Forced, brusque, forthright, inelegant, sloppy, questionable, unconvincing: these are the first descriptors that immediately come to mind as soon as this film begins. It's only the opening scene, yes, but it's a terrible first impression. Unfortunately the same descriptors are applicable to each action-oriented sequence that we'll get as the length draws on, and distinct weaknesses will continue to far supersede any conceivable value. There have been some terrific movies to come out of Indonesia, but 'Rimba panas,' or 'Jungle fever,' is definitely not one of them.
Whatever story had been conjured to be written into the subsequent screenplay, it is not treated well; there is a plot, but it is meager in the first place, and very disjointed and incohesive as it presents. The scene writing is serviceable, but the dialogue is much less so, and the characters are stale stock. There's a whole lot of exploitation going on here of the "indigenous people sure are both scary and uncivilized, aren't they" variety, and though some ideas herein are workable for the adventure flick it is, or maybe for the more horror-oriented flick it could have been, nothing is done well enough to particularly care, or to elicit the intended and necessary feelings. Ratno Timoer's direction, H. Asmawi's cinematography, and especially Norman Benny's editing are unpolished, if not undeveloped, and make the viewing experience an emphatically rough ride. The cast struggle in turn, and just as most moments generally are poorly rendered, there are some specific examples that are all but amateurish. For good (tiresome) measure, throw in a scantily clad buxom blonde who we get to watch run and swim in slow motion Just Because.
I suppose the stunts and effects are well done, not to mention the sets, costume design, and hair and makeup. The music is alright. These elements aren't exactly the most important ones, however, and those that are fail far too often to hold much water (if any). There was potential in the root narrative, and it's not all bad; then again, for as dubiously as the narrative is handled earlier on, it's just altogether set aside for a fair bit of the last third (or is that the second half generally?), including for love scenes that are just as poorly rendered as anything else. There's nothing here that we can't get elsewhere, with significantly higher quality. If one has a discrete impetus for watching then I suppose it might be worth checking out, even if it's just sheer curiosity, but for the average viewer there's just no real reason to bother. Watch 'Rimba panas' if you like, yet your time is far better spent watching something else. Oh well.
