The Raid: Redemption

You should know going in if you're the type of filmgoer who is going to appreciate The Raid: Redemption, and, if it's your kind of thing, you're probably going to love it. This is the second feature that Welsh director Gareth Evans has made in Indonesia with star/fight choreographer Iko Uwais, and they are quite a team. The relentless and brutal action is enthralling, a joy for fans of the genre. Evans' streamlined plot concerns Rama (Uwais), an inexperienced, but very determined, cop led on a raid of a massive apartment building run by crime boss Tama (Ray Sahetapy). Jaka (judo master Joe Taslim) heads the group of heavily armed, mostly doomed cops, under the direction of Lieutenant Wahyu (Pierre Gruno), who has his own nefarious motives. Eventually, the cops have to contend with Andi (Doni Alamsyah), the brains of Tama's operation, and the even more deadly henchman Mad Dog (fight choreographer Yayan Ruhian, making quite an impression), so sure of his hand-to-hand prowess that he puts his gun aside and frees his prisoners in order to beat them to death. There isn't much to the movie beyond the action, but, wow, what action. Evans uses a lot of handheld camera, but the combat is always blissfully coherent and brisk, allowing just enough slack for you to catch your breaths between gunfights, machete attacks, and some of the best fight scenes to hit the screen in years.