No idea why the international name for this movie is The Raid: Redemption cause there's no bloody redemption in this movie, just plenty of ass-kicking, bone crunching violence. Its made by the same guys who did Merantau, which impressed me with the fight scenes. Thought I had reviewed Merantau but a quick search suggests I had not. Sometimes I write a review in my head but forget to type it down.
Yes, if you follow international movie sites, The Riad is very good as advertised. Not the best action movie in 15 years or whatever the reviews are claiming but it is very damn good. 20 Swat team members are sent on a mission to clean up this apartment building which is the headquarters of this powerful gang. Of course things go awry, lots of people get killed and its a game of survival for our hero Rama.
The fighting is awesome. Not as balletic as Tony Jaa movies but more brutal with gunshots to the head, lots of stabbing and neck slicing. Its grittier and has equal amount of moves that have me wincing thinking that has got to hurt. There's a fight where Rama uses a tonfa and a knife which is too awesome for words. Made me realise that in movies, the hero usually doesn't use knives but hey, this is like one man against 100 Indonesian parang wielding gangster.
The director really does a great job showing the claustrophobia of fighting in an apartment building. A few great scenes that do a good job of building up suspense and tension especially with the remaining police trying to hide from the bad guys. Nothing is scarier than a bunch of parang wielding Indons.
Can't believe they shot this movie for $1 million USD. Goes to show its not how much you spend but what they do with it. If only Japan can do an action movie half as good as this. The ending makes me want to see the sequel. Can't wait for his next movie with Iko Uwais Berandal. The sad story is that they are trying to do a US remake of The Raid. The Raid is one lean, mean action movie that knows what it wants to do and does it well.
3 comments:
I really enjoyed this movie.Merantau felt a bit too much like Ong Bak without the big action set pieces imo, but this movie definitely has its own flavour.
The hyperbole was out of control though, "best action movie since Raiders of the Lost Arc".....umm no
Lol. Since Raiders? Whoever said that must have long term memory loss.
I really liked this one too. Especially the fight of the villain against two brothers.
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