KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 — Malaysia’s highest grossing film, Mat Kilau: Kebangkitan Pahlawan may be Malaysia's top-grossing Malaysian film of all time, but it reviews have hardly been flattering as the movie debuted on Netflix.
The hype had many tuning in as it began streaming on the platform from Malaysia Day on September 16 globally (except for Indonesia, where it will launch on October 14) had many questioning the hype.
Many on social media stated they found the film's action scenes filmed poorly and its script to be overly preachy, despite the positive reviews from cinemagoers during its release.
"I'm still the happiest film director in the world,” director Syamsul Yusof told Berita Harian in response to the criticism.
"I accept every criticism, whether it's good or bad. That's normal to me. So long as audiences continue watching the film.”
The director was grateful, regardless of the nature of the response, as the attention saw Mat Kilau to trend on Netflix as many took online to share their opinions on the blockbuster film.
Just watched Mat Kilau on Netflix.Syamsul Yusof extends his unbroken streak of terrible filmmaking.If you only pay attention to the dialog, it also works as comedy.Otherwise, it’s a firehose-like stream of ahistorical Malay & Islamic symbolism.
— Lawrence Ross (@LawrenceNRoss) September 18, 2022
Omg mat kilau is so bad it’s like early 2000s production. The colour is painful to watch.
— (@farahkhairuddin) September 18, 2022
It's true when they say, "good or bad publicity, publicity is still publicity".Just watched Mat Kilau on Netflix. Tbh, it didn't live up to its hype. Bar the politics, this movie was boring and cringey. Storyline was flat.Can't believe this was actually compared to Ip Man.
— just patman (@patrixkJuan) September 16, 2022
The film remains in the weekly Top 10 films in Malaysia to date along with other local films The Assistant and Paskal.
