It's a strange story, where two brothers try revenge on their father. The story began when two brothers named Jamar and Suwo returned to the Java land to avenge their father, who was a sultan. Because both brothers have spent years in exile in America, both seem intent on retaliation and compensation for the identity they lost during the painful years of exile.
It's a wonderfully refreshing take on the Western genre thanks to the culturally significant setting and the awesome action sequences, even if other aspects of the film fall short.
The fights are leaden... and the character development is constrained by dumb dialogue, such meager tending-to of an Asian action flick's primary draw is nigh unforgivable.
Opposite the film's clear-eyed and deeply angry ruminating on colonialism, the flatness of the narrative emotionally makes this a bizarrely off-kilter viewing experience.
Preoccupied with pure, unabashed enjoyment, a decision that leads to its chief triumphs. It may not lead to any grand revelation about colonialism, but it certainly is a wild and electrifying journey.
Buffalo Boys ends up somewhat awkwardly caught between mainstream glorifications of violence and more restrained cultural norms emphasizing respect and harmony. This inherent creative conflict however remains mostly obscured by the action-oriented plot...
