The Raid Reigns Supreme

Nearly eight years ago, American audiences were introduced to this pencak silat-fueled, high-octane crime epic and its singular intensity has remained unmatched

Summing up “The Raid” in one word isn’t an easy task, but if boiled down to its simplest ingredient, “relentless” accurately captures its essence. It’s an assault on the senses and an action junkie’s dream come true. The only time it really pauses is to literally let the heroes catch their breath before the next horde of criminals comes swarming in. It’s as merciless as its combat, which features some of the best hand-to-hand fighting of the decade. Filmed and set in Indonesia, the martial arts extravaganza was able to showcase it's eye-popping brawls with a budget of just over $1 million dollars. That's a testament to its excellent fight design and further proof you don't need the big-budget Hollywood blueprint to craft a modern action masterpiece.

Rama (Iko Uwais) is part of an elite task force whose unit goes on a mission to the slums of Jakarta. While there, they storm an apartment block to take down a vicious crime lord. Things take a turn for the worse after the team is spotted and free permanent residency is offered to anyone that kills them. Forced to rely on their tactical skills and wit, Rama, Jaka (Joe Taslim) and others fight through levels of enemies desperately trying to survive. The storyline is barebones (and strikingly similar to 2012's "Dredd"), but the fight sequences are the star of the show. Choreographed by Uwais and Yuyan Ruhain (who plays the indomitable Mad Dog), it's clear director Gareth Evans was able to expand upon his vision from 2009's "Merantau", his first full-length film that featured several "Raid" actors. Both he and his cast are firing on all cylinders and the mayhem is incredibly fun to watch.

If you appreciate action cinema, there’s an unquestionable beauty in the brutality. The bone-shattering throwdowns are expertly captured with long takes and camera movements that follow each punch, kick and knife swing with precision. The execution works so well due to the synergistic pairing of Evans’ directorial style and the incredible stunt work. It may not be for everyone, as some may find the stomach-churning violence and shallow story depth to be an annoyance. Roger Ebert only gave the movie one out of four stars, berating it for lackluster dialogue and character development. Perhaps its sequel, “The Raid 2”, would have been more to his liking due to its bulkier plotting and 150 minute runtime. Regardless of its criticisms, the film has become a cult favorite and is still one of the purest examples of unadulterated, smashmouth 21st century movie-making. Its popularity sparked mainstream success for its stars, leading to appearances in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum" and Iko Uwais increasingly being sought out as a leading man here in the States. Evans most recently directed the horror-thriller "Apostle" for Netflix and is on tap to bring an adaptation of the video game "Gangs of London" to Cinemax. He's also gone on record stating a third film to the franchise is a long shot. If so, that's disappointing, but audiences will always have this blood-soaked adventure to look back on when they're longing for some bombastic beatdowns. A-