Here is a film that is being described by Rotten Tomatoes as "No frills and all thrills, The Raid: Redemption is an inventive action film expertly paced and edited for maximum entertainment". It currently sits at 83% Certified Fresh. It only proves that sometimes the Tomatometer is inaccurate. The Raid is all action and no story, but somehow manages to keep your attention, but is that a good thing?
A rookie cop's task force has been ordered to raid the fifteen story compound of a large drug lord. That is all I need to describe The Raid's plot because that is the entire plot. Really. The only added dimension is the action. Is that good thing? Well it depends on the type of movie goer you are. If you are looking for a film with heart or substance, then watch another film. The Raid lacks both. When the majority of the films credits are: Machete Man #1-4; Cop # 1-7; Drug Dealer #1-14; you should not expect much substance.
However if you are looking for a pure adrenaline rush, then you should definitely check The Raid out. At 101 minutes, it felt as though at least 70 minutes were straight action. Writer-director Gareth Evans did a fascinating job of keeping the fights fresh and new despite being limited on space. He is able to keep the action intelligible and I never found myself lost or confused, like I was during Safe House or The Hunger Games, where it felt like the director chose to drop the camera from the sky to film the action sequences.
The biggest problem about The Raid is there simply isn't anything to get attached to until the middle of the 2nd act. This is when you discover the rookie cop you have been following has a brother who is a member of the gang he is trying to take out. Up until this point the film's many scenes of violence exist strictly for the sake of violence. The scenes are not disturbing, just frustrating. Nothing felt justified. This was because until this moment you really had no one to root for.
However once I discovered about the cop's relationship I became involved. I soon cared about whether the cop lived or died. I had someone to root for. If this twist never occurred, the film would have been no better than The Vow.
There is a sequel as well as an American remake currently in the development. I hope the sequel retains the amazing action sequences but adds substance to the film, from the beginning and not when the film is almost over like in this film. As for the remake, I simply do not understand why there is one. The film was just made no more than a year ago. It is almost insulting for a remake to happen so soon. All I ask is that Jason Statham please not be apart of this remake.
THE RAID: REDEMPTION
Running Time 101 Minutes
Written and Directed by Gareth Evans
Staring Iko Uwais, Donny Alamsyah and Ray Sahetapy
3/4 Muffins.
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