We decided at the last moment to watch The Raid at Doha Tribeca Film Festival and luckily we got the tickets too. Earlier, when we wanted to watch ‘The Black Gold’, ‘Mama Africa’ and ‘Lust’, all the tickets were sold out. Had we not gone to watch The Raid, we would have missed a film which had ultra-intense action, rather say brutal action, in it. I had never watched such a movie in my life. Azam joined us and after reaching Katara, Babu also came to watch it. After entering the theatre, we saw Vij’s other colleagues – Roger and Craig. And surprisingly, within half-an-hour, Roger slept off and woke up only after the movie was over.
The film was different, very different from others. The plot is like this: In one of Jakarta's poorest neighborhoods there is a building where even the police don't dare to go. Ruled by a powerful and feared crime lord, the building has become some kind of refuge for the most dangerous criminals in Indonesia. But an elite special force group has now received the order to end all this, to infiltrate the complex and bring down its ruler. As you can imagine the operation doesn't go according to the plan and suddenly all hell breaks loose. The police wind up trapped inside the building, with no possible way out and surrounded by killers and gangsters on the sixth floor. There seems to be only one option: to fight all the way the top.
The film's setup is pretty straightforward. There are no unnecessary explanations nor does the director has any pretensions of overdressing the package. Gareth Evans knows very well what he wants to deliver and how he wants to do it. It's a simple plot, it features a wonderful setting for an action film and delivers just the necessary dramatic weight for the audience to care for the characters without getting ridiculous nor burdening the action.
And action there is. The film's got firefights, one on one fights, one on many fights, jaw-dropping stunts, you name it. In The Raid, you'll feel every blow, thanks to the stunning choreography work and the good work of Evans capturing it on film.
The film looked like a fusion of ‘Die Hard’ and ‘Assault On Precinct 13’ with a body count that would make John Woo blush as the bullets, blades, sticks, elbows and feet get flying early and never let up.
At the end, director Gareth Huw Evans and rising martial arts star Iko Uwais talked to the audience who watched this adrenaline-fuelled action film.
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| Vij, Craig, Roger and Azam |
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