The Raid: Redemption is a 2011 Indonesian action thriller slash martial arts film where a young special ops officer participates in a raid against a powerful mob boss holed up in a lonely highrise.
A Western equivalent to this would be the 2012 Dredd film starring Karl Urban. They were filmed back to back but I wouldn't be surprised if the makers of Dredd weren't influenced by this film.
Plot-wise the film is rather simplistic. A mob boss is holding down to a single location, the police special forces have to fight their way to him. Of course it's not quite that simple, but you get the gist of it.
Where this film shines is in execution of its fight scenes. They squeeze every possible drop of entertainment out of this location and their stars, many of whom are accomplished practitioners of Pencak Silat, the Indonesian martial art.
There are those that'll complain that this film is nothing more than one fight action scene after another. And to those people I say, this is not your film. This is a film for martial arts aficionados, who can appreciate a perfectly crafted fight scene, almost completely devout of shaky cam or jarring jump cuts. This film and its fight scenes are a thing of beauty that should be appreciated for their own merits.
Pure in its simplicity yet all the more stronger for it. Definitely a must see film for fans of martial arts films.
A Western equivalent to this would be the 2012 Dredd film starring Karl Urban. They were filmed back to back but I wouldn't be surprised if the makers of Dredd weren't influenced by this film.
Plot-wise the film is rather simplistic. A mob boss is holding down to a single location, the police special forces have to fight their way to him. Of course it's not quite that simple, but you get the gist of it.
Where this film shines is in execution of its fight scenes. They squeeze every possible drop of entertainment out of this location and their stars, many of whom are accomplished practitioners of Pencak Silat, the Indonesian martial art.
There are those that'll complain that this film is nothing more than one fight action scene after another. And to those people I say, this is not your film. This is a film for martial arts aficionados, who can appreciate a perfectly crafted fight scene, almost completely devout of shaky cam or jarring jump cuts. This film and its fight scenes are a thing of beauty that should be appreciated for their own merits.
Pure in its simplicity yet all the more stronger for it. Definitely a must see film for fans of martial arts films.