Ben Oliver

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film

The Raid

Pulling a trigger is like ordering a takeout.
25 October 2014

The Raid is the story of a police team sent to raid a tower controlled by a crime lord. The mission spirals out of control and turns into a fight to get out before everyone dies.

Two sentences is too generous when describing the plot, there really is nothing worth writing home about on that front. However, what The Raid does bring to the table is lashings of ass-kicking fun. It’s a relentless, manic film that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go.

The creativity behind the technical aspects of the film is startling. Evans is clearly in his element, his style is bold and confident. The choreography is a sight to behold, as is the way the fight scenes are actually shot. The sound design is clever and doesn’t try too hard by being too loud.

Things get a little tired towards the end, and for me the lack of anything but fight scenes does hurt the film a bit. However, The Raid manages to sustain its level of excitement and originality for an extraordinarily long period of time despite a dull-ish final few minutes. Even if you’re not into martial arts films (I am not), this is so fantastically put together I just have to recommend it. Pure entertainment.