Catch all the blood, guts and glory in the brand new R-rated trailer for EXPEND4BLES.
A new generation of stars join the world’s top action stars for an adrenaline-fueled adventure in Expend4bles. Reuniting as the team of elite mercenaries, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Sylvester Stallone are joined for the first time by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy Garcia. Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.
Directed by Scott Waugh, with a score from Guillaume Roussel (Black Beauty, 3 Days to Kill, The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan, The Spy, Happy!), EXPEND4BLES is rated R and opens in theaters September 22.
Lionsgate has released a star-studded new poster for EXPEND4BLES, in theaters September 22.
A new generation of stars join the world’s top action stars for an adrenaline-fueled adventure.
Reuniting as the team of elite mercenaries, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Sylvester Stallone are joined for the first time by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy Garcia. Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table.
But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.
Check out the explosive brand new trailer for EXPEND4BLES opening in theaters September 22.
A new generation of stars join the world’s top action stars for an adrenaline-fueled adventure in EXPEND4BLES. Reuniting as the team of elite mercenaries, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Sylvester Stallone are joined for the first time by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy Garcia.
Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.
The first 3 movies have taken in over $800 million worldwide at the box office.
Lionsgate and Millennium Media present A Nu Boyana Studios and Templeton Media Production in Association With Grobman Films in Association with Media Capital Technologies.
Directed by Scott Waugh, screenplay by Kurt Wimmer & Tad Daggerhart and Max Adams, with a story by Spenser Cohen and Kurt Wimmer & Tad Daggerhart
Megan Fox as Gina, Andy Garcia as Marsh and Jacob Scipio as Galan in The Expendables 4. Photo Credit: Yana Blajeva
Henry Golding plays Snake Eyes in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins from Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Skydance.
Check out the brand new trailer for SNAKE EYES hitting theaters this July. Directed by Robert Schwentke with a screenplay by Evan Spiliotopoulos and Anna Waterhouse & Joe Shrapnel, Paramount Pictures has also released a featurette for the upcoming movie.
Snake Eyes to kick off this Summer’s Comic-Con @ Home with a Special Cast Panel and 10 FANS FIRST Premiere Screenings across the U.S. and Canada.
The Snake Eyes Comic-Con @ Home panel will be hosted by Mari Takahashi (@atomicmari) and will feature special content from the film, behind-the-scenes footage, and exclusive interviews with stars Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Úrsula Corberó, Samara Weaving, Haruka Abe, Takehiro Hira, Peter Mensah and Iko Uwais, and writer of the G.I. Joe comics, Larry Hama! Panel date and time to be announced; follow Comic-Con for updates.
Also, in association with Comic-Con, Snake Eyes will be screened for fans FIRST across the country in 10 cities on Wednesday, July 21st. The Snake Eyes Comic-Con Fans First Premiere Screenings will take place in the following cities: Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Miami, San Diego, Houston, Phoenix and Vancouver. Follow @snakeeyesmovie for more information about how to see Snake Eyes when it premieres in your city for Comic-Con FANS FIRST!
SNAKE EYES IS ONLY IN THEATRES, DOLBY CINEMA AND IMAX JULY 23, 2021
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins stars Henry Golding as Snake Eyes, a tenacious loner who is welcomed into an ancient Japanese clan called the Arashikage after saving the life of their heir apparent. Upon arrival in Japan, the Arashikage teach Snake Eyes the ways of the ninja warrior while also providing something he’s been longing for: a home. But, when secrets from his past are revealed, Snake Eyes’ honor and allegiance will be tested – even if that means losing the trust of those closest to him. Based on the iconic G.I. Joe character, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins also stars Andrew Koji as Storm Shadow, Úrsula Corberó as Baroness, Samara Weaving as Scarlett, Haruka Abe as Akiko, Tahehiro Hira as Kenta and Iko Uwais as Hard Master.
Here’s good news for those needing a brief break from the superhero epics, franchise flicks, and assorted reboots. How about a good ole’ cop buddy comedy? I know we had variations of that staple in this summer’s so-so sequels MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL (basically two mismatched space cops) and SHAFT (not buddies, but family, one P.I., one C.I.A.). Luckily this new entry has a bit of a twist since it really focuses on the laughs (much like THE HEAT), and one of the guys isn’t a cop (shades of MIDNIGHT RUN with the ex-cop bounty hunter and fleeing mob accountant). The civilian here was the star of the best comedy of 2017 (he nabbed an Oscar for co-writing it), and the “man” is a part of one of those big comics-inspired franchises (we just saw him in action ten weeks ago). And just what is up with the one-word title? Well, that’s the source of some chuckles (and a chunk of the plot) in STUBER.
