As a member of the Jakarta police force, Rama (Iko Uwais) is one of dozens of SWAT agents about to be trapped within the concrete walls of a tenement building run by a nefarious slumlord, set upon by machete-wielding thugs and forced to fight his way out using knives, broken doorways, and at times, only his bare hands. The fighting style he uses to do so, leaving a trail of broken baddies in his wake, is silat -- a lightning-fast, bone-crunching Southeast Asian martial art that gets its best showcase in Gareth Evans’ festival sensation The Raid: Redemption.
more »
Despite the late addition of "Redemption" to the title of The Raid, there's little to no atonement to be had in this stripped-down action movie. These characters are not here to have some kind of emotional journey, they're here to kick ass. And so much ass is kicked over The Raid's 100 minutes that viewers may feel a little bruised themselves upon exiting, for the most part in a good way -- this is a film that serves as a remind of just how wonderfully cinematic violence can be.
more »
Expect Twitter to explode shortly with reactions to the Sundance premiere of Gareth Evans' The Raid, the Indonesian actioner that blew minds at Toronto but has been kept largely under wraps until now by Sony Classics, who smartly snatched up the pic and will distribute it this March. I caught The Raid last week at a pre-Sundance screening with its new score by composer Joe Trapanese and Mike Shinoda -- yes, of Linkin Park -- and can attest that the early praise was well-earned because holy crap, it's amazing. Everything you've heard about it? True.
more »
Now, now: The word "Indonesian" should make my description of The Raid's red band trailer intriguing enough. Will there be expensive coffee? Komodo Dragons? Beautiful Sumatran supermodels? Even better: Gareth Evans's The Raid (Serbuan Maut) has the harshest, roughest, bloodiest, fastest-paced action of any trailer I've seen this year. It is a rush, and it is shocking as hell. It's the rare movie that warrants a "red band trailer;" type in your birthday, click play, and let your jaw drop.
more »
The entertainment industry has rallied en masse following some of the world's most devastating recent tragedies, organizing relief efforts for survivors of 9/11, the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, Hurricane Katrina, and last year's earthquake in Haiti. The latter crisis alone prompted -- mere days after the disaster -- a star-studded charity telethon spearheaded by George Clooney and Wyclef Jean and which raised $57 million for the stricken nation. So why, in the wake of last week's 9.0 magnitude Japan earthquake -- and its resulting tsunami and nuclear crisis -- have we heard so little from Hollywood this time around?
more »
