Writer: Peter Chai

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Watch this if you liked: "KL Gangster"

Directed by Hashim Rejab, "Budak Pailang" follows an arrogant teenager called Badrul (Aeril Zafrel) who loses his direction in life after completing his SPM examinations with his friends Achoi (Epy Raja Lawak), Awang (Zalif Sidek), Dani (Arien Yunus) and Wandi (Man Rahman). These young men spend most of their time bullying people around them including their weak schoolmate, Rodi (Niezam Zaidi). Meanwhile, Badrul meets the girl of his dreams, She (Wawa Zainal) while he is trying to protect her from gangsters. Living with his fussy mother Esah (Maimon Mutalib) and ill father Kassim (Den Wahab), Badrul decides to escape poverty by joining Alex (Zul Handy Black), a middleman in the drug business. As he starts getting richer through illegal activities, Badrul gets himself into trouble after getting into a fight, which then brings him to a youth detention centre. The awful experiences of punishment alongside other juveniles then gives Badrul a different perception of life. When he is finally released, the young man turns over a new leaf and tries to save She from Alex's bad influence.

The story of the film is typically dull and predictable as director Rejab emphasizes more on the stunts and extreme action scenes. Besides playing on the bittersweet young romance between Badrul and She, there is nothing more except the brutal bashing scenes which lead us all the way through the movie.

The Kedah-born director might be known as a great romantic storyteller on-screen, but this time he is not able to deliver a creative storyline for his first ever action feature. Every part of Badrul's dilemma in between chasing for wealth and his struggle to start with a brand new life, is easily predictable. He had failed to expand a better quality of a story. However, he truly is aware that the movie needs to be down to earth enough to capture the audiences' attention for social problems among children who grow up in a low income family.

No doubt that the biggest selling point of this film is definitely the feverish punching and kicking scenes under the bridge and narrow streets of downtown Kuala Lumpur. The stunts done by the actors themselves and stuntmen are not exaggerated at all as the "flesh to flesh" blows make for a gruelling street fight.

Speaking of cast performances, Aeril Zafrel is too lonely as a gangster. The director should have given more attention to Badrul's fellow gangsters to showcase their talents respectively in order to add some colour to the dark-themed story. Fans would probably be disappointed with Epy Raja Lawak's appearance. The scriptwriter should have set up a space for the young comedian to instil not much, but at least some scenes that portrays the actor's sense of humour. It always is good to have a hilarious character who could tone down the intensity of the violent plot, because a boring story with too much of action will lessen expectations to look forward for more adrenaline fuelled scenes.

Even though you can use your fingers to count Black's scenes in the movie, but as an antagonist, he stands out more than Zafrel. He has his successful moments in demonstrating a selfish and tricky snakehead in the illegal business world.

"Budak Pailang" is strictly not recommended for children under age but if you are looking for something to release anger visually, take this as your choice at the cinema.

Cinema Online, 19 November 2012