While taking a break from packing for my trip, I accidentally stumbled upon an Indonesian action/martial arts movie called The Raid: Redemption. Upon finishing the film, I was quite amazed at how good this movie is. Right from the beginning, the action was non-stop. I am now worried for my trip to Indonesia as I needed the subtitle to understand the small amount of dialogue in this movie.
The movie tells the story of a group of SWAT-like police troops that were tasked with clearing a derelict apartment building that housed some of the worst criminals in the city. Their main objective was the capture of a crime lord who commanded the residents in the building. Trouble started when their presence was noticed by the lookouts as the tenants of the buildings decided to attack the intruders. The main story followed a rookie cop as he tried to help the rest of his unit out of danger. Without ammo and weapons, he relied on his knowledge of the traditional Indonesian martial art called Pencak Silat.
I don't know any form of martial arts so it is hard for me to comment on it but aside from the crazy gun fights in the beginning, the majority of the action sequences are the fist-to-fist kind. The fights are pretty intense tho I had to wonder how many times a person can get their head bashed against a wall before they pass out. There are bodies being thrown out windows, stabbed, shot, broken, bludgeoned, and a combination of all of the above.
Anyone looking for a movie where you turn off the brain and just watch people get killed in a multitude of ways, I recommend finding this movie. It played at TIFF and won some kind of award, and apparently, negotiations for a Hollywood remake is in the works, so the movie can't be bad.
This would also be the first time for me seeing the HK416 and the KAC PDW in a movie. After all, I watch these things for the guns too.
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