The Raid

It’s not out until May but remember the name because if you’re a fan of action films, this is one you’re not going to want to miss. Joining a very short list of Indonesian films directed by Welsh people, The Raid is an unrelenting adrenaline rush of a film, with the greatest fight choreography I’ve ever seen. The action scenes are genuinely astounding and at the screening I viewed the film at, one scene featuring creative use of a strip light, had the audience bursting into spontaneous applause.

There is a plot, which involves a swat team infiltrating a fortified apartment building where a brutal crime lord and his team reside, but this is the mere clothes horse upon which to hang scene after scene of brutal but often balletic carnage. Director Gareth Evans, alongside star Iko Uwais and co-star Yayah Ruhian have choreographed a series of action scenes that take the breath away in their audacity. As the rapidly depleting swat team ascend the building, so the action scenes escalate in intensity, culminating in a final showdown that will leave you gripping the cinema armrests far harder than the cinema would probably like.

Having won the People’s Choice Award in the Midnight Madness section at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival, the film has since picked up the audience award and the Dublin Film Critics Circle Best Film prize at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, thus cementing its status as a genuine crowd pleaser. It’s not for the squeamish but if you can handle it, make sure you see it at the earliest opportunity.

[embed width=550]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkULMOFpuCo[/embed]