Indonesia, despite boasting one of the world's largest populations and a distinctly homegrown cinema industry that dates back nearly a century, was for a long time overshadowed by its regional neighbours and all but completely unknown in the West. For something truly special to emerge from this landscape and alter the global perception of Asian action cinema, a seismic shift was required, and it actually happened in 2011 with The Raid, an immensely successful film written and directed by Gareth Evans. It was a film that did not merely follow trends but set new ones, proving that raw, visceral, and technically brilliant action could transcend language barriers and captivate international audiences.
The film centres on Rama (Iko Uwais), a young man who has recently joined the Mobile Brigade Corps, the special forces of the Indonesian National Police. His unit, led by Sergeant Jaka (Joe Taslim) and supervised by Lieutenant Wahyu (Pierre Bruno), is tasked with conducting a raid on a massive apartment complex that serves as the fortress of Tama Riyadi (Ray Sahetapy), a ruthless and powerful drug lord. However, Tama has been the subject of numerous attempts on his life by rival mobsters, prompting him to turn the building into an impregnable fortress. In exchange for absolute loyalty, Tama allows every criminal or drug addict on the premises to use apartments without rent, turning the residents into his personal army. The raid quickly goes terribly wrong; the policemen are ambushed, outnumbered, and overwhelmed, suddenly forced to fight for their very survival. As Rama struggles to find a way out of the labyrinthine building and rescue his comrades, he finds himself battling not only Tama but also his brutal enforcer, Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian), and the gangster's consigliere, Andi (Donny Alamsyah).
The creation of The Raid was ultimately the result of a happy accident. The film came to be thanks to Welsh director Gareth Evans, who had arrived in Indonesia to shoot a documentary about silat, Southeast Asia’s indigenous martial art. During this time, he met Iko Uwais, a silat master who would subsequently become the star of Evans’ feature debut, the 2009 action film Merantau. Having lived in Indonesia for some time and deeply immersed himself in the local culture, Evans envisioned a spectacular follow-up, but he had to settle for something much more limited in terms of budget and setting. The apartment building was transformed into a claustrophobic battlefield between hordes of gangsters and outnumbered policemen, a setting that proved to be the perfect vessel for this sort of film. It allowed the production to be realised with a relatively small budget while maintaining a very simple plot, thereby enabling Evans to concentrate entirely on the action scenes and maintaining an extremely fast, relentless plot pace.
Evans’ script is masterfully economical, eschewing heavy exposition in favour of visceral storytelling. While the young protagonist is depicted as a devout Muslim and a dedicated family man whose wife is expecting a baby, the film does not dwell on these details. There are some interesting twists near the end, when the protagonist realises that nothing he is being told about the raid is correct. Furthermore, Rama discovers that he has a very personal connection with some of the characters on the opposing side, adding a layer of emotional resonance to the carnage.
The quality of acting is more than adequate for this sort of film, though the target audience will be deeply impressed by the superb display of martial arts skills and brilliant combat choreography. The film is extremely violent, featuring plenty of gore and a high bodycount, but stylistically it is not that different from many other Asian films of the same genre. What sets The Raid apart is the technical perfection of its execution. The fight scenes are not just noisy; they are complex, acrobatic displays of choreography that showcase the physical prowess of the actors.
The Raid was a huge success in Indonesia, but it also caught the attention of Western distributors after its premiere at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival. In the United States, it was distributed by Sony, which gave it a new title, The Raid: Redemption, a moniker by which it is known in many quarters to this day. The success of the film led to a sequel, The Raid 2 (2014), but Gareth Evans's plans for a third film never fully materialised before he returned to Wales and continued his directing career in Hollywood.
The project also became the subject of a minor controversy when Dredd, the 2012 adaptation of the popular comic book, was accused of using a plot similar to The Raid. Some critics argued that the film was unoriginal, relying on the same vertical battle royale concept. However, evidence suggests that Dredd had already entered production before The Raid was completed. Dredd, was a triumph of simplicity, relying on a minimalist vision where the narrative was not weighted down by backstory or romance. Like The Raid, it was constrained to a single location and focused on a single day in the life of its protagonist, demonstrating that efficiency in storytelling can be just as impactful as complexity. Both films stand as testaments to the power of focused, intense action cinema, proving that sometimes the simplest stories are the most effective.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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