William Griffin (Vilhiamas)

I recently had the opportunity to watch "Kandahar" at a Jakarta Theater, enjoying the lesser crowd of a weekday. The movie, however, takes its time to unravel, initially creating a barrier for seamless immersion into the story. Yet, perseverance pays off, as the narrative gains momentum and turns increasingly engaging. “ Kandahar" breaks away from the superhero movie trope we are typically fed with, such as the Marvel comic movies. Instead, it focuses on fleshing out the humanistic qualities of its characters. Although this process feels somewhat rushed due to time constraints, it is still a refreshing change One aspect that truly stands out is the cinematography. The desert landscapes, as revealed in the end credits, were filmed in Dubai, providing a realistic backdrop to the narrative. Certain scenes, like the infrared-aided nighttime desert chase, exude an almost surreal quality.
 Interestingly, the movie could have been better served as a mini-series on a platform like Netflix. This format would have allowed the filmmakers to dedicate sufficient time to developing the intriguing characters—such as the American convert to Islam living in Dubai, the whistle-blower reporter, the Pakistani spy on a black motorcycle, and the Iranian army officer in charge of hunting down saboteurs.
 One significant aspect of "Kandahar" is its portrayal of the characters caught in the throes of war—real people with loved ones and lives outside the conflict. The narrative tugs at the human threads of war, a narrative not commonly explored in popular cinema.
 My movie companion, Herman, enjoyed the film as well, although he found the initial slow pace almost sleep-inducing. The editing was a point of contention for him; the jumps in the narrative were a tad too frequent, an opinion I found myself agreeing with.
 As a resident of Jakarta, constantly bombarded with superhero flicks, "Kandahar" serves as a welcome reprieve. The exploration of the grey areas in a real and contemporary setting is indeed a breath of fresh air in a cinema landscape often dominated by the clear-cut 'good versus evil' narrative. The film, despite its flaws, stands as a testament to the potential depth of storytelling that can be achieved in a relatively short runtime.