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Total Chaos A gangster showdown
You don’t own me: Played by Nikita Willy, Rosa (left) puts her foot down and defends Rully (Ricky Harun) from Garang (Ciccio Manaserro)
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span class="caption">You don’t own me: Played by Nikita Willy, Rosa (left) puts her foot down and defends Rully (Ricky Harun) from Garang (Ciccio Manaserro).
School life can’t be more chaotic than this film.
Total Chaos is a light romantic comedy with a clear target audience; teenagers. It has an easy and simple storyline, something teens can watch over a bag of popcorn.
Director and screenwriter Angling Sagaran, who previously directed the romantic comedy From London to Bali, keeps the movie going at a very easy pace, with bullying the core of the comedy flick’s story.
Bullying is a common issue in the lives of the younger generation, making the movie relatable despite its exaggerations. Angling brings out the seriousness of the issue by seasoning it with some elements of comedy.
Total Chaos centers on Rully (played by Ricky Harun), a city boy who has just lost his father and moved to a village near Bandung, West Java, with his mother (Yurike Prastika). Shortly after moving to the village, Rully meets Rosa (Nikita Willy) for the first time and is instantly enchanted by her. He has one mission in mind; to go to the same senior high school.
However, to his disappointment, the school separates boys and girls between two different buildings. Even worse, the boys’ school building is dilapidated and vandalized.
When Rully starts school, he doesn’t study much because there are hardly any classes to attend. The school’s whole system is chaotic. The students are divided into various gangs instead of classrooms. The school is run under the helm of a teenage gangster named Garang (Cicio Manassero) whom everyone is scared of because his father is a police officer.
Rully and his friend Bojel (Babe Cabita) attract the attention of the gangs when they discover they are friends with a well-known gangster.
As the movie is lighthearted, the characters are not particularly deep. Nevertheless, Ricky puts in quite a good performance. Nikita Will also looks genuine in her role as a young student and both actors show good chemistry. Babe Cabita brings much of the comedy to the movie. Lula Lahfah’s role is minor but she plays her part well as Fani.
What is questionable though is that even though Rully’s father has just passed away, his mother doesn’t seem to mourn very much. Even Ricky doesn’t seem to miss him.
The script could have been tighter and had a little more depth and suspense. While watching the movie, one can predict what will happen next and how it will end.
One thing I appreciated about the movie was a fight scene between Garang and Rully, whose heights are far apart. Rully is much smaller than Garang but throws herbs in his eyes before bringing him down.
The locations used showcase the beautiful mountain scenery of Bandung, a fresh change from the busy city settings common to many Indonesian films.
Total Chaos offers a moral lesson for its target audience, but one can still just sit back, relax and enjoy the love story.
— Photos courtesy of DePetalz Pictures
