So what is the secret of the remarkable success of the raid?
At first glance, the plot of The Raid seems too simple to support a feature film. A SWAT team headed by Jaka (Joe Taslim) must assault a multi-storey dilapidated building to stop the evil crime lord Tama (ray sahetapy). Things take a turn for the worse when Tama offers residents badass heavy rewards apartment to kill his pursuers. They are happy to oblige. Now the more numerous SWAT team has to fight his way out to survive. Much chaos ensues.
What is special Raid is how excitingly and convincing this simple story is told. From the moment the fighting begins, about five minutes into the movie, the combat is frenetic and relentless, with action scenes that put most Western films of the genre to shame their sheer speed, brutality and inventiveness. The grainy look and the handheld camera to put you in the heart of the action, as if you stand shoulder to shoulder with the SWAT team, wincing every time. Sometimes it's almost exhausting ride, not for the squeamish or faint of heart. In the scene of the classic corridor soon-to-be, SWAT hero Rama, played by Iko Uwais, takes an army of attackers using only his bare hands. The fight choreography is simply breathtaking as punches, kicks, stamps and gouges its way through the massed attackers. The intensity, creativity and physicality of the fight - and his general lack of dependence toward computer-generated imagery - has prompted several American authors complain that Indonesia is now better to do action movies America pioneered the genre
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Iko Uwais, tipped to be the next 'Bruce Lee'
Probably The Raid: Redemption will propel Iko Uwais at a certain level of international celebrity -. it was even talk of him being "the new Bruce Lee" he was a highly skilled martial artist, but unknown before Gareth Evans, Welsh writer / director / editor of a Raid have discovered the. Evans then made a documentary about silat, brand Indonesia martial arts, but he was so impressed by the dramatic potential of her silat skills he threw it into Merantau, his first major feature film. Under excellent leadership Evans, and his second major film, Iko Uwais offers an engaging performance as an actor. as a fighter, he positively shines.
Iko is not the only stand-out performer in Raid. his silat professor of real life, yayan ruhian, is terrifying like a mad dog, a villain who likes to kill people with his bare hands, because it is more fun. Sometimes when he fights, he looks more like a supernatural monster a mere mortal with black eyes and lifeless hair straggly falling like curtains on his face. He choreographed all the fight scenes with Iko Uwais and will soon be doing the same thing for the American remake.
ray sahetapy also deserves special mention. His Tama is a vicious wicked one Indonesian and cooling, speaking in a calm voice and carries a big hammer. The sober sliminess and uncomfortable humor he brings to the role reminiscent of the best of Tarantino.
Aside from Evans and filmmaker Matt Flannery, everyone involved in the production of Raid is Indonesian, including all stakeholders, funders, producers and all the special effects team. The Raid: Redemption is a truly Indonesian film that pushed the action films of this nation in an exciting new territory
.See when you can - if you dare
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Five out of five stars!
Rated R for strong brutal bloody violence throughout, and language.