Sunday, September 16, 2012

Homage to The Raid

The cinema of Indonesia is an embarrassment. For years, it is full of embarrassing movies. like cheap & uncreative horrors, stupid dramas, depreciation comedies, etc. 

The dark era comes to an end with The Raid, released internationally as The Raid: Redemption.

The Raid is a high-octane movie about a SWAT raid to an apartment, full with criminals, ruled by a drug overlord named Tama. 

This movie more or less has the same target audience with the Expendables 2: MANLY MEN!! Yes the plot is stupid. Yes the dialog is ridiculous. Even more so if you understand Indonesian. But who cares, we come to see some Indonesians busting heads with each other, not Shakespearean dialog! And busting heads they do.  From the beginning until the end, this movie is full with fighting. Machetes are swung, guns are shot, necks are broken, bloods are splattered, and a kid even got killed on-screen. Too bad it is only one kid though, you'll know what I mean when you see the movie. All of that without "Matrix-style slow-mo" or any kind of that shit. Who needs wires and camera tricks if your fists and feet are badass enough?

Even more amazing, the protagonist of this movie, a rookie cop named Rama, is using silat in his fight. For those of you who never heard it, it is an Indonesian martial arts. Yup, this movie represented Indonesian culture too! So, next time when people from other countries asked "Hey, do you have any good Indonesian movie?" I can proudly answer "HELL YEAH! Just check how we break some bones INDONESIAN STYLE in The Raid: Redemption!"

Oh yeah, Rama also fight really pragmatically, using anything he can grabbed as a weapon, using all the environment around him to brutalize any criminal stupid enough to go anywhere near him. That really show how an Indonesian can easily utilized ANYTHING to kick your ass if we want.

Bottom line: Indonesians are nice & friendly people. You know, the type that reserve their energy so when the time of ass-kicking comes, we got PLENTY of energy to release! Unfortunately, many underestimate this kind of people. This movie proves that Indonesian really kick serious ass!

Final verdict: 90 out of 100. It is an obligatory watch for any action movie buff.



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