#Eka Rahmadia

[scenesandscreens]

The Raid: Redemption (2011)

Director - Gareth Huw Evans, Cinematography - Matt Flannery & Dimas Imam Subhono

“We did not come here to do good”

[365days365movies]

January 27, 2021: The Raid: Redemption (2011)

So, uh...I’ve switched things up a touch. Originally, I was going to do Lindy West’s suggestion today, but...no. No, I need something good to pick me up from yesterday’s disappointment. So, we move from the United States to a country with far, FAR less movies: Indonesia.

The country of over 17,000 islands hasn’t exactly made a lot of films, but their film industry does exist. I might look more into these films someday, but the one film that EVERYBODY recommends is Gareth Evans’ The Raid: Redemption. And no, Gareth isn’t an INdonesian name; it’s a Welsh name for a Welsh director best known for his Indonesian films. Interesting, innit?

See, Evans was hired to direct a film about the Indonesian martial art type, pencak silat. One of the specialists he filmed was Iko Uwais, who was a deliveryman at the time. Together, the two made the movie Merantau in 2009, and it was a big success in Indonesia. So, the two reunited for another film.

And hopefully, that film will leave me more satisfied than The Expendables did. Shall we? SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

The day begins as a policeman, Rama (Iko Uwais), prays, spars aggressively with a training bag, and says goodbye to his pregnant wife (Fikha Effendi). His father (Henky Solaiman) is also there, and he promises to “get him back.” Don’t know who “him” is, so I’m intrigued.

In a truck, 20 SWAT agents, Rama included, are being briefed on an upcoming raid of a building that would appear to be a crime hotel run by drug lord Tama (Ray Sahetapy). While raids have been attempted before, none have been particularly successful. This time, however, they pledge to take down as many people as humanly possible, and clean up the city of Jakarta as a result.

The agents, led by Jaka (Joe Taslim) and Wayhu (Pierre Gruno), stand below the massive concrete apartment building, and creep their way into it. They split into two groups: one takes out a guard, and goes in through one entrance. The other encounters Gofar (Iang Darmawan), an innocent tenant with a sick wife upstairs. Hothead Bowo grabs and threatens him, before being told off by Rama.

Rama promises to get the man to his wife and apartment safely, and the group goes in. The raid’s begun as they begin arrests of everybody in the building, floor-by-floor. They make it to the sixth floor, where they encounter a child in a hallway. They fail to calm the child down, and he runs to warn a friend...and is then shot in the neck by Wahyu. This movie just killed a kid, guys. Holy shit. 

The second kid raises a building-wide alarm, and now EVERYBODY knows that the police are here, including Tama and his two lieutenants, Andi (Donny Alamsyah) and Mad Dog (Yahan Ruihan). And now, all hell breaks loose.

Tama’s reinforcements arrive, and take out the officers RUTHLESSLY. One guy single-handedly takes back the fifth floor, and the SWAT truck is shot up as well. Snipers take out officers on the outside and in windows. And as our remaining officers start to realize this, Tama makes an announcement over the comms, announcing both the SWAT team’s position and free rent in the apartment building for those who take them out. Yeah, they’re FUCKED.

What’s even worse is that nobody knows that this team is there, according to Wahyu, which means that there are no reinforcements coming. Also affirms my suspicions that Wahyu is a SHITTY cop, holy shit. And as I’m thinking that, with all of the men in a dark stairwell…

HOLY FUCK!!! Tama’s men above, SWAT below, trading gunfire and picking each other off like a close-up trench war! The only light during the fight is from their muzzle fire! This is...amazing, oh my God.

Tama and his guys are watching from cameras all the while, and Tama seems to know Wahyu, and how shitty a cop he is. He gives the order: wipe them out, and destroy any evidence they were here. Nobody will know. Nice one, Wahyu; nice one. The SWAT team narrowly escapes into a room, only to be greeted by gunfire from the outside. Trapped again, Rama comes up with a solution: get to the floor below by chopping through the floor with an axe! FUCK YES.

And the action doesn’t stop there! They get ambushed in that room, and use the axe to defend themselves, as well as fighting and guns. At one point, the criminals come in through the floor above, and a guy catches one in mid-fall, and THROWS HIM THROUGH A WINDOW WHAT

And then, AND FUCKING THEN, they put a tank of compressed flammable gas in an empty fridge, shove it against the door, throw a FUCKING GRENADE IN THERE, AND BLOW THE FRIDGE THROUGH THE GUYS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR

WHOOOOOOOO I’M BACK BABY THIS FUCKIN’ RULES

Tama, frustrated at the damage and loss of his men, sends Andi and Mad Dog to take care of the situation. Meanwhile, a scarce handful of officers are left, including Rama, Bowo, Jaka, Wayhu, Dagu (Eka Rahmadia) (whom I haven’t yet had cause to mention), and about three more officers have survived.

