Introduction: My favorite action film of all time is Die Hard. I f*cking love that movie and even enjoy the rest of the series (sans numbah 2). The reason I'm telling you this is because The Raid: Redemption is the kung fu version of Die Hard. It's absolutely amazing. No seriously, it's my favorite movie of the year so far. I've seen it twice. I want to see it a third time. I want to bring as many males as humanly possible to see this movie. And females if they are hunky dory with blood, violence, and a hell of a lot of awesome. The film is actually a set up piece where a SWAT team raids a drug lord's building only for things to go horribly wrong. Now our hero must save those who are still alive and escape the building. One man. A building full of baddies. People to save. Sound familiar?
Best Action Movie In Years: Yupp, it's that good. It's not just because the action scenes are choreographed with masterful beauty, and it's not just because the music makes the kung fu that much more awesome. It's because of the tension in the scenes. Like when the bad guys and good guys are looking for each other in the dark when suddenly a good guy fires his shotgun thus lighting up his surrounds and then all hell breaks loose, or just being cornered in a hall by a bunch of guys with machetes. The tension really makes this movie absolutely amazing.
The Characters: Overall, they are okay characters. They aren't highly developed or anything like that but they get the job done and it was interesting to watch them in this movie. No, not watch them play out action scenes. I mean stuff like a SWAT member who once threatened to blow a guys head off later having his life put in the same guys hands for the rest of the movie. I thought that was pretty interesting and I'm sure a lot of people missed that character dynamic.
The Story: This is the part of the movie where my brain goes "Huh? What? Who?" So let me try and tell you what I THINK happened. So a lieutenant, who is a dirty cop, has been ordered by some powerful men (also corrupt) to take down a drug lord and his building, but this was a lie and they actually sent him there to get f*cking murdered by the drug lord so that they can just right it off as a lieutenant trying to win some face. I'm pretty sure that's what's going on, but I'm not 100% sure. Names are tossed around and all you really know is that help is not coming and sh*t is going down. Hardcore style.
Conclusion: If you're a male or at least enjoy action films then go see this sh*t IMMEDIATELY. It's a great movie to watch and it keeps you on your toes for the entire ride. The story is lacking and the characters could be deeper, but sh*t; this movie HIGHLY EXCELS in delivering action that is so well done that you just have to be mesmerized by it. Quite possibly the best action movie since Kill Bill or Ong Bak, and those two came out in 2003.
