The Raid: Redemption

I finally, after nearly a year of waiting, have watched The Raid.   Not the true original cut which is titled 'Serbuan Maut', but the Sony Pictures edition.  Only difference I have been able to find other than the title is the score, by Mike Shinoda and Joseph Trapanese.  I can't imagine a more appropriate soundtrack, just to be clear.  This is, aside from the opening scenes, literally a one-set picture.  My only real concern with a film this ambitious is how can there be the slightest hint of character development or story?  I was very surprised at what took place and there's a twist that I didn't see coming for a second.  The plot revolves around a SWAT team, led by Sgt. Jaka infiltrating a drug lord's apartment building in Jakarta and to my surprise, our main character is a rookie cop named Rama.  The lord, Tama Riyadi, is known to have two bodyguards names Andi and 'Mad Dog' and countless others inside.  Once they open the doors, it's non-stop action for the duration.  

When a boy spots the team and alerts the guards of their arrival, carnage immediately ensues.  As the team slowly makes their way through the building, they have no idea the opposition is already in place.  They are soon ravaged by gunfire and the 20-man team is decreasing rapidly.  They soon realize that the odds are stacked against them tremendously, as their support on the ground is killed and now they are trapped inside.  An announcement over the loudspeaker offering sanctuary to those that are successful in killing any cops brings nearly the whole building into the mix.  We learn that this whole operation has been monitored on the 15th floor by our antagonist, leading to questions of how this operation was intended to succeed - a detail that I won't spoil.   As our now small and wounded police team are running out of bullets, the tone switches and hand-to-hand combat becomes the focus of the film.  I loved this plot point, so often in action films the 'good guys' have an unlimited supply of ammo and this makes the film much more realistic and gripping.  So many creative attacks and props are used to make one the scenes brutal and full of impact.  Men are thrown out of windows, stabbed violently, limbs broken and this is often in close-up shots.  I will say that the knife fighting choreography is the best I've ever seen.  

I want to talk more about the specific scenes but this is a film I can't allow myself to spoil.  Part of the excitement I had watching this is not knowing a lot about it, other than the basic plot.  The story does evolve as a relationship between an officer and one of the attackers is revealed, this took the film in a different direction than I expected.  'Mad Dog' has two fantastic fight scenes, including the vicious finale battle where he takes on two men.  I was on the edge of my seat since in this film, nobody is immortal and anyone can die at any point.  Gareth Evans has created something spectacular in making one of the best pure action films I've ever had the pleasure of watching.  It pulls no punches with the gore and brutality that Hollywood has taken from mainstream films and manages to tie a great (albeit small) story in as well.  Going into this review I hoped to tell enough to make people interested and leave enough to keep it fresh and exciting.  Hope I did that, thanks for reading.