I did not see this movie when it came out on the big screen. I bought the DVD from Speedy last Saturday night and sat down watching it the very same night. After I finished watching, I regretted not having seen it at the cinema. Not because it was good. But because it would have been a blast to laugh out loud in the cinema and annoy all the other people there who were busy crying their eyes out. I read some reviews online and most people liked it. In fact most of them said they felt sad and shed tears. Thus their general feeling about the movie was that it was good. I would have busted my gut laughing and mocking the movie from start to finish! Now for that reason, I deeply regret for not seeing it at the cinema. There goes another chance to piss strangers off. Anyway, back to the movie.
For one thing, the title was all wrong. According to a friend of mine, the correct spelling is LEGENDA and not LAGENDA. But that would be the fault of the author, so that's fine. My issue is with the movie. And the director. And the dialogues. And the scenes. And the actors. And the shots. And the characters establishment. And pretty much EVERYTHING else.
If I had to rate this movie, I'd give it a negative 6 kabajillion. Yup, that's how bad it is.
I wouldn't recommend this movie to my worst enemy.
I don't even want the DVD anywhere in my house anymore. I've already given it away.
I blew 20 bucks on that movie. On an original DVD. This movie doesn't even deserve the 7 bucks it cost if I had bought a pirated copy. But pirated copy would have been better coz the 7 bucks doesn't go to the people who made this movie. But my 20 bucks has already legally contributed to the production. Now that is something I shall regret for the rest of my life.
I'm not even going to bother listing down every single thing that was wrong with the movie because that would take up precious space on my blog. If I were to write it down on paper, it would become so thick I can use it as weight-lift.
Sharad Sharan. Apparently some big shot director from India who has also worked in Indonesia. For that crap of an end product, an ITM grad could have done the job. Why hire someone from outside? Mr Sharan would have made an excellent DOP. But that's about it. He has no talent at all as a director. I mean come on, look at his track record. Diva???? Tipu Kanan Tipu Kiri???? And yet we still don't learn.
But what astounds me even more is our own Malaysian audience. The movie grossed in some big bucks. And I presume by that, the director and those involved take this to mean that Legenda Budak Setan was an excellent success. The majority of our malay movie audience obviously still lack the brain matter to discern between what's a good movie and what's a bad movie. All you need to do is put two good looking leads, give them some sob storyline, and voila they think that's a good movie.
I read a review of Legenda Budak Setan on a website and this could probably be one of the few reviews that actually saw the movie for what it really is - crap. And so many people commented on it and disagreed with the reviewer. I understand that things like this are subjective. But it's different to be subjective towards something that has very little flaws than something that is so flawed I wonder if the director had some brain complications.
Example: Avatar was a good movie. But I didn't like it. That's because the movie did not suit my taste. Not because the movie was badly made. Legenda Budak Setan on the other hand was terribly made.
And yet the majority of our audience still defended it.
Here are some of the things I read from the comments on that review I found (and underneath each comment, you can find my own thoughts.)
neela kata: “biase la..setiap filem mmg ade kesilapn..”
yes indeed, keep this attitude up. keep making excuses for our directors. ask this question: how come you can hardly find a flaw in a P.Ramlee movie?
fairus kata : “Sebab aku tonton bukan untuk mencari kesalahan. enjoy je tgk cerita ni, sedih pun sedih. kuar air mata jgk la aku tgk, ditambah lagi bila wife aku tersedu-sedu.”
I did not watch this movie to find flaws. I was hoping to finally come across a current malay movie I can actually like. I had heard some glorious reviews about this movie, so I decided to see it for myself. So I repeat, just like the reviewer, I too did not watch this movie to find flaws. But THE FLAWS JUST SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE! It was sooooooo bloody hell apparent that it would have taken an idiot to miss it! So mr fairus, excuse us for being smart! And he cried! He cried at this stupid flick that did not deserve one drop of my tear! I didn't even know where to cry! At one point I was already rooting for somebody in the movie to just die!
khai kata : “Gagal?? rasanya tak kot… cuma jalan cerita jer x sebagus Hollywood yang diagung2kan… cukup membuat penonton menangis dah menyatakan cerita ni mudah dihayati dan difahami…memang anda dtg cuma nak kritik bukan untuk hayati crita yang cuba untuk disampaikan…"
Again, another idiot who thinks that we came looking for flaws. Hellooooo the flaws were soo obvious, that it would have been a crime to miss it! And why must he talk about tak sebagus Hollywood? Who's comparing? Hollywood can't help it if their just better at making movies, although they too are susceptible to some bad flicks once in a while. I agree that cerita ini mudah difahami. It was too mudah that it looked like a movie made for 6 year olds!
Nopy kata: “salah ke pape xde bwk ke mati…huhu..”
Again another idiot who likes to make excuses for our filmmakers. Keep the attitude up. Coz this is the attitude that keeps fattening their bank accounts without having to work hard at all.
zeena kata: "actly, lakonan farid kamil kali nih mmg mnyntuh hati gilerrrr. sedih aaa filem nihhh. nyway… congratz utk filem LBS sbb karya n jln citer lebih baik dr cita ‘jiwang2′ melayu yg pnh aku tonton ada peningkatan. i really like it"
Juding by her spelling, it's no wonder that she actually enjoyed the movie.
Napi kata: "Rasa untuk movie kira boleh lah tgk nak kata teruk pun tak gak sebab citer novel utk 550 pgs di jadik kan movie 1 setengah jam. Alamatknnya berjanggut ler nak abih. Maybe you jenis suka citer mat saleh kot tu yg datang tgk apa yg tak kena ngan movie cam ni. Rasanya kalau movie mat saleh mungkin lah you rasa sedih ke touching ker sebabnya tgk ah , citer dorang pun mana ada censored nak bercium bagai. Apa2 pun oklah citer ni."
The first book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring is made up 480 pages (on mass paperback) and Peter Jackson managed to turn it into a wonderful movie. He was smart in selecting the scenes, establishing the characters and merging the whole thing together in a brilliant flow. So don't say things like berjanggut lerrrr nak abih and all. Bullshit! Kalau pandai, it can be done. Masalahnya bodoh. And what the hell does cerita mat salleh boleh touching sebab ada scene bercium?!??!?! Cerita P.Ramlee Masam-Masam Manis, ada ka scene bercium between Cikgu Shaari dengan Norkiah?! And yet we can totally feel for the characters, and wanted them to get together in the end. So apa kejadah bullshitnya nak include that stupid remark about cerita mat salleh boleh bercium bagai sebab tu lah boleh rasa sedih?!?!?!? Mentaliti penonton macam ni lah yang akan mematikan industri filem tanahair.
ito kata: "susah2 ekau jo la yg jd pngarahnyo.."
Classic stupid remark. Don't even want to attempt commenting on this one.
All in all, the movie was crap. Legenda Budak Setan as the title boasts, and yet the idiot was a Setan for like 3 minutes of the whole movie! Nice work, Sharad. You should obviously go back film school and learn a thing or two more on character establishment. And Kasyah changed from Budak Setan to Budak Jiwang Karat in the span of 2 seconds. Again, nice work!
As a conclusion, I'm glad at least somebody in the movie died in the end. Made the torture I went through watching the whole thing somewhat worthwhile.
Dreading the sequels, because it would just further affirm the fact that our audience are regressing more and more. Sad state of affairs.
Note to Directors : Use the tools at your hands to educate, and not be complacent just because the crap you produce are reeling in big bucks.
Note to Audience : Open your eyes. And open your minds. If you don't demand for quality, then that is the end of our film industry.
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