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From comic book to screen: 'Valentine', Indonesia's purple-clad superheroine
Valentine – the purple-clad superheroine from Skylar Comics – finally hits the big screen.
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Masked savior: The movie 'Valentine' sees waitress Srimaya (Estelle Linden) take up the mantle of the eponymous character. (Courtesy of Skylar Films/-)
T
he concept of the superhero that swoops in to save the day is an appealing subject, especially during these turbulent times where people are clamoring for someone to avert disasters that seem to be piling on by the day.
Thus, the superhero genre. Even those who don’t pore over comic books obsessively will surely know the two American giants -- Marvel and DC -- and their roster of heroic characters of every conceivable flavor, emblazoned from theater screens to lunchboxes.
While the demand for American superheroes are still immense let’s not forget that Indonesia has its own defenders. Now, one of them, Valentine, takes up the mantle of crime fighter on the big screen.
The purple-clad superheroine Valentine is an original character by Skylar Comics. Her adventures have been adapted into a feature length film, which will have its own cinematic universe.
Valentine’s tale begins when film director Bono (Matthew Settle) pitches an idea for a superhero movie, which was rejected for not being profitable enough. After enlisting the help of his effeminate stylist friend Wawan (Arie Dagienkz), Bono accidentally comes across Srimaya (Estelle Linden), a waitress proficient in martial arts.
From there, Sri takes up the mask of Valentine to draw attention to Bono’s film project. However, they soon find themselves running afoul of the super villain Shadow, who seems to have his own dastardly plans for Batavia City.
