The Raid: Redemption (2011)

A SWAT team becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs.

The Raid: Redemption (Indonesian name: Serbuan maut) is a 2011 Indonesian action film written and directed by a Welshman named Gareth Evans. Strange combination to start with, but don’t let the ‘foreign film’ tag or subtitles put you off. If your too lazy to read subtitles you can just concentrate on the incredible action on display. More on that in a minute.

The basic plot for The Raid goes a little something like this. Deep in the heart of Jakarta’s slums lies an impenetrable derelict apartment building which became a safe house for the city’s most dangerous murderers, killers and gangsters. The rundown apartment block has been considered untouchable by rivals of the notorious crime lord Tama Riyadi and even the police. It all changes when an elite team is tasked with raiding the building in order to take down Tama once and for all.

Tama – not a nice man!

Cloaked under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and silence, we mainly follow the journey of expectant father and rookie cop Rama, who is part of a 20-man SWAT team, led by Sergeant Jaka, and they arrive at the apartment block under the guidance of Lieutenant Wahyu. Their aim is to work through the building floor by floor until they can reach and arrest Tama. However, as we all know in films nothing ever goes to plan. Everyone living here knows they must attempt to stop the SWAT team for their own benefits, as they need somewhere to live and they have to keep Tama happy. In our introduction to Tama he shows us he doesn’t mess around in taking people’s lives. We do meet one kind resident who isn’t out to kill anyone, and the scene involving his hidden room and wiping away the blood was one of my favourites, just a simple scene but wiping the blood from the sword would normally be something so trivial it wouldn’t get done, and I liked this little touch for some reason.

The plot really plays second fiddle here though. The Raid is all about on thing; action!! Or to be more specific, the traditional Indonesian martial art pencak silat. Being a pretty good martial artist myself, I was blown away by the skills shown off here and I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this fighting style before. The fighting choreography is flawless, some of the best you will ever see, and we witness everything from hand to hand combat, knife fights and of course some guns and explosions thrown in for good measure. The Raid is a violent film, showing us punches, kicks, snapped necks, broken bones, crushed skulls, dismembered body parts, exploding heads and plenty more. No slow build up here either, the shit hits the fan from the very beginning and it doesn’t let up until the credits roll. Relentless would be one word for it!

Jaka vs Mad Dog – Face Off!!

Visually the apartment is shown as an ugly, intimidating building and we see it in cold and wet shades of blue and grey with dingy shanty-town like interiors. The camera flits effortlessly through the corridors ensuring that we don’t miss a single second of action. Some really impressive camera work I thought, and just a multitude of different shots and angles once again makes sure we don’t get time to feel bored and constantly shows us something new and different.

Rama – the rookie

The acting is fine, but these guys aren’t really trying to compete with someone like De Niro in the acting stakes here. They were hired for their fighting ability, and no one lets the film down on this front. The main character Rama, the rookie, has some incredible fighting skills and becomes a one man army fuelled with finding something or someone in this building. Yayan Ruhian as the crime lord’s sidekick Mad Dog threatens to steal the show here though. Not terribly intimidating to look at, but his first fight shows that he is not someone to be messed with.

Mad Dog kicking ass!

There are some negatives I felt. The script was pretty simple, there was no real character depth and plenty of ambiguity to it, especially the ending, but this is the first part of a planned trilogy so that is to be expected I guess, got to leave some back story and things to go into in future films. Also, despite being masters of being able to hurt people, at times some of the guys took such a beating and yet got up with barely a scratch on them. One scene for example between Mad Dog and ‘2 other guys’, we saw heads slammed repeatedly into a concrete floor and yet people just got up with no real blood on show. For a violent film I was surprised and felt it was a bit unrealistic, but I’m just nitpicking and didn’t detract from the fun I had whilst watching the film.

Overall, The Raid is a stunning showcase for action and martial arts fans, whether you’re watching for the pure visual spectacle, athletic prowess, invention or anything else. Leave your brain at the door and just enjoy the 101 minute run time (which flew by!). With a score composed by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park fame and Joseph Trapanese, the final product is an adrenaline fuelled ride unlike anything I have ever seen.

Posted by Tysoncarter182 on August 17, 2012

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