I Saw Tombiruo Last Night and Was Disappointed

I Saw Tombiruo Last Night

Last night, I watched the movie Tombiruo. It was one of the most disappointing experiences that I have had in a long time. Let me explain it step by step.

Firstly, I was totally annoyed with the plot of the movie. I was expecting a paper thin plot and subplot that I could see through within the first thirty seconds. Instead, I was served with a plot (and sub plot) that was interesting enough to be not entirely predictable. This was especially annoying near the end when the movie was interesting enough to keep me in my seat instead of going to the toilet to relieve the pressure that was building up in my bladder. In its totality, the movie left me very displeased because it deprived me of a nap of an hour or so that I was expecting to have in the cool brand new movie theatre of the Velocity Mall in Cheras.

The directors Nasir Jani and Seth Larney, had the gall to make the characters of the movie understandable and, at times, relatable. Don’t they know that local movies are not supposed to be able to do that? More maddeningly, they did it on a shoe-string budget by comparison to Western movies.

Adding to my annoyance, the cinematography of Tombiruo included several scenes that made me appreciate the beauty of the rainforest of Sabah. I think they filmed movie primarily in Sabah. I believe this may threaten its chances of being accepted by audiences elsewhere because it gave the impression that it was filmed in a beautiful place.  Don’t they realise that this movie may encourage more tourists to go to Keningau and its surrounding areas and threaten the beauty of the place. I was especially angered when I realised that the movie had planted in my brain the notion that I need to go visit Keningau again before the hordes of tourists come: this means that I will have to spend more money.

I was most displeased with the martial artist who choreographed the fight scenes, especially those involving the characters played by Zul Arifin, Farid Kamil and Faizal Hussein. He failed to make the scenes lame and unrealistic. This man had failed to convey the notion that we Asians do not know how to fight which will definitely hurt the ego of any Mat Sallehs martial arts students who might happen to watch this movie. I was seething in anger when I realised that the fight scenes were quite realistic. These actors, especially, even had the audacity to demonstrate that they had learnt their moves well and executed them better.

Now about the actors. There is not much that I can say about Zul Arifin’s delivery of his lines because his lines were incredibly long and complicated. Farid Kamil (as Amiruddin) however was a completely a different kettle of fish, he had the audacity to make us relate to Amiruddin’s grief as a husband who had just lost his wife. I found this unforgivable. Michael Chen (as Wong) too had the gall to make Wong very unlikeable. I am sure the audience felt a little joy when Wong was barbequed alive. Do you not think it is immoral to inspire such inhumanity in people? As for Atu Zero (as Ondu), could someone please introduce him to a good barber.  

I was very irritated by Nabila Huda’s performance as Wan Suraya which actually reminded me of a few female reporters whom I knew when I worked with the media: Asian actors (and actresses) are not supposed to be able to do that, does she not know?

To add salt to the wound, this movie had me recommending it to a few friends when I was having lunch with them today.  Can you see how completely disappointing that it?

So, please, if you do not want your idea that Malaysian movies are NOT worth paying good money to see, do not go to see this movie. It will brainwash you. You may come out thinking that Sabah is a beautiful place, Malaysian actors can act, and Malaysian Silat experts can choreograph good fight scenes. Do you want to do that to yourself?