Rama and Bowo make their way to the 7th floor, where Rama hopes to leave the badly injured Bowo with the tenant from earlier. Rama fights off, just...SO many gang members, allegedly pulling no punches (allegedly because he totally does, if you look at the fights), and eventually makes it to Gofar’s door. Despite his sick wife and reluctance to help, he agrees to take them in. Tama’s men barge in, looking for the men, who are hiding within a hidden wall compartment. And that’s when…

HOLY SHIT THAT WAS FUCKIN’ RAD AS HELL

But Andi, another of Tama’s men, is headed down to take care of this mess. On the elevator down, he TAKES OUT TWO OF HIS COLLEAGUES, WHAT?!? OK, some questions to resolve here, but I’m sure we’ll get to it. Rama leaves to find the others, and immediately gets into another fight. He throws a man down a staircase at one point.

Ow. OW. Just when he’s cornered by sword-boy and more goons, we get yet another Rama hallway fight, this one much more authentic-feeling, damn! And it ends with Rama tackling a dude out of a window, FALLING WITH HIM ONTO A FIRE ESCAPE, AND DIVING INTO ANOTHER APARTMENT LIKE A GODDAMN CHAMPION

And unlike other stereotypical action protagonists, he’s not exactly OK after all this. He stumbles about, hallucinates a little for good measure, and almost passes out until found by...someone he knows. The “him” from earlier perhaps? Iiiiiiinteresting.

Back to the other SWAT agents, finally! Holed up in an apartment, Wayhu writes off Rama and Bowo as dead. Jaka ain’t exactly happy about this comment, or with Wayhu. We now find out that this mission isn’t sanctioned by the police, hence no reinforcements. Additionally, Wayhu may not be on the up-and-up, as it’s implied that he may be a corrupt cop. Jaka, tired of his bullshit, gathers the men to go find their colleagues.

Not that that lasts very long, because Mad Dog ambushes them literally as soon as they open the door. Holding Jaka at gunpoint, he guides him back into the apartment, where the two fight. Oh, and this one’s GOOD. It’s REAL good, holy shit.

Cool as it is, though, it represents the end for Jaka, and Mad Dog snaps his neck, and he’s gone. Damn. HELL of a fight, though. Mad Dog’s doing well, but how about Andi?

Well, Andi’s the guy who took Rama, and yes, he’s the “him” that Rama mentioned to their father. That’s right, THEIR father, because Andi’s his brother. They bond and catch up, and while they do clearly love each other, they’re also estranged, due to their differing paths in life. But Rama signed up for this mission SPECIFICALLY to get Andi back home, to their father. Andi refuses, and tells Rama to leave before he gets killed. Rama also refuses, not wanting to abandon his colleagues to the gang. And so, they part ways.

We’re down to four now: Rama, Wayhu, Bowo, and Dagu. Rama proposes going for Tama, the location of whom the corrupt Wayhu already knows. Just like how Tama knows that Andi is a traitor, having saved Rama. Tama stabs Andi in the hand, and questions him on who Rama is, and the nature of their relationship. I’m sure it’ll end well for Andi.

Our three remaining non-injured cops take out a drug lab in the building, where we get some more good fight choreography, and the reason that Dagu is here: he’s a pretty goddamn good fighter. And I know I’m breaking records for the number of videos in this one, but their fights are...just stellar.

Afterwords, Rama finds his brother being used as a human punching bag by Mad Dog. See here’s the thing about Mad Dog; he’s a brawler at heart. While he might use guns to kill or threaten people if he has to, he prefers to use his hands and feet. And now...it’s two on one. This gon’ be güd.

Wayhu and Dagu, meanwhile, corner Tama in his office. Whew, finally, good guys prevail.

AWWWWWWW, DAGU! We hardly knew ye! Literally, I’m not sure you did literally anything the whole movie, except for fight that one time, like 6 minutes ago. Wayhu holds up Tama at gunpoint, ordering him to get them out of there safely.

The fight between Mad Dog and the brothers is still happening, by the way, and it’s still awesome...despite the terrible sound editing during these fights. Yeah, I’ll get there in the Epilogue. This fight, though, is crazy. It’s incredibly difficult to track who exactly has the upper hand throughout, but eventually, Mad Dog reveals that it’s him. He locks Rama in the same stranglehold that killed Jaka...and then...I’m putting this fight in video right here, because the ending is amazing. THE WHOLE FIGHT IS AMAZING

After that’s all said and done, the brothers escape, and encounter Wayhu and Tama. Wayhu fires upon the brothers, fully turned traitor at this point. Tama tells Wayhu that there isn’t much hope for him anyway, especially as the person who ordered Wayhu to take the hit already told Tama that the raid was going to happen. No, this was never about Tama; Wayhu was the target all along, as they sent him there to die.

