#8: The Raid

The Raid is the second-best Welsh-directed Indonesian martial arts action movie that I’ve seen this year.

All right. It’s the best. But honestly, how many non-Bollywood films ever come out of Asia? And the films that do are usually some high-brow, understated dramas with Godawful wordy titles. Like “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives”. (That’s a real title. I’m not even joking.)

So it’s equally surprising and refreshing to see this year’s most entertaining, balls-to-the-wall action flick to be made in a country I couldn’t even point out on a map. Shot on a miniscule budget, “The Raid” follows an elite SWAT team which infiltrates an apartment block to take down a notorious gang leader. But the shit hits the fan when… actually, who cares what the inciting incident is? Nobody goes to see these ridiculous action movies for the plot. “The Raid” doesn’t so much have a story, as a context. Cops good. Thugs bad. Thugs kill cops. Then cops kill thugs. It doesn’t matter if the police are going in there to feast on the blood of orphan kittens! All that matters is what splatters onto screen: blood, guts and cerebrospinal fluid.

The Raid takes advantage of “sulat”, Indonesia’s indigenous martial art, for its fight scenes. This decision distinguishes the film from your run-of-the-mill kung-fu and jujitso flick, imitated by “The Matrix”. Sulat is fast and furious. It’s all knees-to-groin, snapping-elbows, non-stop visceral action. Refreshingly, it’s the first action movie in ages that doesn’t poorly ape The Bourne Identity’s rapidly-edited, close-up, shaky-cam fights. When it’s done well, it’s fantastic. But when it’s poorly implemented, it’s disorientating and jarring. (See “The Hunger Games”.) The cinematography gives these fight scenes room to breathe, and we can appreciate the amazing choreography all the more for it.

The Raid is different than standard Hollywood fare. It doesn’t glorify violence (“Taken”). It doesn’t fetishise it (everything by Tarantino). We the audience feel every punch, every kick, every snapping of the spine. Despite the threadbare plot, we care for these police officers. We want them to survive. To overcome the overwhelming odds. Most of all, we want them to kick some ass. And they do. Wham!

Come back at bed-time tomorrow for #7: “Best Film with Kiddy-Fiddling Undertones”. Bring plenty of sweets!