Social Icons

The Raid (2011)

The Raid (2011)



6/10 


Starring
Iko Uwais


Directed by Gareth Evans



Here’s a movie you will enjoy so much. After a brief intro to the lead actor, the movie kicks off with an introduction to the task at hand.

The Raid is an Indonesian martial arts action film written and directed by Gareth Evans (the first I’m seeing of his work), and its setting is what I believe Dredd (2012) copied. What our lead has are “a particular set of skills. Skills acquired over a very long career. Skills that make him a nightmare”—yeah, I’m quoting Liam Neeson in Taken (2008).

The movie’s plot is very straightforward, and it starts by introducing the lead—an officer named Rama, whose wife is pregnant. Not much of his personal life is detailed at the beginning of the movie, but we get to know more about him later. Rama is assigned to a 20-man squad tasked with raiding an apartment block in the slums. The team is supposed to get in, capture the crime lord Riyadi, and get out.


Things start off easy when the team is able to get in and take down some of Riyadi’s men, but one sloppy mistake sets off an alarm, alerting Riyadi of their presence. He sends the entire apartment building against the squad, along with armed men, snipers, and his own men who are skilled with knives and martial arts.

Soon, the team realizes there’s more to this raid than what they were told, and before they know it, it seems impossible that any of them will get out of the building alive. If you’ve seen the movie Dredd (2012), where Dredd is trapped in a building with the people he wants to apprehend and stop, you have an idea of how this movie’s setting will be. This movie treads on the same path, but the difference is—our lead is on his own without any telekinetic skills (or anyone with such skills) to help him.

The Raid was a commercial success, making more than eight times its budget at the box office. A sequel, The Raid 2, was released in 2014 and was also written and directed by Gareth Evans. The Raid is one of the most amazing martial arts films you’ll get to see. The movie doesn’t make our hero an indestructible force but a very lucky police officer. The fight scenes are enjoyable, and the movie’s plot is very straightforward.

Make time to see this movie, but remember it’s an Indonesian movie, so either find an English version or one with subtitles.



0 comments:

Post a Comment

Disclaimer

All images featured on this site are the property of their respective copyright owners. They are used solely for illustrative and commentary purposes under fair use principles. This site is a personal blog, unaffiliated with or endorsed by any copyright holders. If you are the copyright owner of an image featured here and wish to have it removed, please contact me directly, and I will address your request promptly.