Not that it matters, as he kills Tama regardless. Realizing that he doesn’t have much better luck outside of the building at this point, he tries to do the same to himself, only to finally be out of bullets. WHOOF.

It’s over. With Andi’s help, they get evidence against Tama and all of the corrupt cops that he dealt with, retrieve Bowo, and leave the building. Andi stays behind, once again stating that this is where he belongs. The brothers part ways once again.

And THAT...was The Raid: Redemption. GOD. DIGGITY. DAMN. EPILOGUE.

[junkielee]

[Last Films I Watched] The Raid: Redemption (2011) and The Raid 2 (2014)

[Last Films I Watched] The Raid: Redemption (2011) and The Raid 2 (2014)

English Title: The Raid: Redemption Original Title: Serbuan maut Year: 2011 Country: Indonesia, France, USA Language: Indonesian Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller Director/Writer: Gareth Evans Music: Aria Prayogi, Fajar Yuskemal Cinematography: Matt Flannery, Dimas Imam Subhono Cast: Iko Uwais Joe Taslim Donny Alamsyah Yayan Ruhian Ray Sahetapy Pierre Gruno Tegar Satrya Iang Darmawan Eka Rahmadia Al…

[a34trgv2]

Why It Worked: The Raid: Redemption

Introduction: The Raid: Redemption (or simply The Raid) is a martial arts action film starring Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Ray Sahetapy, Yayan Ruhian and Donny Alamsyah. Directed by Gareth Evans, this film was first released at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 8, 2011 before being released in theaters on March 23, 2012 in Indonesia and on DVD and Blu-Ray in the United States on August 14, 2012. The film received positive reviews with 86% out of 155 critics giving an average score of 7.5/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The film ultimately made a total of $9.1 million worldwide, plus $9.4 million on DVD and Blu-Ray sales in the U.S.. With a reception like that, it makes one wonder if there’s more to this film then just impressive martial arts or if it’s just style over substance. Well, let’s dive in to this and judge for ourselves, shall we?

The Plot: The plot of this film is as follows: Rama (Iko Uwais) and a team of 20 men infiltrate an apartment building to take down the infamous crime lord, Tama Riyadi (Ray Sahetapy). However, Tama has his goons get the jump on the team and only 5 members remain: Rama, Bowo (Tegar Satrya), Jaka (Joe Taslim), Wahyu (Pierre Gruno) and Dagu (Eka Rahmadia). As they traverse the building trying to complete their mission, Rama encounters his estranged older brother, Andi (Donny Alamsyah) and we learn what’s happened to him and why he’s part of Tama’s gang. The “Redemption” part of the film comes into play when Andi questions his loyalty to Tama. The reality is this film is very much a survival story with Rama and his team trying their best to stay alive while also finding Tama and taking him out. This film takes the time in between the amazing action scenes to tell a coherent story about survival and loyalty without being overly preach about either moral.

Cast and Characters: While none of the cast is recognizable by American audiences, these men leave a lasting impression with their memorable performances. Iko Uwais brings a level of charm and grit to the character of Rama, making the character likable and sympathetic throughout the picture. Donny Alamsyah brings the right amount of sympathy to the character of Andi, and his chemistry with Rama is spot on. Bowo, Jaka, Wahyu and Dagu are each portrayed with a level of realistic and sympathetic as they try their best to stay alive. Then there’s Tama, the main antagonist of the piece and the one Rama and his team are trying to get. Ray Sahetapy plays the roll very calm and collected as he shows a certain form of apathy towards the team, seeing them as mere bugs to be squashed. His most trusted henchman is Mad Dog, played brilliantly by Yayan Ruhian, who shows no mercy when he’s hunting down Rama and his crew.

Awesome Action: As a martial arts movie, it’s only fitting that this film is littered with amazing action sequences. The type of martial art used in this film is NOT kung fu, but Pencak Silat, in which every part of the body is subject/used to attack. The choreography for the film was lead by Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian, and it shows in the final product how much the actors practiced their techniques. The film uses plenty of wide shots and long takes to showcase the skill and accuracy of every punch, kick and blow to the body. One of the best action scenes in the flick is Rama’s first hallway fight when he’s trying to protect Bowo. It’s such a perfect, well timed sequence and it was all done in 1 continuous shot. The actors and director deserve credit for their commitment to making the action as memorable as possible.

Where it Falters: Bowo, Jaka, Wahyu and Dagu aren’t really given much character development in the picture, so you’d be forgiven if you did’t remember them by the end. Also, the first action scene in the film is a standard shootout. While not bad, it’s not really as memorable. 

Conclusion: The Raid: Redemption is one of the best action movies in recent memory. In addition to it’s amazing action scenes, it also tells a strong story with memorable main characters and intense drama. I definitely recommend this film to action fans as well as martial arts fans. Thank you so much for reading and I’ll see you soon ;)