The Raid: Redemption Review

 The Raid: Redemption

Director: Gareth Evans

Stars: Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Donny Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian, Pierre Gruno, Ray Sahetapy, Tegar Satrya & Eka 'Piranha' Rahmadia

Running Time: 141 mins

Release: 18 May 2012

In Jakarta, Indonesia there's a slum and in this slum there's a 30 storey tenement block run by a ruthless and merciless crime lord Tama (Sahetapy) and the majority of tenants are his personal army of thugs and killers making it a near nigh impenetrable fortress. 20 elite S.W.A.T. Cops enter the building to take down Tama, though as their mission begins they soon realise it will be very hard to make it out alive let alone to get Tama.

Before continuing on with the review I should mention that this films fight scenes are (mostly) in the Silat style and variations of it and they are simply outstanding one of the many reasons to watch this film.

Iko Uwais is the star and the main protagonist of the film. He plays rookie cop Rama who has a mission of his own when they get inside the tenement. He also has a wife and a unborn child who gives him hope and a reason to fight for, to get out of their alive. He's brave, courageous, intelligent, quick and one hell of a fighter. He features in most of the fight scenes, all of which are intense & high octane. But his ones are the best. The moves he performs in this film really take your breath away. I can't say much more without spoiling anything is but what he does early on with a truncheon and a knife really sets the proceedings of what's to come. He is an absolute bad ass in this film.

He's absolutely amazing and believable in the role of Rama, you really root for him through the film and we see the film mostly through his eyes. He goes through a hell of a lot in this film. It's really a commendable job for his first western released film and I cannot wait to see him in more, he's a true action star in the making.

Joe Taslim plays Rama's superior Sgt Jaka, he's the second in lead protagonist. He seems to be the only other cop in the film that seems to trust Rama's abilities from the get go.Like Rama he believes in the right thing to do; carry on with their mission and get out of their alive. He's a fantastic actor though he's only in one fight scene.

Gruno plays Lt Wahyu, a big giant brute of a man, he's ruthless and quick on the trigger and basically screws up the cop's operation which I won't spoil for you. His fight scene in the drug room is awesome and I honestly did not expect him to do what he did. He's the most complex character of the cops.

Satrya plays Bowo, a fellow cop who dislikes Rama, that's until he gets injured and Rama helps him. He's great in the role albeit it's a small one

Rahmadia who's a stuntman plays Dagu a cop who can fight just as good as Rama and he really proves himself in the drug room scene which I loved.

Sahetapy plays the sadistic, smart, ruthless crime lord Tama, he does not have much screen-time for a villain but he's great in every scene and I must say I really admire how he retains his cool through the film. He's a right evil son of a bitch too.

Donny Alamsyah plays Andi, one of Tama's chief underlings and is the brains of Tama's operation. I can't say much about him spoiling anything, but I will say he's one complex character and he features in the best fight scene in the film.

If Iko's the main protagonist, Mad Dog is the lead antagonist. He's played pitch perfectly by Yayan Ruhian. He steals every scene he's in,he's magnificent to watch. He plays him with such intensity. There's nothing human behind his eyes he's a savage wild animal. He does not like to kill his opponents with guns or melee weapons, he would rather get down and dirty and do it with his hands. He is an excellent fighter and near nigh unstoppable and relentless and incredibly quick. He does not know how to give up. Both his fight scenes are excellent and stand out scenes of the film and they are both quite long and really shows how brutal he is. I'm surprised how agile he is for a man over 40 !. I'm really pleased that Ruhian will be back in The Raid 2: Berandal

Garth Evans has already become one of my favourite directors. He's really blown me away with this film. He has shot this film expertly, creatively and inventively. There's nothing quite like it. The fight scenes are some of the best shot scenes I have ever seen. He really gets in close to the action at times making you flinch and drop your jaw in awe at the same time.

I particularly love the corridor fight scenes, the drug room fight scene and the final fight scene are amazingly shot I could not fault them at all and I cannot forget the tense scene where Rama and Bowo are hidden behind a fake wall while one of Tama's thugs thrusts his machete into the wall. I really loved the panning shot from behind the wall to in front of it it's a really tense and the last hour is pure cinematic gold. Evans really know how to build the tension and the ante. I loved every minute of it. The fight choreography is the best i've ever seen and there's practically is barely any CGI in this film.

What really helped with this was Mike Shinoda's and Joseph Trapanese (of Tron Legacy fame) electronic score it's beautiful to listen to. Every track suits the atmosphere of the particular scene. I really love the sort of techno dance track that goes with Rama vs The Machete gang. I was really surprised that Shinoda did the score of this film, well had a part of it. I know him from Fort Minor and Linkin Park and it's great that he's turned his hand to doing film scores I would really like to see him do more. I really need to get this soundtrack.

I watched the film on Blu-Ray and on the disc there's an interview with Shinoda and Trapanese about the film score which I watched after the film and it was very interesting to watch. It gave me an insight to how they did the score.

Wrapping up this review I have to say from the heart . Thus film is simply the most taut, exciting, tense, blistering, brutal,realistic,atmospheric, claustrophobic, stunning and amazing action thriller that i've ever seen. There's no substitute or compromise The Raid is one of the finest action films ever made and my personal favourite of it's kind. If you've never seen this film and your keen to see it your in for one hell of a ride and bring on The Raid 2: Berandal !

This film is an absolute nasterpiece.