An Indonesian SWAT team look to take a tower block held by the local crimelord who sets the inhabitants on them. Carnage ensues.
The publicity for the raid focussed on comparisons with Die hard but these are a bit duff. Die hard had a charismatic villain stealing the show. The raid has a grubby man with no vision beyond survival. Die hard had professional mercenaries tooled up with military grade weapons. The raid has machete wielding drug dealers. They both have a tower. Die hard was an action film. The Raid is a martial arts film.
The difference is significant. The bad guys here lay down guns so they can have a proper fight. And fight they do. Brutally. Time and again as a neck snaps or an ankle breaks the audience ooh and erghh in unison as henchmen and policemen alike are knocked down. And the fights are done with a whirling choreography that constantly astonishes. Hollywoods constant cutting to disguise the fact the actors can't really fight has no place here. But neither has the long wide shot to show the action. Instead, the camera dances in the middle of the fight, snapping with punches, whirling with throws and putting us right in the heart of the murderous halls. The characterisation and plot are certainly flimsy but the fight sequences are more than enough reason to search this film out.
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