The Raid

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Paul

Managed to get into a preview screening of this action film from Indonesia I've been hearing so much about lately. This film is wall to wall action, intense and extremely violent with a great set up and a simple story and a lot of bug nuts insane stunts accompanied by some of the juiciest punching sound effects ever put to film.

I was surprised at how quick the whole thing started. No less than 5 minutes in and the titular raid has begun. A building 15 stories high and the police have to make their way up through all the levels of hoodlums that live their to get to the crime lord sitting pretty on the top. It's almost like a computer game.

Needless to say it doesn't take long for folks to realise what's going on in their building and fight back at which point all hell breaks loose.

The whole first section is a lot of gunplay, but once the numbers dwindle to a handful of main characters you can follow and the bullets run out everyone else becomes a martial arts expert. And their fights are impeccably staged and choreographed. And extraordinarily brutal too. It's sure to get the adrenaline pumping.

The film was shot on the Panasonic AF100 and a lot of it in quite low light. There is some strange grain, possibly the result of smoothing in a few shots here are there but overall it looks okay. The handheld wobbliness can get a bit much at times but they always pace their action with intercut dialogue scenes and gives the audience a chance to refocus.

I missed Gareth Evans' fist film but heard good things about it too. I'll be interested to see if he continues this story along. It's as pure an action film as I've ever seen in the last decade or so. Incredibly visceral and relentless. Well worth checking out.