Monday 21 May 2012

Movie review of The Raid:Redemption


The Raid:Redemption - 8/10
Directed by Gareth Evans
Cast - Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Yayan Ruhian, Ray Sahetapy

Plot Summary
In the Jakarta slums, a derelict apartment building has become a no-go area - even the police are unwilling to enter. It has become a safe-house for the most dangerous killers and gangsters. A SWAT team infiltrate the building, under the cover of darkness, to remove its owner - a notorious drug lord named Tama.

Review
You know when you watch a movie without knowing anything about it, unsure if it is gonna be a good or bad movie and whether will you regret paying money for it. The Raid was one of those. I knew absolutely nothing of the movie,Heck, I didn't even know it was an Indonesian movie till I bought the tickets.And boy was I in for one helluva ride! The first scene which introduces the hero, Rama played wonderfully by Iko Uwais. A very subtle and touching introduction,I have to say.And thats just for only 5 mins into the movie. Without further ado, the action starts and doesn't end.Yup...the action doesn't fucking end! The action sequences were so intense that I couldn't stop moving about in  my seat! The fight choreographs were meticulously planned and executed.Definitely one of the best fight scenes I have seen in a long time.Martial arts used in this movie is a traditional Indonesian form of martial arts known as Pencat Silat.None of that slow motion shit,its all lightning quick speed and intense like fuck.My favorite fight scenes are the ones involving a knife and a baton. Remember the famous scene in Bourne Identity where Matt damon uses a pen and pokes a various number of holes onto the bad guy's body? Well, our protagonist, Rama uses a knife and pokes various number of holes onto a various number of bad guys.And the kill scenes....brilliant, creative and gory. The guys who thought of all the kill scenes must be some sick fucks. Some of them are so hardcore, you are bound to cringe or go Ouch! The Raid is an action movie that doesn't pull back any punches. It's dirty,violent and brilliantly done.
The direction for this movie is really good.Kudos to Gareth Evans for this. I really liked the colouring of the film, it gives out a very gritty feel to it. The editing was pretty decent as well.I loved the camera works.There was one particular scene where the action is from one floor and then it is spilled down the bottom floor and the cameramen captures it wonderfully and cleverly too as I watched the making of The Raid.There is not much on the plot,its nothing too fancy as the director is making it out to be a full on action movie and not a halfass one.The acting was good.I loved the bad guys especially Mad Dog and Tama portrayed wonderfully by Yayan Ruhian and Ray Sahetapy respectively.To what I have read, Yayan Ruhian and Iko Uwais are the main fight choreographers.I would love to see Yayan, Iko and Gareth work together again. Script for this movie is a little weird for me as it was in Indonesian.The weird thing was, in the english subtitles there were lots of fucks but whenever the word fuck is being said,the Indonesian says "Anjing" and to what I know,that means "dog'.Oh well, its still a great show nonetheless.

I would highly recommend everyone to watch this. By far the best action movie for me this year and it is uncensored (M18).  It's really fucking awesome and I'm gonna watch it again!

Best quotes
Mad Dog: Pulling a trigger is like ordering a takeout.

Tama: Go to work and enjoy yourself.

Recommended movies done by the director
Merantau

2 comments:

adam global chaos said...

i watched it 5 times already.. & it's still fresh as ever.. :)

Subash Ramone said...

wah steady lah adam. I might catch it again this weekend.