As an outspoken supporter and fan of Gareth Huw Evans’ film Merantau, you can imagine my excitement when I first heard about the writer/director and editor’s follow-up film, The Raid, now called The Raid: Redemption, starring award winning Pencak Silat practitioner and now fight choreographer, Iko Uwais. As I followed Evans’ blog about the production and watched behind the scenes footage my excitement for this potentially explosive action film exponentially grew and by the time I finally sat down to watch the film I was bouncing up and down in my seat with anticipation.
Now before I release my no-no juice all over the page because of how excited I am to write this, I should probably give you a quick plot summary. The Raid: Redemption is a simple story at first glance. Rama, a rookie of an elite special-forces team and a father to be, is told to hang back as their team enters the most dangerous building in the city, a sanctuary of criminals and gangsters controlled by a ruthless and godlike crime boss named Tama. As the team enters the apartment building to extract Tama, they get caught by a spotter about six floors up. Tama then makes an announcement to the buildings occupants saying whoever kills the intruders can live in the building for free and forever. As the team struggles to survive, Rama’s aim is to try and save his fellow officers while making damn sure that he completes the mission of capturing Tama and survive to see the birth of his son.
The reason to see The Raid: Redemption is because it is quite possibly going to be the best all out action movie (without superpowers) that you’ll see this year. Most people aren’t familiar with the Pencak Silat martial arts style so in this film you’ll get to see Iko Uwais put on a clinic while infusing it with his gun and knife wielding skills. Some of the crazy sh*t you’ll see includes a close quarter fight that ends up with one guys neck getting slammed through the wood of a broken door. There are many scenes like it and they are the ones that’ll have you unknowingly cheering at the screen. Though, if those scenes don’t do it, the final climactic fight between Iko, another character I won’t name, and his co-fight choreographer Yayan Ruhian, who plays the psychotic killer Mad Dog, will surely have you roaring like a victorious King Kong.
As for the filmmaking, the movie looks great and gritty. While most of the camerawork is handheld, it isn’t that shaky, which is great because you’ll feel like you’re a part of the action but won’t get dizzy in the process. Also, due to the nature of hand to hand combat, Evan’s is able to exploit different angles while occupying small spaces which you’ll 
notice when the camera moves to a bird’s eye view during a hallway fight scene. What I truly appreciated about the look of the film was the appropriate use of slow motion. Evans didn’t really use it during fight scenes but rather to enhance the tension before and after, something that is rarely done and rarely done well.
Lastly, Sony decided to have the film rescored for the US release and it totally paid off. Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park and Fort Minor makes his debut as a composer with this film and worked with Joseph Trapanese to help enhance the mood and tone it. At some points it sounded similar to a Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score but, if you’re a fan of Shinoda like I am, you can clearly hear his style in the score that perfectly complements the film.
For haters of foreign films, I have to say please shun your stupid ways for this picture. There is about 10 minutes worth of dialogue in this 100 minute movie, the remaining 90 minutes is comprised of balls to the wall action that continually gets more and more impressive as the film progresses. If you’re an action junkie or thoroughly enjoy a good action film then you have absolutely no reason to see The Raid: Redemption. As far as action films go it’s one of the most crowd pleasing, badass flicks I’ve seen over the past few years that doesn’t involve fantasy characters or superpowers. It’s just guns, knives and deadly hand to hand combat that’ll put any American actioner to shame.
Rating: A brutal and hardcore adrenaline ride that every action fan will worship (10/10)
Recent Comments