The Raid Review

19th May 2012

Welsh Writer/ Director Gareth Evans has done an absolutely stunning job with his Indonesian set action flick. But credit has to go out to a truly game cast, a terrific stunt team and a technical crew who caught all of this hard hitting action in a style that serves to impress.

A 20 man heavy SWAT team head into the heart of the slum area of Jakarta to take down a crimelord. Once inside the building the team have to make their way up the levels encountering first the ordinay inhabitants of the building before being confronted by the criminal element. Once that happens it’s game on as the team are swiftly taken down in their numbers until the handful that are left have to start fighting back in order to survive

There are twists along the way for characters to reveal and confront, but it’s pretty much a non-stop adrenaline rush of fight scene after fight scene. Once the majority of the bullets have been dispensed, our characters move onto blunt instruments and hand to hand tackling.

Once in a while an action/martial arts film comes along and truly knocks the wind out of you. Usually it is down to a new star name, but with the Raid it’s pretty much the entire package. The technical crew and stunt team must have spent weeks on the crash mats perfecting not just the stunts, and the actors, but also the camera shots. The camera is pivotal to how well the action appears. All too often a more lazy action film would rely on editing and fast cuts, but here the camera likes to remain in longer shots. Often it will linger, and more often than not it will move back and forth and in and out with the characters.

It is hard to pinpoint any major flaws with the film – Sure the hand to hand combat feels like it is getting repetitive later into the film, but there is no fight sequence that does not have its own charms and ultra-violent pay-offs. If anything it all may just be a bit too much, despite it all being great. The plot itself is simple enough – which is probably what is needed. The twits in the tale are fairly routine (Who is really good and who is really bad) – but the film doesn’t waste time or get bogged down in any heavy drama. It’s all about the action!

Jaws will drop upon entering the cinema.