The Raid: Redemption

The Raid is the best pure action movie that I have seen in years and it needs to be seen by anyone who is a fan of action movies. This is a balls to the wall action fest from start to finish and it rarely lets up for more than a few minuted at a time. I am not going to go through the stars of the film because I do not know their names and they are not really in the movie for their acting skills. The real star of the movie is the director, Gareth Evans. He crafts an incredible action movie with some of the most brutal fight scenes ever shot on film. There is a 10 minute long fight scene that is just incredible and really needs to be seen to believe.

The action in the movie is mostly hand to hand and each blow is just brutal. You see people get their necks snapped, throats cut, and the shit beat out of them. There is no pulling punches in this movie, every hit is hard and brutal. Pretty much every character is involved in some type of fight whether it be hand to hand or in a firefight. The gunplay in the movie was also surprisingly solid for the small amount it was used on screen. The action in the movie reminded me a lot of movies such as District 13 which happens to be one of my favorite action movies of all time.

It really does seem like the foreign actions movies are really outpacing the American action movies in terms of overall quality. With the exception of Jason Statham movies, the US really doesn't put out "pure" action movies on a consistent basis. The foreign action movie market is geared more towards all out action where as US action movies tend to add a lot of useless melodrama and side plots to the movies. I am just hoping that the US remake of The Raid doesn't add a bunch of nonsensical shit to the mix. The Raid is flat out the best action movie that I have seen since the original Transporter or District B13.

Verdict

This is an action movie that you must see. If you are a fan of the Transporter series or Kung Fu movies then this will be right up your alley. Get this movie on Blu Ray because it is beautiful to watch. The action is brutal and it has a pretty good story to it as well.