Geekscape Goes to Sundance 2012: The Raid
One could argue that this should be a Geekscape movie just on the basis that the end credits include: Man in Hall #1-#21, Man in Lobby #1-#12, Man in Apartment #1-#8 … and they all die in a bevy of martial arts and bullets. And almost each and every death is unique and cinematic. Plus there is a character named “Mad Dog”! The visuals are in part beautiful first-person-shooter, mixed with elements of SWAT and Enter the Dragon.
The film is set on a single day, in a two-hour window of time. This is in fact an Indonesian movie, but you do not have to worry about reading the sub-tiles. Much of the movie, or maybe you could say even all of it is filled with action – shooting, fighting, and the martial arts in the style of Indonesian traditional Pencak Silat. From start to finish it never slows down. Camera movements are awesome – the timing is done perfectly and the camera always makes the right choice on following the action and mixing it up. The film conveys so well the severity, danger and urgency of the specific situation that each character finds themselves in. As it turns out, the budget did not allow for a fancy slow-mo camera, and the slow motion moments had to be cheated by actors slowing down their movements: and it worked! Here, smart decisions, masterful choreography and a 1.2 million dollar budget was enough to capture the right look and feel for the story (this includes the soundtrack, which adds to the overall experience).
The film starts just before a group of Indonesian Swat Police Officers enters a completely run down 15 story building filled with men loyal to the King Pin, Tama. We learn that there had been many unsuccessful attempts by Police to apprehend Tama in the past, but now, this team really think that they have a plan in place to get to the most evil man in the city: secure one floor at a time, and get to him quickly, and unseen. This turns out to be very hard, given that the entire building is filled with Tama’s loyal tenants, almost all of them are murderous hoodlums. While Tama only has two men working under his direct employ, they are basically all his employees. With video cameras and listening ears on all floors, the SWAT team quickly runs into huge problems – but so do the tenants, as the fighting techniques are rather equally matched on both sides, which provides for an all-out gruesome war. The “good guys” (though that may be a loose definition), now have to get out the same way they got in – one floor at a time.
Iko Uwais, does an incredible job in his “good guy” part. He is a stellar martial artist and was one of the two choreographers on the film.
The story is not without a few plot twists, and the handful of characters that survive this “Raid” do so for very particular reasons. Otherwise, nearly everyone dies or is severely maimed: by our count nearly 200 ppl!!! Of course, at times the laughter at the sheer body count is inevitable, but admittedly, the well-executed premise keeps you at the edge of your seat the entire time. This has already been recognized, as the film in fact, has already been bought by Sony Pictures Classics back in 2011. You will be seeing it in theaters very soon!
Tidbit of exclusive news: Geekscape.net has learned at last night’s Grey Goose sponsored Sundance Premiere party for The Raid, that there is indeed already a sequel in the works with several returning cast members!