This starts with a flashback several years ago to the “cop” part of the story. We meet hulking bespectacled detective Vic Manning (Dave Bautista) and his partner (one of his co-stars from that “super series”) as they try to arrest the vicious, brutal drug kingpin/assassin Oka (Iko Uwais). Of course the bust goes bad (Vic’s darned eyeglasses) and Oka vanishes into the crowd exiting the LA Staples Center. Cut to today, and we’re at the big box sporting goods store where Stu (Kumail Nanjiani) does his 9 to 5 gig. He’s just signed the papers with longtime “galpal” Becca (Betty Gilpin) to open a “spin” exercise center. To help pay for this business venture, Stu uses his leased electric car as an Uber driver after clocking out (this is why his obnoxious retail boss calls him “Stuber”). Meanwhile, Vic is still on the force and still trying to track down Oka. Unfortunately, his boss, Captain McHenry (Mira Sorvino) informs him that the “feds” are taking over the stalled case. This on the day he’s to get laser eye surgery. But Vic gets a visit from his artist daughter Nicole (Natalie Morales) reminding him of her gallery reception that night. How can he get there after getting his peepers zapped? She takes his phone and registers him for Uber. Later, after the surgery, as he’s resting in his dark apartment, wearing his shades, Vic gets a call that may lead him to Oka. So is he gonna’ let a little thing like temporary blindness get in his way? And who’s his Uber driver? Well, it’s gotta’ be Stu? But he wants none of that track down stuff since Becca drunk called him saying she broke up with her cheating NBA star beau. She just may want more than a shoulder to cry on. But somehow these very diverse strangers bond over a deadly night in the mean streets of Los Angeles. So, just what will Stu do to get a treasured “5-star” driver review?
Nanjiani proves that his SICK success was no mere fluke by being a solid comedy anchor for this satiric studio action/thriller. Should be no surprise since his vocal performance in the latest MIB a few weeks ago was one of that dreary flick’s few bright spots. His Stu is an endearing “fussbudget” in the same vein as Felix Unger, at least when it comes to his auto devotion, making his pleading cries of “It’s a lease!” a most hysterical “call back” bit. And somehow Stu is an also another screen “everyman”, especially in his romantic frustrations concerning his “torch” for Becca. She opened the locked door on her “friend zone” cage one glorious night, and Stu thinks that one more “booty call” will release him forever. It seems his one big hope after thinking that he’s got to forget career passions in order to survive in LA. All that, plus Nanjiani’s dry line delivery and brutal verbal stabs make Stu a memorable but unique action hero. A more standard hero is the surly, brawny Bautista, who gets a great chance to stretch his dramatic “chops” and deliver caustic put-downs in a style similar to the beloves galactic brute Drax. Vic’s haunted by his past tragedy and is singled-minded in his own quest for justice. But he’s also eager to repair the crumbling relationship with his grown daughter (though her talents are perplexing). And his “slow burn” glaring looks at Stu always deliver. Morales as Nicole is a most engaging screen partner to Bautista, always standing up and chipping away at his stubborn “old school” behavior. It’s great to see Oscar-winner Sorvino back on the big screen, though her taciturn boss with a twist, is one that seems too familiar. Finally, Uwais is a most compelling martial arts human cyclone as the relentless Oka who is a convincing threat to Bautista’s “wall of muscle”. After the RAID flicks, and MILE 22, this dazzling film fighter deserves his own studio franchise.
Director Michael Dowse deftly handles the laughs (he’s a TV and film comedy vet) along with the bone-crunching action set pieces. The elements are fairly evenly balanced in the script by Tripper Clancy, which gets in some inspired jokes at pop culture (when a thug won’t talk, Stu makes him “sing” by grabbing his phone and tweeting his love for a certain hunky actor). It all clocks in at a fairly lean 93 minutes with little footage wasted, as they make use of some interesting LA locales (zipping from a MAGIC MIKE-style club to a hot sauce factory). The only thing that may take some viewers away from the clever comedy bits is its extreme violence. That “R” rating is truly earned in the opening moments when high caliber blasts make heads explode like ripe juicy melons (shades of Gerard Butler’s FALLEN flicks). Plus the sex jokes are plenty raw, particularly in that earlier mentioned club. But if you’re a fan of the lead actors, there’s plenty to enjoy in the inspired pairing of Nanjiani and Bautista in the bullet-riddled STUBER. And since we don’t go to five, I’ll give this ride and the driver a solid….
