From the guy who did... Merantau (2009)
When I first heard about The Raid, the latest Southeast Asian martial arts epic. I was extremely surprised to hear it was from Indonesia, a country not really known for its movie making and helmed by an relatively unknown Welsh director.
Gareth Evans may have only directed one previous martial arts film. The overly sentimental 2009 Pentak Silat actioner Merantau, if this was Evans's practice run boy was it was worth every penny.
If your wondering, what is Pentak Silat? it's the indigenous martial art of Indonesia. A brutal fighting style that contains lightning fast knee, elbow and knife strikes to devastating effect.
Rama, a rookie S.W.A.T team member is thrust into the action as his elite squad "Raid" a derelict apartment building in a no-go area of Jakarta's slums. Like a computer game boss, Tama sits at the top of his empire, watching and listening to everything unfold. As the ever decreasing number of Rama's team fight there way through each of its 30 floors the story and action unfolds.
After the short opening set up, we jump straight some bone crunching action and it doesn't let up till the end credits start rolling!!
Iko Uwais (Rama) and Yayan Ruhian (Mad Dog, Tama's unhinged right hand man) choreographed all the fight scenes and you can just see the hours and hours of hard work pay off. The set pieces are extremely well thought out and the fluid camera work lets you see and feel all the bone breaking action.
Uwais is defiantly a star in the making and for me could easily eclipse Tony Jaa. I'll be watching his career with eager anticipation.
This is the action film I have been waiting years for and will be telling people to watch for years to come.
If you liked this check out...
Pana Rittikrai's - Ma Lui (Born to Fight) (2004) and John Woo's - Hard Boiled (1992)
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