Review by Ben Bussey
Don’t you just love it when the hype proves true?
To an extent, reviewing The Raid seems a bit arbitrary right now. There are already countless reviews out there, and while I’ve tried not to read too many I get the impression that what I say here will not diverge greatly from what most are saying elsewhere. Even so, I saw The Raid in a screen where the number of audience members didn’t even reach double figures. On its recent US cinema release (where for some reason the title was accentuated with a colon and the word ‘Redemption’), it only made a little over $4 million. Sure, a lot of that audience disinterest can most likely be attributed to subtitle-phobia, but historically a strong enough critical reaction and word of mouth can overcome this; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for instance, which made more in its opening weekend than The Raid has to date. So, while the converted may well be preaching, the chorus is clearly not yet loud enough. One more voice certainly can’t hurt. So here goes…
The Raid is every bit as good as they say.
Assault on Precinct 13, Die Hard, and the innumerable imitators of both have long since demonstrated that the action movie – a model typically defined by scale and spectacle – is actually at its most effective when pared down to a simple premise and sparse, or indeed singular locations. By keeping things intimate, you feel the impact that much more. Every punch, every kick, every bullet wound: it matters, and it hurts. And all the more so if the audience has forged a bond with those in the line of fire. Now, this bond doesn’t require the kind of overwritten, overacted monologues Stallone was so keen on dropping into his movies to convey the illusion of depth. It doesn’t require the sugary sentimentality that renders laughable the quieter scenes of many a John Woo movie. It needn’t rely on a gimmick, like the wire-fu that dominated early 2000s action. Once again; keep it simple, keep it tight, tell the audience all they need to know. The Raid does all this to damn near perfection.
Now, I wouldn’t for a second claim authority on the subject of martial arts (I enjoy watching them, and that’s about the extent of my expertise), but it strikes me that – just as Bruce Lee’s movies ushered in the kung fu era of the 70s, and the likes of Van Damme did the same for kickboxing in the 80s – The Raid is the perfect film for this age of Mixed Martial Arts. Now, before anyone corrects me I realise this is not in the strictest sense an MMA film – the principal fighting style here is the Indonesian martial art silat – but what I’m really talking about is a concurrence of philosophies. Just as MMA borrows extensively from in theory all the major fighting styles of the world, keeping what works and discarding what does not, The Raid takes much the same approach to action film history. All those little things that can sour a great action movie – those sappy Stallone speeches, or those horrendous John Woo love songs – are notable by their absence. All those moments that usually occur in action movies, when you think, “no way, they wouldn’t do that;” gone. Watching The Raid, you believe these guys would react the way they do. Some may criticise the violence as excessive, but it comes off as an entirely believable portrayal of how things would go down in a genuine kill-or-be-killed situation, and if that means gaining an unfair advantage by means of whatever weapons are to hand, then that’s the way it goes. Sometimes that’s awe-inspiring, sometimes it’s truly quite horrific; indeed, there’s little distinction between the two.
However, The Raid isn’t just the work of people in love with martial arts and gunplay; it is the work of people in love with cinema. Contrary to what some may think, lovers of violent spectacle are not all complete morons. They do not require everything spelled out in black and white, with clear-cut goodies and baddies and nothing in between. Gareth Evans and co clearly understand this, and they do not underestimate the audience. We are presented with protagonists who are often hard to sympathise with; supposedly good people who do some unforgivable things. Both sides, cop and criminal, are imbued with humanity; two-dimensional stereotypes are never settled for, even when it would have been easy (and perhaps even excusable) to do so. While the violent scenes are indeed abundant and relentless, the moments of silence between are equally oppressive. These people with whom we have just been thrown into the arena can, and invariably will, be cut down at any moment. In its own way, The Raid is close to a feature-length rendition of the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan.
Even so, while The Raid makes a point of emphasising the true nature of violence, it still does so from a highly cinematic perspective. This is no fly-on-the-wall documentary; it’s high class filmmaking, slick without being overly glossy, expertly paced without getting showy. Much the same can be said of leading man, and surely star in the making Iko Uwais. While the man clearly has what I believe the kids these days call ‘mad skills,’ he still manages to have a certain everyman quality about him. In between throwing killer blows, he quietly exudes emotion, again without ever lapsing into showboating or sentimentality.
I could go on but I think you get the point. This is one instance when you really can believe the hype. The Raid entirely warrants the praise that has been heaped upon it, and if Gareth Evans and Iko Uwais do not swiftly become major players in action cinema as a result of this, it will be a great injustice.
The Raid is in UK cinemas now from Momentum.