The Raid: Redemption

Original title: Serbuan maut

2011 R 1h 41m

Awards 9 wins & 23 nominations

User reviews

493

FEATURED REVIEW

9/10

Possibly the best martial arts film I've seen

After seeing the trailer, I knew I had to see this movie. Rarely our my high expectation met but The Raid
surpassed it. If your seeing this movie, it's because you want to see action and The Raid hit every mark.
The action is a mix of shootouts, hand to hand weapons, and mostly good ol' fashioned fists.

The Raid proves again how far behind American action films are. I've seen other great foreign action
films like Ong-Bak, The Protector, and Ip man but The Raid surpasses them by highlighting a martial art
style not shown in any recent films. Its brutal and never lets up. It's not your typical ultra clean fighting
that has been done to death but something that looks real and desperate at times as people try to
survive outnumbered.

Story wise it isn't anything great but at the same time it's better than most martial arts films due to
interesting twists and being incredibly well paced to before you know it its over and you want more.

If your a fan of action films, there isn't any better out there now or any even close in decades past.

helpful 281 / 32

The Raid 2
Original title: Serbuan maut 2: Berandal

2014 R 2h 30m Awards 11 wins & 17 nominations

FEATURED REVIEW

10

/10

An Excellent Sequel and Fantastic Action / Martial Arts Movie

The first movie 'The Raid: Redemption' set the bar for action movies. With its fast paced action and
believable fight scene choreography whilst not being over the top with an aim for realism that would
diminish the combat's entertainment factor.

With 'The Raid 2: Berandal', we are brought back into the gritty world of the first movie directly following
where the story left off. The viewers are introduced to an entirely new perspective on the world where
the first movie is set. In the first movie we are locked in the one perspective of Rama and his battle
through the building, whilst in the sequel we learn that this all takes place as part of a much larger
setting. We find out that realism is not the aim of the series and instead its a world of gangsters, villains
and corruption.

Evans is able to introduce new characters like the 'Hammer Girl' and the 'Baseball Bat' guy without
making them seem totally over the top and ridiculous. We also get to watch them fight and are able to
enjoy their unique styles rather than the usual, 'this character is a bad guy' scenes to barely introduce
them.

The fight scenes are excellently choreographed and the way they are shot is spectacular, a lot of
imagination and ingenuity is used to really throw the viewer directly into the action. The gore and
violence level reflect far more realistic outcomes considering the brutality of both the scenarios and the
weapons.

When I try to compare this to the usual Hollywood blockbuster action movies reduced to PG13 to get
more people in to watch it, its impossible. The movie delivers far more in the way of action and fight
sequences whilst maintaining a sensible and cohesive plot.

If you are expecting(for some bizarre reason) to see an amazing plot to compare to The Godfather or The
Departed you probably are expecting the wrong things. If you are expecting to see a amazing fighting /
martial arts movie with a believable plot you wont be disappointed. The movie reminded me a little of a
Tarantino film with its characters, something like Kill Bill. But instead with way way way better fight
scenes and frankly, a better plot as well.

Overall considering where this movie is from and the cast involved etc any negative rating is totally
undeserved. Whilst not everyone's cup of tea as far as martial arts / action movies go this movie will be
impossible to top in 2014, and frankly its probably the best action movie I have seen in the last decade, it
will be on the top of my list for a while.

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