Let’s be perfectly honest, almost everything that can be done when it comes to action movies
has already been done, numerous
times. There are only so many ways you can see one dude punch another dude in
the face. There are only so many ways to kick a guy, or put a bullet in a guy’s
head, or do all three of them and fling a witty
little quip afterward.
I generally don’t expect too much from my action films. If the action is cool, I’m usually a happy man. A decent story and passable acting is icing on the cake. It’s delicious, but not all expected. It’s a buy one get one free sale. It’s oral sex on the first date.
I generally don’t expect too much from my action films. If the action is cool, I’m usually a happy man. A decent story and passable acting is icing on the cake. It’s delicious, but not all expected. It’s a buy one get one free sale. It’s oral sex on the first date.
While action
flicks are always going to be fun for the people who enjoy them, like myself
for example, it’s pretty rare that anything fresh
and/or new is brought to the genre. Die Hard blew me away. Hard Boiled made me lose my mind. Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior made me soil
my britches. The Raid: Redemption isn’t
as good as any of those movies, but it’s pretty damn good.
The plot for is fairly straightforward. A swat team gets trapped in a tenement building controlled by a crazy mobster and his two slightly less crazy underlings. The team spends the next 101 minutes stabbing thugs in the chest, slicing open the necks of various street toughs, and shooting a bunch of dudes in the face. That’s pretty much it. It’s simple. It knows what the audience is there to see and it delivers. There’s also some stuff about brotherhood, and allegiances, and family, but truthfully none of that really matters in the grand scheme of things. Some of it is good. Some of it is bad. It’s a hand job on the first date.
It’s not quite good enough to be a blowjob, but you’re certainly not going to turn it down.
The plot for is fairly straightforward. A swat team gets trapped in a tenement building controlled by a crazy mobster and his two slightly less crazy underlings. The team spends the next 101 minutes stabbing thugs in the chest, slicing open the necks of various street toughs, and shooting a bunch of dudes in the face. That’s pretty much it. It’s simple. It knows what the audience is there to see and it delivers. There’s also some stuff about brotherhood, and allegiances, and family, but truthfully none of that really matters in the grand scheme of things. Some of it is good. Some of it is bad. It’s a hand job on the first date.
It’s not quite good enough to be a blowjob, but you’re certainly not going to turn it down.
Stuff gets blown up, people get shot, buckets of bloos are
spilled, and for the most part, it all ooks pretty damn spectacular.
There’s a fantastic visual flair to The Raid: Redemption that, while not exactly new, certainly feels fresh in its own particular way. Every shot is energetic. There’s a little extra oomph in every kick. There’s a huzzah in every trachea chop. There’s a bit of wooza whuzza in the blood splatters. If you’re into action movies and you’re looking to see some shit get blown up and some dudes get stabbed, the movie delivers. No bones about it. Writer/Director Gareth Evans has brought a kinetic energy to the movie that’s undeniable. Even if you’re annoyed with the story, you’ll feel it. You won’t be able to help it.
It’s also really, really gory.
If you’re into gore it’ll probably give you a boner.
A bloody boner, but a boner nonetheless.
If The Raid: Redemption is bringing anything new to the genre it’s in the gore. There are parts of the movie that feel a bit like a slasher film from the 80’s. Jason Voorhees would have fit in great with this swat team. If the damn thing wasn’t shot so well it might have put me off. The gore works though. It doesn’t feel at all out of place. It works. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll cringe more than once over the course of the film, but it’ll be a good cringe. If you put your hands over your eyes, you’ll peek through the cracks in your fingers. Moments that should feel over-the-top instead feel earned, which isn’t the easiest thing in the world to pull off.
There’s a fantastic visual flair to The Raid: Redemption that, while not exactly new, certainly feels fresh in its own particular way. Every shot is energetic. There’s a little extra oomph in every kick. There’s a huzzah in every trachea chop. There’s a bit of wooza whuzza in the blood splatters. If you’re into action movies and you’re looking to see some shit get blown up and some dudes get stabbed, the movie delivers. No bones about it. Writer/Director Gareth Evans has brought a kinetic energy to the movie that’s undeniable. Even if you’re annoyed with the story, you’ll feel it. You won’t be able to help it.
It’s also really, really gory.
If you’re into gore it’ll probably give you a boner.
A bloody boner, but a boner nonetheless.
If The Raid: Redemption is bringing anything new to the genre it’s in the gore. There are parts of the movie that feel a bit like a slasher film from the 80’s. Jason Voorhees would have fit in great with this swat team. If the damn thing wasn’t shot so well it might have put me off. The gore works though. It doesn’t feel at all out of place. It works. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll cringe more than once over the course of the film, but it’ll be a good cringe. If you put your hands over your eyes, you’ll peek through the cracks in your fingers. Moments that should feel over-the-top instead feel earned, which isn’t the easiest thing in the world to pull off.
The Raid: Redemption is a well-made action flick. That’s all
there is to it. Is it one of the best action films of all time? Probably not. Is it one of the best in
recent memory? Probably so.
If nothing else, it’s an experience and it’s worth seeing. In a genre where everything has mostly been done experiences are a rare find and any self-respecting action connoisseur would be silly to let one pass them by.
-Steven
If nothing else, it’s an experience and it’s worth seeing. In a genre where everything has mostly been done experiences are a rare find and any self-respecting action connoisseur would be silly to let one pass them by.
-Steven
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