Here’s the newest effort from another prolific actor/director film making duo. While some directors (Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Charles O. Russell) have a group of actors they repeatedly work with (on stage I guess they’d be the “rep” company), other directors like to cast the same actor in several of their projects. From the “golden age of Hollywood’ there were duos like John Huston with Humphrey Bogart, and John Ford and John Wayne. In the late seventies Martin Scorsese’s lead of choice was Robert DeNiro, while in recent years Leonardo DiCaprio has been a frequent lead. With Steven Spielberg it’s Tom Hanks (after many flicks with Richard Dreyfuss and Harrison Ford). Now in theatres is the fourth collaboration of actor/director Peter Berg and lead actor Mark Wahlberg. Their previous team-ups were all based on true events: LONE SURVIVOR, DEEPWATER HORIZON, and PATRIOT’S DAY. Now they’ve made a go-for-broke, fictional, high-octane spy thriller, since Wahlberg usually stars in a big Summer action flick. But why so late in the season? For that, we’ve got to go the extra mile. Well several more really, all the way to MILE 22.
As the flick begins, we’ve got go back a few miles, years actually, to an operation conducted by an undercover (very deep undercover) branch of the CIA (like the IMF of Mission:Impossible, it’s “disavowed by the director”). James Silva (Wahlberg) is part of the team commanded by Bishop (John Malkovich), who’s viewing the whole thing from a secret locale along with a crew of agents monitoring live streams from hidden cameras and drones. Despite a few casualties, Silva and his squad get the job done, eliminating some undercover Russian agents working out of a suburban US. home. Cut to the opening titles, run over a montage/ bio of Silva (orphaned, personality issues, quick to violence, and a tactical savant). Jump to the modern day, to the US Embassy in Indocarr (?), where Silva and two of his teammates Alice (Lauren Cohen) and Sam (Ronda Rousey) are stationed. Everyone’s on edge because several containers of a radioactive powder AKA “fear dust” have been stolen. The tip from one of Alice’s informants proved to be a dud. Everyone is then shocked when said informant, local cop Li Noor (Iko Uwais) crashes his car through one of the barriers. He flashes a small cell phone-like pad at the gate cameras. When he’s brought in, he tells Alice and her co-workers that the device has a hard drive with all the location info on the toxins. But only he has the access code to stop the timed erasing of that info. And he’ll only give that code when he’s put on a plane headed out of his homeland. Shortly after some local officials arrive demanding that Noor be given to him, followed by an assassination attempt in the embassy infirmary. With time running out, Bishop’s team is called in to co-ordinate the 22 mile exodus from the embassy to a hidden runway. Is Noor legit? And can they get him (“the package”) to the plane despite a near-endless gauntlet of killers?
Yes there are lots of battles, but few compare to the fight these talented actors had to wage against a clunky script loaded with one-note abrasive characters. The most aggressively obnoxious may be Silva, who proves to be a poor role for the charismatic talented Wahlberg. It’s as though they took everything charming about his macho motor-mouth in THE DEPARTED (which nabbed him an Oscar nom) and twisted it into an arrogant,in your face” bully. You’d want Silva to have your back in a firefight, but you’d dread having any sort of calm conversation with him. Dismissive and cruel aren’t the usual qualities of a thriller hero (and there’s talk of a trilogy). Cohen doesn’t fare much better as the always on edge Alice, who is screaming at her ex-husband (oddly played by Berg) as they play an emotional “tug of war’ over their pre-teen daughter. This leads to her flinging the phone against a wall (wonder how many she goes through in a week). So terrific for so long as Maggie on TV’s “The Walking Dead”, Cohen can’t bring much humanity to another of the script’s screeching “spooks”. The most engaging of the crew may be MMA champ Rousey as the affable Sam, who doesn’t tolerate the tantrums of Silva and Alice. Naturally, this seals her doom. Speaking of champs, martial arts master Uwais is a compelling physical presence, moving like lightning at the center of the film’s best sequences. It’s a shame that his character of Noor seems so aloof and enigmatic with an unchanging sneer, never connecting with any other characters. And then there’s the usually strange Malkovich regulated to be the guy at the screen (he’s in a suit with Converse sneakers…how quirky), barking commands and counting down the minutes. At east he’s sporting a severe buzz-cut hairpiece.
