Practically every popular action movie now gets likened to John Wick, but Timo Tjahjanto’s The Shadow Strays is a genuine gender-swapped kindred spirit. The John Wick franchise has been an action movie fan’s dream come to life, but it has also created something of a Catch-22 for action movies collectively with the Baba Yaga becoming such a comparison point for them to meet. That isn’t to say that none have pulled that off, and in fact, Timo Tjahjanto’s new martial arts slash-and-smackdown The Shadow Strays is one such example of hitting the bull’s eye of matching the might of John Wick.
In The Shadow Strays, Aurora Ribero portrays a 17 year-old warrior known as 13, who is part of a clandestine team of assassins known as the Shadows until a mishap on her latest mission leads to her suspension. 13 begins to discover a new life away from killing when she befriends an orphaned boy named Monji (Ali Fikri), and embarks on a whole new mission to save Monji after he is kidnapped. On every level and strata of criteria action and martial arts fans could possibly conceive, The Shadow Strays is a towering masterpiece, but that isn’t where its accomplishments end. Not only is The Shadow Strays the first chapter of what could become an action franchise that could become Indonesia’s answer to John Wick, it is also the female-led version of John Wick the world never thought to yearn for.
Every Action Movie Being Compared To John Wick Is Getting Tiresome
Before getting into The Shadow Strays itself, a point worth mentioning is how overdone John Wick action movie comparisons have become. It is, of course, undeniable that John Wick was an action movie game-changer on every level. From instilling a renewed emphasis on clarity, gravity, and impact in fight choreography that had been lacking in Hollywood action films for years, to crafting a completely fresh blend of gun fu and martial arts, to kicking off an ongoing trend of stunt people jumping into directing, John Wick has been influential on action movies in all the best ways. Even better, the franchise has also become a kind of action star country club, with the likes of Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror, Mark Dacascos, and others joining the Baba Yaga’s exploits. Benchmarks like John Wick fighting Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman of The Raid movies are what action movies collectively have strove to rise to since the franchise began, so it goes without saying that John Wick is absolutely pivotal as an action movie milestone.
With that said, it’s become more than a little cliché to compare even new breakout action movie with an assassin-style gimmick to John Wick. Even as some like Atomic Blonde and Nobody wholly warrant and even invite such comparisons, every action movie chasing the John Wick template is a pretty easy way for action fans to get bored quickly. There’s an infinite abundance of different styles to approach action filmmaking from – from George Miller’s post-apocalyptic fireworks of Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa, the survival-themed Silat beatdowns of The Raid movies, stunt and fight fueled Hong Kong and Thai style action, the over-the-top insanity of the Bollywood action scene, the physics-devoid superheroics of the Fast & Furious movies, and the increasingly popular American straight-to-video/VOD action movie subculture. Just like every superhero movie shouldn’t be and doesn’t need to be a carbon copy of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, action movies shouldn’t face the constant expectation of being the next John Wick.
The Shadow Strays Is Pure Indonesian Action Movie Glory
What makes The Shadow Strays much more deserving of John Wick comparisons is, in part, the sheer fact that it is fully the equal of the Baba Yaga’s titular franchise. Ever since the release of Gareth Evans’ The Raid movies, Indonesia has become well-known among action fans as the territory where action films really pull no punches. Director Timo Tjahjanto especially has become renown as one of the titans of Indonesian action films after co-directing Headshot with Kimo Stamboel (the two collectively credited as The Mo Brothers) and helming 2018’s The Night Comes For Us.
In The Shadow Strays, action fans see the kind of feast of wild martial arts fights, stunts, and gun-fu that is the staple of the John Wick franchise dialed up to 11. Tjahjanto’s equal pedigree as a horror movie director also adds buckets of gore matched only by Art the Clown, Tjahjanto also being well-known for testing the stamina and drive of his action movie protagonists with a level of punishment more akin to that of a slasher movie. If you’re a fan of Indonesian action movies or action films at all, The Shadow Strays is one of the best the 21st century has conjured up, but there’s another key ingredient that cements its fully earned John Wick comparison.
How The Shadow Strays Presents The Perfect Jane Wick
Timo Tjahjanto previously dabbled in world-building in The Night Comes For Us, specifically with the underworld assassin rings known as the Six Seas, but The Shadow Strays raise it to a whole new level with the introduction of the Shadows. Essentially modern-day ninja assassins, the Shadows take on missions clad in commando-style ninja garb, with the opening set piece of The Shadow Strays pulled right out of a ninja movie. The Shadows are the exact kind of assassin group who could fit into the John Wick universe for how much they follow the John Wick book of world-building.
13’s own defection from the Shadows is itself a revenge story akin to that of John Wick avenging the killing of his dog and turning his skills against the High Table. Like Keanu Reeves, Aurora Ribero also underwent significant training in martial arts and stunt work to bring 13 to life, and the results in The Shadow Strays is every bit as spellbinding as Reeves’ tenure as the Baba Yaga. The 87Eleven Action crew have gradually built a reputation for being able to turn anyone into an action star, and Timo Tjahjanto along with fight choreographer Muhammad Irfan also show a similar capacity to do the same. Already having built upon Julie Estelle’s Hammer Girl battles in The Raid 2 to make Estelle’s Operator the show-stealing warrior of The Night Comes For Us, The Shadow Strays turns the-then 19 Aurora Ribero into an action movie warrior woman.
The cherry on top for The Shadow Strays as a John Wick-worthy Indonesian actioner is the movie’s final scene that not only sets up The Shadow Strays 2, but carries on John Wick’s tradition of expanding it action movie ensemble with each entry. In this case, Yayan Ruhian drops in for a cameo, his face hidden by a motorcycle helmet until the time is just right, to offer the battered and bruised 13 an ally against the next wave of enemies on the way. Ruhian’s cameo, presented as the genuine audience-wowing surprise that it is, is also another building block of the world of The Shadow Strays, teasing more factions of assassins and warriors hiding in plain sight, and another epic battle on the way to test the fortitude of its young heroine.
In an age where the John Wick label is applied to action movies to an arguably excessive extent, The Shadow Strays is one that earns the comparison in spades – a fully humanized protagonist with the deadliest skill set in the world, an underground ring of assassins with a lineage stretching back years, a hidden world of warriors with the potential to be built upon into sequels, spin-offs, and side-stories, and the most amazing martial arts action and gun fu any filmmaker worth their salt can deliver. The Shadow Strays is truly the Jane Wick the world has been waiting for!
RELATED: The Crow Would’ve Been Better As A Supernatural John Wick
The Shadow Strays |
|---|
Codename 13, a 17-year-old assassin, is suspended due to a sloppy mission in Japan. She meets 11-year-old Monji, who loses his mother, and sets out to rescue him. |
 |
|---|
| Studio: Frontier Pictures, XYZ Films, Netflix Studios |
| Running Time: 143 minutes |
| Release Date: 17 October 2024 |
| Cast: Aurora Ribero, Hana Malasan, Taskya Namya, Agra Piliang, Andri Mashadi, Chew Kin Wah |
| Director: Timo Tjahjanto |
| Writers: Timo Tjahjanto |
| Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller |
| Box Office: N/A |
