The Raid (2012)

User Review

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  TheMovieDiorama

  7 / 10

  The Raid is the Indonesian version of Dredd. I know this was released first but I couldn't get it out of my head! We follow a SWAT team who raid an apartment block in order to capture Pa-Pa, but the Pa-Pa clan aren't going to make it easy...(ok fine, no more Dredd references). One minute in and our main character is punching, elbowing and kicking a sand bag at 100mph. Bam! I was ready to sit back and watch a heck load of hand combat unfold. 40 minutes later, still no hand combat scenes...I was growing agitated. Thankfully though, the film turned around and our main character was battling his way through using only his body and knives. I'm talking full annihilation. Complete decimation. The residents did not stand a chance! Wham! Bam! Kapow! Swish! Slice! Followed by continuous noises as our characters fights to death. "Ah! Ehh! Phwoarrr! Hai! Ohhh!"...you get the gist. The action is pretty relentless, well executed and rapid. The choreography is insane. INSANE! There is one scene where two good guys are against one bad guy (apologies for the bland description) that goes on for six minutes. I have never seen so much flipping, kicks to the head, jump punches and head smashes to the floor...in my life. The bad guy in that scene is like the Indonesian Terminator, he just wouldn't die. The directing was good overall, not many quick cuts although the camera was particularly shaky during the first half. My problems with the film are with the plot conveniences and predictability. I don't really want to dive into it for spoiler reasons but if our main character is in a tricky situation, something would always happen to get him out. Any "twists" that were executed, were predictable and poorly constructed. Also some fight scenes in rooms have all the furniture right next to the walls, therefore leaving a massive open space for the fight. I would like to have seen them use the furniture to their advantage. Plus, I literally just watched it and don't know the main character's name. At all. Greatest action movie ever? No, but it's good!

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