The Raid

A bloody punch-up that is the perfect embodiment of the action adventure movie. The plot is maybe as simple as the thought processes of the Hotel Paradise guests, a SWAT team raids an apartment block of bad-ass killers and come up against tough resistance, but prevail. Amazing choreography, no shortage of brutality, blood splatters, fight dosage according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Yayan Ruhian is a killing machine and Iko Uwais is a grandmaster. Shinoda’s soundtrack is great for this movie. (19/07/2012)

Don't blame me for the three stars. I guess I really wanted more from the film because even though the director and choreographer understand what can be squeezed out of the actors (and that it definitely exceeds every conceivable limit of what we've seen so far), the plot, on the mental level of an arcade, just slips into a painful stereotype in the second half and just repeats what we've seen before. In addition, the final fight also loses a lot of its attractiveness, so if I want to contemplate this in the pub I'll take a big sip at the memory of the trick with the fridge, but the rest will be like that cheap catchphrase "...you know how that guy is going to beat up the other guy, right?" This likely says a lot about the fact that I'd regularly suffer through it a second time; in fact, I kind of envy those who are giving it perfect reviews. :) (29/05/2012)

Unbelievable carnage that surpasses most of what has been filmed so far. Where most directors shy away from pushing the envelope and move the camera or cut the shot, Evans keeps it in the frame with maximum detail in every scene. Very bloody, very brutal, and incredibly explosive in terms of choreography and audiovisual aspects. Is it possible to shoot something like this on such a pitiful budget? Americans (and everyone else) should take note, this is how pure action is filmed. The plot is irrelevant. (14/08/2012)

It's as if Jackie Chan had swapped humour for brutality and in a film directed by John Woo, who got tired of guns. I enjoy straightforward action movies and The Raid is a perfect example of how they should look like. The film gets right down to business, everything feels real, honest, there's no time for big plot twists, it's a completely different, blood-soaked display of acrobatics that takes your breath away. In addition, the cramped setting of corridors, staircases and small apartments invites to invent more and more ways to destroy the hordes of villains, who sometimes jump from everywhere in the style of the undead from some modern zombie flick. I'd seen the films it has inspired (Dredd, The Princess, maybe even John Wick) before The Raid, but I didn't mind it at all. (03/01/2023)

An assault of pure physicality that more than anything else harms its own aura. With the label "action spectacle of the year" or even the decade, the expectation automatically arises that something more will emerge from The Raid: Redemption than just a bloody brawl. It doesn't – and it's not necessary. In the catalog of Indonesian fatalities, the boiling adrenaline was most heightened by seemingly inconspicuous but deadly Mad Dog Yayan Ruhian. His main performance, in which he gradually transitions from rubber jumps, twists, and turns to gathering the last remnants of strength for the hardest blow, literally takes your breath away. (18/12/2014)