The Raid

The Raid is the martial arts film of 2012 and Indonesia's answer to Die Hard.

Or should that be Die Hardcore? Because this is on another level. The Raid provides 90-minutes of brutal, up-close-and-personal, lightning-fast, ass-kickery. Expect an abundance of machete-wielding henchman, relentless fisticuffs, a SWAT team massacre and even an exploding refrigerator.

Director Gareth Evans (a Welsh guy directing an Indonesian cast, go figure) keeps the action old-school. No bullet-time, no wires, no revolving corridors and absolutely no CGI. Just a bunch of highly-trained stuntmen beating the living hell out of each other, documented by some nifty camera work courtesy of Evans. And pay attention Michael Bay because nothing is lost through haphazard editing or an over-reliance on shaky-cam. Instead, Evans captures every single punch on film. His style provides an incredibly immersive experience and, as an audience member, you will feel like you are taking a beating yourself.

Evans makes great use of his Iko Uwais, leading man, choreographer and all-round secret weapon. Evans discovered Uwais whilst making a documentary about the Indonesian martial art, Pencak Silat, and knew he had found an action superstar in the making. In many ways, The Raid (and their 2009 collaboration Merantau) is just an excuse to showcase Uwais' mastery of Pencak Silat. Martial arts buffs will be reminded of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee's earlier star vehicles where a paper-thin plot is thrown-together to allow the hero endless hordes of henchman to dispatch in a cool, crowd-pleasing way. And Evans achieves this goal because Uwais will be a big name after this.

At this point, it is important to slow down and take stock because it would be easy to give The Raid five-stars on impulse. But whilst there hasn't been a martial arts film this raw and hard-hitting for a long time, this is not the essential piece of film-making that some magazines will lead you to believe.

As stated, very little effort has gone into story, script or characterisation. The Raid has the plot of video game: advance through the levels, encountering more difficult bosses as you go until you reach the end (the same plot as Bruce Lee's The Game of Death). There are a few welcome twists but even they fall a little flat because we have no attachment to the characters. Most are there to be cannon-fodder, whilst the supporting players are types: the good cop, the corrupt cop, the villain, the henchman. Even Uwais' heroic rookie is a little vanilla when he isn't kicking ass (he has a pregnant wife at home!) although at least there is some intrigue surrounding his motives once inside the apartment block.

And another huge problem is the absence of humour. Die Hard has achieved immortality because of the sardonic smirks and one-liners of Bruce Willis. But Uwais and the cast play this completely straight. Admittedly, that might jar with the gritty, R-rated tone of the film. But to have no comic relief? It makes the 90 minutes seem a bit of a drag at times, especially after sitting through another five-minute brawl.

But it's early days for Evans and Uwais. Future collaborations are very likely. Evans has been smart enough to leave enough characters alive at the end (on both sides of the law) to allow for a sequel. Maybe they could invert the plot and have the bad guys storm a cop building? 

Then again, it is not the plot that will cause the audiences to return. Evans and Uwais are the draw here. With one behind the camera and the other in front of it, audiences will be rewarded with a kick-ass combination.

★★★