Directed by:
Gareth EvansScreenplay:
Gareth EvansCast:
Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Doni Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian, Pierre Gruno, Ray Sahetapy, Tegar Satrya, Iang Darmawan, Eka Rahmadia, Alfridus Godfred, Hengky Solaiman (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
A SWAT team becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs. (official distributor synopsis)
Videos (8)
Reviews (10)
This is by no means a perfect film, the fight choreography, although shot in an absolutely breathtaking way, starts to get a bit tiring towards the end and some scenes are awfully exaggerated and contrived. But in spite of that, or maybe because of it, this is, I dare say, the best and most honest action flick ever made (The Rock is just such a weak concoction in comparison). I believe that even Chuck Norris would have to take his hands out of his pockets this time to get it all done in 100 minutes :-D
()
Unbelievable carnage that surpasses most of what has been filmed so far. Where most directors shy away from pushing the envelope and move the camera or cut the shot, Evans keeps it in the frame with maximum detail in every scene. Very bloody, very brutal, and incredibly explosive in terms of choreography and audiovisual aspects. Is it possible to shoot something like this on such a pitiful budget? Americans (and everyone else) should take note, this is how pure action is filmed. The plot is irrelevant.
()
Don't blame me for the three stars. I guess I really wanted more from the film because even though the director and choreographer understand what can be squeezed out of the actors (and that it definitely exceeds every conceivable limit of what we've seen so far), the plot, on the mental level of an arcade, just slips into a painful stereotype in the second half and just repeats what we've seen before. In addition, the final fight also loses a lot of its attractiveness, so if I want to contemplate this in the pub I'll take a big sip at the memory of the trick with the fridge, but the rest will be like that cheap catchphrase "...you know how that guy is going to beat up the other guy, right?" This likely says a lot about the fact that I'd regularly suffer through it a second time; in fact, I kind of envy those who are giving it perfect reviews. :)
()
An assault of pure physicality that more than anything else harms its own aura. With the label "action spectacle of the year" or even the decade, the expectation automatically arises that something more will emerge from The Raid: Redemption than just a bloody brawl. It doesn't – and it's not necessary. In the catalog of Indonesian fatalities, the boiling adrenaline was most heightened by seemingly inconspicuous but deadly Mad Dog Yayan Ruhian. His main performance, in which he gradually transitions from rubber jumps, twists, and turns to gathering the last remnants of strength for the hardest blow, literally takes your breath away.
()
A handful of cops, a billion Asian butchers and a building where even Chuck Norris would shit his pants. In other words, a manual for success. We can finally confirm that the aura of an exceptional film built around this Indonesian action sensation since its première at the Toronto Film Festival a few months ago is the real deal. The Raid: Redemption is the kind of film you really don’t see every day. A relentless action ride, brutal, intense and at times terrifying. It’s hard to talk in detail about this beauty, it has to be seen. It’s been long since a genre five-stars was this pure :)
()
Ads