Review: Dongeng Sang Kancil is the cute and violent Malaysian jungle adventure I never knew I needed (but I did!)

Every once in a while I scroll through the "Upcoming" section on Netflix because they are obsessed with dropping random animated movies with little-to-no fanfare, so the onus really is on the user to hunt them down. While doing just that last week, I noticed that there was a movie called Dongeng Sang Kancil on the docket. I set up my reminder, and now here we are.

What a wonderful, strange little movie this is. I want to compare it to Happy Tree Friends, because it blends cuteness with violence in a way that's a bit jarring, but here, the violence isn't so over-the-top, and the intention couldn't be more different. It did make me wonder who the intended audience is for this movie. I don't know much of anything about Malaysia's animation scene, or even their larger film industry, so maybe family movies there are allowed to be a little darker and more intense than their American counterparts. Or maybe this is intended for older viewers. I'm not sure. I do wonder if any families here in the States will click on it expecting a sweet little adventure and be surprised when the blood starts splattering (it's rated TV-14 here).

Dongeng Sang Kancil follows a mouse-deer named Kancil (according to my Googling, all of the characters share their names with what animal they are -- "kancil" is the Malay word for "deer") who is supremely clever. He has to be to survive in a jungle where there are so many bigger animals, many of whom would love to eat him for dinner. The movie opens in Bambi fashion, with Kancil's mother being hunted down by a murderous dark shadow. She manages to warn her son to flee with her dying breaths. He reluctantly does so, leaving her behind.

So the stage is set for our hero, who seems to have traps set up all over the jungle in case a predator is on his tail (a lot of logs swinging on vines here). When a trap isn't handy, Kancil is quick with a lie. Or a plan. The other animals turn to him for help and guidance when the going gets tough, such as when a haughty elephant claims the local watering hole for himself, forcing the smaller animals to band together and form a plan to reclaim what's rightfully theirs. This set-up had me wondering if this was going to be one of those episodic movies where we watch Kancil help solve various issues for the denizens of the jungle, which would've been fine. There's a bit of that built into the structure of this movie, but everything ends up falling within the larger context of Kancil seeking revenge against whatever evil creature murdered his mother. Yeah, this thing is pretty dark.

In the post-Spider-verse animation landscape, we've grown accustomed to seeing movies mix media, blending various styles to create dynamic amalgams that draw from various disciplines. That's at work here, too. Dongeng Sang Kancil uses a blend of 3-D and 2-D elements to great effect. The animation isn't super shiny-impressive; it's a little janky at times. But man, it grew on me, and it's a great example of stylistic flair and flourish helping to achieve satisfying aesthetics. The character designs are great, especially for the predator characters, who are huge and scary and often covered in scars. The way the characters strike hero poses always hit for me, and I love the 2-D elements like water splashing, fire burning, and dirt clouds forming during action sequences. I ended up in the camp of feeling like this movie is really easy on the eyes -- I dug its look. 

My favorite visual trick that's a regular part of the cinematic language here is the way the characters and effects regularly transgress the frame, overlapping with or even breaking the letterboxing at the top and bottom of the screen. It's a move I've seen before, but one that I will always love, and it's done really well here, providing some great thrills and comedic beats, as well as lending itself to some pretty interesting compositions, particularly when foregrounding small characters like the ant queen (who, yeah, is a badass).

There's a bit of tonal whiplash because of the blend of cute animal antics and intense, bloody action, which blend together in the film's climactic battle. But it works well, and doesn't feel as jarring as I initially thought it would. I think it helps that this movie is such a cartoon (complimentary). The zany sound effects, impossible physics, fun musical numbers, and general high energy level make this feel light and fun even when venturing into darker territory. And man, does it go dark at a few key moments, including the very satisfying final showdown between Kancil and Harimau Kumbang, the villainous tiger who is responsible for the opening matricide. The movie pulls a move that very few do (especially on these shores). I actually cheered!

And there's a lot to cheer for here! How cool to be able to fire up a streaming service and watch an animated movie from Malaysia that I had never heard of, and to be so thoroughly surprised and entertained throughout. It's funny, exciting, and action-packed. A great way to spend an hour and a half.