After snubbing this movie despite the consistent hype, I came across a post where it was rated alongside The Furious on social media, and hey, I didn't just think about it twice anymore before deciding to give it a shot.
The Raid is an Indonesian, action-packed movie, one that's highly rated for its entertaining battle scenes and easy-to-follow storyline. It was released in 2012(as seen in IMDB) and It's written and directed by Gareth Evans.
Operation Sweep the building!
Jaka and his S.W.A.T. team are assigned to take down a drug lord in a tall, walled, city-like building. They have everything planned out, with the idea of clearing the blocks one after the other, from block one to the block where the drug lord, Tama, is. The team is doing well, smartly clearing the blocks and killing every occupant who shows any intention of killing them. They get to block 6, and hell breaks loose. The alarm goes off, and Tama, having all the occupants of the tall-walled building at his disposal, announces to every occupant that anyone who succeeds in wiping out the unwanted visitors will get a lifetime residency. Who wouldn't want to live rent-free? All of them swing into action to wipe out the S.W.A.T. team, and that's where the beauty of the movie starts.
The first time I applauded while watching this movie was during the relentless and high-intensity battle scenes. The shootings are so real, and the choreography is top-notch. It wasn't just the flying of bullets or gunfire splashing from every angle; the bullets had directions and were penetrating human bodies so clearly. The battles at blocks 6 and 7 stole the show for me. The martial arts scenes are not left out either, and Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian) always takes the fight extremely seriously whenever he appears in a movie. He took it very personally in this movie, fighting two tough brothers and beating them very well, even though he was defeated at the end.
Jama, played by Iko Uwais, one of the well-known Indonesian stars, played out the character so well. His skills are exceptional, and I just like that most of the moves in the fight scenes are not included in the script because, hey, they appeared too real and fast for me to believe they actually added such moves to the script. Lol.
The other cast members performed well, from Jaka, played by Joe Taslim, who tirelessly kept pushing the team, to Tama, the dreaded drug lord who doesn't give a damn about someone's life, and Mad Dog, who just loves to fight mercilessly.
My different opinion, which may appear odd to a lot of people who watched this movie, is how the storyline turned out sour at the end, with the betrayal and the S.W.A.T. team not knowing that they had been cajoled into the mission.
I would rate this movie an 8/10.
Photos: screenshots
Rating: 80/100