Action Watch: The Raid (2011)

Watched:  12/30/2018
Format:  DVD
Viewing: First
Decade:  2010's


Well, what a great actioner!  Bit of melodrama, good plot twists, near real-time storytelling and some unbelievable martial arts and gun-fu.  No pretentions here, just a straightforward, well choreographed ballet of action I would not want to sit through with my mom.

If you don't know The Raid (2011) - and I think everyone does know it, right? - it's about a squad of rookie cops who are sent into an apartment block which is, New Jack City style, owned and operated by a crime kingpin.  It's part of a no-go zone for local cops, but this squad of gung-ho cops has a simple mission to go in and get the guy and bring him back out just around dawn. 

Of course, there are complications, not the least of which is that the building is full of karate-wielding, machete-toting maniacs and a bunch of guys with automatic weapons.

There's a lot to like, from the deeply streamlined story to the DP's shakey-cam work, a very likable lead in Iko Uwais and a villain who is, frankly, the best actor in the whole film, Ray Sahetapy.

I don't want to say too much, but I'll go ahead and suggest it for a good, solid dose of action movie.  Just be ready for a hard-R for people getting shot up and whatnot.

Despite the largely Indonesian pedigree of the movie, it has a Welsh Director, which I totally don't understand.  But, whatever.  The teamwork worked out!

But of weirdness - I think I saw three women in the whole movie, maybe with 7 seven lines between all of them.  It sorta makes sense in context, but this was the most male-heavy movie I'd seen in years that wasn't a WWII movie or something.