Directed by Gareth Evans
Staring Iko Uwais, Ananda George and Ray Sahetapy
Rating MA
Score 6/6

A SWAT team becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs.

I hope that The Raid got a cinematic release in Australia, though I am glad that I picked this one in a double pack with Gareth Evans’ other movie Merantau, which reviewed soon. There has been variations of the plot of The Raid which has been used in other movies will be continue to be re-used forever.
What is important about Martial Arts and Action movies is that both writers and directors come up with something that it is a little bit different, something that hardcore fans will go searching for and everybody else will cheer when it is released into the mainstream. That is exactly what director Gareth Evans has done. The Raid and the Indonesian martial art Pencak Silat has the similar kind of heat to what Ong Bak and Muay Thai generated nine years ago.