Ada Apa dengan Pocong? (2011) Movie Review, Trailer and Poster

Indonesia 2011
Director: Chiska Doppert
Cast: Zacky Zimah, Joanna Alexandra, H. Bolot, Mpok Atiek, Dallas Pratama, Raymond
Rating: Dewasa (Adult)
Language: Bahasa Indonesia
Release Date: 23 Juni 2011 (Indonesia)
Running Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

The Movie Review

An e-mail came to me the other day from Australia asking whether Ada Apa dengan Pocong? is the sequel to widely famous Ada Apa dengan Cinta? (2003)... And this question successfully made me burst into happy laughter! :-D Oh my surely this girl (or guy!) is nowhere familiar with the name Pocong that she/he could relate Pocong to a romantic drama. Ada Apa dengan Pocong? is a brainless movie combining supernatural horror and comedy which means it is anything but the sequel. However Ada Apa dengan Pocong? is a good choice for summer movie (more suitable in Indonesia as Holiday movie) since summer is practically almost a year long :-)


Ada Apa dengan Pocong? (What's Up with Pocong?)
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
Overall:

After my curiosity level got fueled by this mail and I couldn't curb my enthusiasm any longer to see this-actually-predictably-cheesy movie, I stormed out to Blok M Square, South Jakarta. Actually using the phrase Storm Out is an exaggeration since the Jakarta traffic jam really was... pain the ass (literally). The clock was already showing 11.35 am which meant I had to find a mosque fast to do my Friday prayer AKA Shalat Jum'at! Blok M Square has this large spacious rooftop mosque surrounded by empty parking lot situated precisely on 7th floor, which means only 2 floors above the 21 Cineplex on 5th.

At 12.25 pm, we had finished Shalat Jum'at and all those men (more than 500) were back to their activity and work again. I brought my laptop and managed to upload Kangaroo Jack (2003) at 12.45 pm. After that, I hurriedly went to the cinema to book my favorite seat for the 13.30 show and it turned out that at precisely 01.00 pm the studio of Ada Apa dengan Pocong? was already half-full! Man!! And I got one of the worst seats ever! Next to a lovey-dovey! Awwww... hiks... And my worry was coming true where as I walked to my seat at the uppermost row (Row A), those couple next to me were eyeing on me intently probably suspecting that I was gonna ruin their snuggling time! Sh*te! Relax mates, I've been a teenager too :-)

Anyhow, this is the story of Ada Apa dengan Pocong? The movie centers on the daily life of 4 friends, Wawan, Tedi, Hary and the lamest (and funniest) of all, Boy (Zacky Zimah). They are being constantly terrorized by ghostly appearance of both Pocong and Kuntilanak anywhere everywhere! It seems that these college students have done something terrible. Even back to their boarding house --where Wawan and Boy live together sharing places with Mirna and Ririn (Joanna Alexandra, a model of Playboy Indonesia)-- this female Pocong invades any room she can and successfully making the most cowardice of all, Boy, to tremble and shriek in utmost fear. Tedi even has to be hospitalized after got hit by a car in a car tunnel near Dukuh Atas. Even at the hospital, this Pocong never ceases to tease and again makes Tedi scream for mistakenly seeing his nurse (Mpok Atik) as pocong!

So in their desperation, Hary and Wawan visit a dukun (Black magic practitioner) played by the ever amusing H. Bolot. And this Dukun gives them something to repel the ghost, a small Indonesian blade called Keris. Will they succeed in fighting the Pocong who's tag-teaming with Kuntilanak? But what exactly have they done to deserve such terror?

Now this is one scary western Pocong! :-D
(hahaha just kid, it's from Conan the Barbarian (1982))

The horror... OH THE HORROR! Drop dead shivering for how un-scary the horror is and totally lame. And as usual it's comprised of mediocre boo scares being followed/preceded by loud deafening sound effects. But the truth is the horror is effective to the teenagers flocking the cinema but a definite boredom for seasoned horror aficionados. It's mostly about the shocking sudden appearances of both pocong and kuntilanak. Old McDonald had two ghosts eeaay eeaay yoo... Pocong here, pocong there.... kuntilanak here, kuntilanak there.... Old McDonald had two ghosts eeaay eeaay yoo!

The comedy... The comedy is divided into 3 types. Gross humor pertaining po*ping moments; a bit of slapstick and mockery of Tedi and Dukun's difficulty of hearing; and hilariously funny one-liners which are mostly uttered by Boy (Zacky Zimah). Although for some people the jokes are low-brow and un-sophisticated, but as a huge fan of Warkop Comedy Group and Three Stooges, I was actually only enjoy the comedy throughout the running length. And honestly speaking, the studio in the cinema was full of laughter and chuckles as I could hear the audience even said praises about the movie saying that it's a very hilarious film or in its true language (Gila, ni film lucu amet ya!). Adult may not enjoy the jokes as much as teenagers, but the script is quite clever in this part. I also like this Tedi character with his difficulty of hearing, he's actually very very funny in some scenes. Strange thing is... He's actually funnier in this horror film than H. Bolot himself. H. Bolot was the one who created a hilarious character who had difficult of hearing from his performance in TV Sit-com titled Pepesan Kosong (1993-1995).

The flaws are many, such as quite sloppy editing and even an extra who stare directly at the camera. But one might expect this kind of "conditions" from its director Chiska Doppert AKA Nayato Fio Nuala who is known for its productive works of Indonesian B-movie. Even at this time of review, there are 2 other of his horror movies shown in various cinemas in Indonesia: Kuntilanak Kesurupan (2011) and Pelet Kuntilanak (2011).

So all things considered, I recommend this movie for teenagers who want to spend their yearly holiday this month hoping to have some fun with this kind of popcorn entertainment :-) Happy Holiday!

© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com
Twitter: @movielogy
posted: Saturday, 25 June 2011 11:46 pm