Headshot

When an unknown Indonesian film was selected as the opening-night event for Midnight Madness in 2011, the audience didn't know what to expect — but when the lights came up at the end, action cinema had a new hero. The Raid left viewers with a serious case of whiplash thanks to the furious flying fists and lightning-fast feet of star Iko Uwais. Now Uwais returns to Midnight Madness as the hero of Headshot, an amnesiac who's forgotten everything about his past life — apart from his aptitude for ass kicking.

A nameless man (Uwais) wakes up in a hospital with severe head trauma, not knowing who he is or what happened to him. Assisted by devoted student doctor Ailin (Chelsea Islan), who nicknames him "Ishmael" after the character in Moby Dick, he recovers and tries to regain his memory. Naturally, Ishmael's past is about to catch up with him, in the form of Lee (Sunny Pang), a drug lord and gang boss whose tentacles reach deep into the police and the penal system. When Ailin is kidnapped and Ishmael sets out to get her back, he finds himself pitted against an array of skilled fighters who may have been his former colleagues. As Ishmael battles through a series of deadly fights with this squad of enforcers, fragments of his past are teased out and the puzzle of his identity begins to come together.

Directors Timo Tjahjanto (known in the West for the "Libido" segment in The ABCs of Death (Midnight Madness 2012) and the "Safe Haven" episode in V/H/S/2 with Gareth Evans) and Kimo Stamboel — a.k.a. The Mo Brothers — have a keen eye for action, and they keep it coming at a speedy clip as Ishmael kicks, punches, ducks, and flips his way through the Indonesian underground.

COLIN GEDDES