"Why the f**k not?"
"It's a valid question."
The Raid is exactly what a pure action film should be: lean, simple, furious and thrilling. With minimal set up at the start, the tone is established quickly, with extraordinary, frantic and precise action set pieces that are astoundingly brutal - this is not a film for the faint of heart. Gareth Evans directs with terrific confidence, control and economy throughout, excellent sound design is a huge bonus, and Iko Uwais - clearly an Asian action star in the making - proves to be a mesmerisingly watchable martial arts practitioner and a human centre amidst the carnage. The low-budget, on-location set-ups add an air of authenticity, whilst the big action scenes provide real adrenaline-rush violence, from Uwais taking out two corridors full of thugs single-handedly to an incredibly prolonged two-on-one bout towards the end, not forgetting one insane villains-vs-police face-off in two rooms one above the other. It is a familiar genre piece (touchstones seem to include Die Hard, La Horde and the A Better Tomorrow series) and narrative 'surprises' are anything but, yet its straightforward no-frills dynamism is very refreshing. It was unlikely that a subtitled low-budget Indonesian actioner directed by a Welshman would cause such a global stir, but its reputation is fully justified and The Raid is easily one of the best Asian action films seen in a long time. This is the version to see in the cinema - do not wait for the inevitably watered-down, smoothed-out American remake.
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