The Raid - Redenzione

OK, let me start by praising Iko Uwais. Of all the actors, this guy fits the character flawlessly and is a highly likable actor. I thought I'd root for Joe Taslim (Jaka) better because of his better looks and taller figure but Iko is perfect.

The movie in terms of story: interesting. The premise is very simple, a bunch of cops trapped in a hellish building filled with the devil's men who knows silat and dead set on killing the cops. However, I can't really tell whats going to happen next, and there's enough twists that actually works, even if they were rather cliché (the rookie, the corrupt officers, the help from a friendly neighbor, the .. i should stop.. or i'd spoil the movie). There's nothing new in terms of plot, but that's not really a big problem. I sure do hope Gareth can find better writers to write the story next time.

What I do like is the pacing. It goes boom boom boom boom! and then it rests a bit before going into suspense mode, scary mode, and then boom some more.

Line delivery? Not very good. Some lines were obviously translated from English (it's written by Gareth himself) and some sounds quite cheesy (overused in other movies), like A: "Why us? why now?" B: "Why not?" Or "I need to get in, my wife is sick" And a bunch of others..

Secondly, some of them are not professional actors and as an Indonesian watching an Indonesian movie without subtitles, I couldn't catch most of the things they said! I wished there were subtitles!! I wished there were Indonesian or English subtitles so that the foreigners in indo can enjoy the movie as well! (although there's one guy with a manado accent who talks funny, obviously a joke which will not be noticed by foreigners) They either talked really quickly, or had poor articulation/enunciation that I couldn't hear what they said and had to ask my sister, who also didn't catch what they said, and had to ask her boyfriend. The only one actor whom I can hear clearly even when talking fast is the gang boss (Ray Sahetapi).. A veteran actor, obviously trained for acting.

By the end of the movie we also concluded that the Indonesian vocabulary in terms of curse words is so very limited. The word "anjing!" (means "dog") is used over and over, by everybody.. And the word "bangsat" (a bedbug) a few times.. "Babi" (pig) once, "kampret" (a small bat) once... They all basically means the same thing "Bastard"... So, this either means we are a really polite culture.. Or that they're trying to avoid censor.. Or that the translator for gareth's script has not enough vocabulary list... or maybe I really didn't get the badness of those animal curse words..

I mean I can think of many English curse words that is not too dirty.. Like.. Scum, filth, bastard, jerk, son-of-a...., prick, damn, what the heck, slime.. OK I don't really know how to translate those words into spoken Indonesian either so...

The fights were great. I can't comment on the choreography because I'm not a professional, but it puts you on the edge of your seat, so I think that speaks for itself. They hit hard, they fall hard, they kill hard, they die hard. I thought that some fights could be sped up a bit, as some moves looks like it lags a bit in terms of syncing, but only by a bit. If not, it adds a real touch to the physicality of the movie.

Most of the girls shrieked and made wriggling sounds during fight sequences (yes, one really shrieked out loud), and many sighed a relief, almost awkward laugh, when those fight sequences end. Which, in my opinion, means that the fights were a great success.

As an animator I felt the CG was a bit...hmmm... CG blood is slightly overused, but still acceptable, but one shot stuck out like a sore finger to me, the one where one guy falls over and lands on a balcony ledge. I really wanted to fix that animation.. Hahahaa... But again, that's because I'm a trained animator, as other people in the cinema gasped in their seats thinking that was real etc.

All I know is, it lived up to my expectations (a minimal story fight movie). I look forward to Iko, Yayan, and Gareth's next collaboration, which is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0hYVksfyrQ Again, if you're an action movie fans, you'd probably like it.

High Rating and Awards? People may be tricked for the first time because this movie comes from a very unusual country, Indonesia. It's not often we see action movie comes from this country. Furthermore, the casts also aren't well-known at all in the world but guess what, they're really giving a great show in this movie. Gareth Evans, a Welsh born writer/director/editor repeat his success creating action movie after several years ago releasing another action movie also made in Indonesia.

For me, the real superstar in this movie is Rama (Iko Uwais), who was introduced as a newbie special force in the team. Fantastic martial art movements, which is traditional martial art called Pencak Silat from Indonesia truly filled this movie with wowing watcher's experience. Fast moves, intense close combat and his knife play in combat successfully increased my adrenalin. The best part of Iko was when He's about to face several people alone in a hallway. That was obviously cool. I think Iko plays the part like Jason Statham (fighting) and Steven Seagal (with his knife) but only better. The Raid was rained with bloodbath. So it's wise to avoid bringing children to watch this movie.

The other character that stole my attention was this man called Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian). In my opinion, it'll be difficult to find this kind of man in this world. His expression and fighting style was stunning.

When I watch movies, I always intensely wait for the twists. The Raid doesn't give so many twists but it still has enough twist that improve the story. Still this is a nicely written story. Simple idea but creatively developed.

