielding that it begins to grow numbing. As the film continued on, I found myself growing less enamored with the frequent bloody action and a little more weary. At some point, it's all too much. Still, there's true artistry on display here, and I particularly loved how filthy and bloody the characters get as they engage in scuffles. A final, lengthy fight scene renders the combatants so covered in gore and grime that you'll be seized with the urge to toss them a bar of soap and spray them down with a hose. 

After "The Night Comes For Us," I wanted more action movie mayhem from Timo Tjahjanto. And yet, now that he's delivered it with "The Shadow Strays," I find myself curiously let down. Perhaps the glorious highs of "The Night Comes For Us" were so extreme that I expected something even better this time around, and recreating that euphoria was impossible. Instead, "The Shadow Strays" feels more like a step back than a step forward. By the time the mid-credit coda arrived, I wanted less, not more. Still, those craving copious amounts of carnage will find plenty to dig here. But I'd be more interested in seeing Tjahjanto create something new and different next instead of returning to the sprawling world of "The Shadow Strays." In other worlds, while I find myself frequently wanting to revisit "The Night Comes For Us," I don't think I'll be giving "The Shadow Strays" a second watch anytime soon. 

/Film Rating: 6 out of 10

"The Shadow Strays" premieres on Netflix October 17, 2024.