At first, I thought it'll be a one man show where Rama played the whole part of fighting till the end. But I was wrong. The Raid gives fair proportion to fighters in this movie. Rama isn't the only one that showed a great fight against the enemy in this movie. There're the sarge, Andi, the last cop in control room. The only thing that disturbed me a little bit is the original dialog which is Indonesian. I don't know but it's kinda awkward for me to hear the conversation in Indonesian although it's my native language. As I imagine, it may sounds better in English. Never mind, it's just me.

With only 1.1 million spent on this action movie, surprisingly give me such a great experience in cinema. Great movie. Great job!

9/10

After seeing the trailer, I knew I had to see this movie. Rarely our my high expectation met but The Raid surpassed it. If your seeing this movie, it's because you want to see action and The Raid hit every mark. The action is a mix of shootouts, hand to hand weapons, and mostly good ol' fashioned fists.

The Raid proves again how far behind American action films are. I've seen other great foreign action films like Ong-Bak, The Protector, and Ip man but The Raid surpasses them by highlighting a martial art style not shown in any recent films. Its brutal and never lets up. It's not your typical ultra clean fighting that has been done to death but something that looks real and desperate at times as people try to survive outnumbered.

Story wise it isn't anything great but at the same time it's better than most martial arts films due to interesting twists and being incredibly well paced to before you know it its over and you want more.

If your a fan of action films, there isn't any better out there now or any even close in decades past.

This is no doubt one of the greatest action movies I have ever seen. This is a violent movie with very little dialogue so know that before going in. The hand to hand fighting in this film is the best to ever be put on the big screen. This movie seriously blew me away. The one flaw would be that it doesn't have the greatest plot but it's enough to keep the action interesting. Please do yourself a favor and watch this movie! .............................................................. THE RAID: REDEMPTION QUOTES Let's clean this city's mess!

Increasingly now, foreign filmmakers are making better Hollywood action movies than Hollywood is. In this case an English director who evidently now works in Indonesia seems to have mastered all the action story tenets despite this being only his 3rd feature film. Even more, the number of layers to this story parallels the number of floors in the apartment building that is at the centre of this film. All I could think of is how Hollywood will eventually commandeer this film and make a lifeless by-the-numbers knock-off that will only stain the original. And of course, the budget of the original is about the same as a Hollywood B-list movie actor's salary.

This film is a disciple of the Asian extreme action genre, with over-the-top karate and acrobatics mixed with guns and violence. Betrayal isn't just a plot twist in these films, it's the first act. At least 5 or 6 betrayals are expected in these type of films where thieves betray other thieves, cops betray other cops, and honest guys get betrayed by best friends. What makes this film a standout is the unflinching action and well choreographed fight sequences by leads Yayan Ruhian and Iko Uwais. Early Jackie Chan movies got this kind of notice overseas because of their energy and gifted action instincts. Here, Gareth Evans is a one man powerhouse writer, director, and editor, masterminding this intricate chess match of good guys trapped on the sixth floor, with angry thugs coming up from the fifth floor and determined killers descending from the seventh floor. You feel our heroes feel trapped and vulnerable. Evans finds sources of tension from many places. The apartment building has tenants with unknown loyalties. The man heading the raid has unknown motives. Each character is well established with a minimum amount of screen time, keeping the action going.

I was urged by a movie reviewer to see this film, describing it as one of the best action movies ever made. And you have to agree, this film, after providing a few minutes of backstory, takes off straight into the police raid of the apartment building filled with bad guys and a gang lord. Cinematography takes lessons from "Saving Private Ryan", using hand-held documentary style footage during firefights, and blasting the soundtrack with dozens of loud guns firing at once. The pulsing synthesiser score also hits with the punchy music stabs that propel the momentum as the police troops make their way up to the big bad guy on the top floor.

Action sequences are creative and provide new angles and fight tactics that keep the hand-to-hand combat kinetic. Fans of the Bourne movies are encouraged to seek this out. (Not a coincidence that a Bourne Legacy trailer played before this showing). Many human moments also ground this film. An innocent man caught in the crossfire, gets asked to risk his life. A police squad leader who gets frustrated when the man conducting the raid puts his troops at risk. A child hired as lookout for the gang lord must die in order to prevent him from sounding the alarm.

There is an intensity to this film that resembles scenes from "Black Hawk Down", with very intelligent setups for conflict, and innovative approaches to getting from point A to point B. This fresh drive, propelled by good guy Iko Uwais makes this 1 hour 40 minute film zip along with no time out to catch your breath. The fact this film is subtitled will prevent it from being a widespread hit, although it will no doubt have a long life on DVD. Instead, I expect director Gareth Evans to be directing movies with 150 times the budget of this small gem within a very short time.