Berg assembles the film in a blender, never letting a shot last more than a few seconds, and making sure the camera is always in motion. This may be an attempt to “amp’ up the tension, but this rapid-fire, staccato style merely wears us down and quickly becomes tedious, as does the near-constant barrage of “f-bombs” (ooo, so edgy). When the screen’s not full of smoke from one of the many explosions (they loves their grenades), the photography is murky and muddy, obscuring much of the picture. The opening attack on the two story house on Christmas Lane (really) feels somewhat realistic with the disorientation of the team, but the endless trek through the city streets becomes repetitive despite the different venues, going from a crowded bakery to a low-rent apartment complex (the Paradise, uh uh), which just reminds us of the superior quality of the RAID films that Uwais headlined. And in the final moments we get a ridiculous triple-cross denouncement that kicks the audience in the…pants…as they flee the theatre. MILE 22 literally screeches to a dead end, and makes us appreciate Cruise, Damon, and Craig even more. Still, that fight in the medical examination room is pretty good, so it gets…
In a visceral modern thriller from the director of Lone Survivor, Mark Wahlberg stars as James Silva, an operative of the CIA’s most highly-prized and little-known unit. Aided by a top-secret tactical command team, Silva must transport an asset (Iko Uwais) who has vital information to a Southeast Asian airfield for extraction before the enemy closes in. MILE 22 also stars Lauren Cohan, Ronda Rousey, and John Malkovich.
Directed by PETER BERG, the film marks the fourth collaboration between Berg and Wahlberg, a pairing that has resulted in the films Patriots Day, Deepwater Horizon, and Oscar®-nominated Lone Survivor. The score is by Jeff Russo (Netflix’s “Altered Carbon” and the upcoming film “Lizzie,” starring Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart).
MILE 22 opens in theaters August 17, 2018.
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The new trailer is here for BEYOND SKYLINE, Liam O’Donnell’s sci-fi sequel to SKYLINE.
Starring Frank Grillo, Bojana Novakovic, Jonny Weston, Yayan Ruhian, and Iko Uwais, the film opens in theaters, alongside that other little sci-fi film, on December 15.
Frank Grillo has starred in the highly successful PURGE franchise, THE GREY, as Brock Rumlow / Crossbones in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and in the upcoming Netflix movie WHEELMAN, to be released on October 20, 2017.
In BEYOND SKYLINE, when the population of Los Angeles is vacuumed off the face of the earth, Detective Mark Corley (Grillo) storms his way onto an alien ship to rescue his estranged son. But after crashing the ship in Southeast Asia, he must forge an alliance with a band of survivors to discover the key to saving his son and taking back the planet once and for all.
Director/Writer Gareth Evans’ THE RAID 2 arrives in U.S. theaters today (March 28th) and Sony Pictures Classics’ will release the film in St. Louis on Friday, April 11.
After having an early look at Evans’ film, my fellow Movie Geeks are raving about it.
Tom Stockman, calls the R-rated movie, “a hyper-violent, adrenaline-fueled epic!” Jim Batts says, “RAID 2 is a non-stop thrill ride that will have your heart pumping almost from the first fade-in to the final fade-out! It’s an action film lover’s fever dream!” Look for WAMG’s review in the coming weeks.
Here’s what goes down in THE RAID 2 –
He thought it was over. After fighting his way out of a building filled with gangsters and madmen – a fight that left the bodies of police and gangsters alike piled in the halls – rookie Jakarta cop Rama thought it was done and he could resume a normal life. He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Formidable though they may have been, Rama’s opponents in that fateful building were nothing more than small fish swimming in a pond much larger than he ever dreamed possible. And his triumph over the small fry has attracted the attention of the predators farther up the food chain. His family at risk, Rama has only one choice to protect his infant son and wife: He must go undercover to enter the criminal underworld himself and climb through the hierarchy of competing forces until it leads him to the corrupt politicians and police pulling the strings at the top of the heap.
And so Rama begins a new odyssey of violence, a journey that will force him to set aside his own life and history and take on a new identity as the violent offender “Yuda.” In prison he must gain the confidence of Uco – the son of a prominent gang kingpin – to join the gang himself, laying his own life on the line in a desperate all-or-nothing gambit to bring the whole rotten enterprise to an end.
THE RAID 2 was produced by Ario Sagantoro for Merantau Films, and Aram Tertzakian and Nate Bolotin of XYZ Films. The film was executive produced by Rangga Maya Barack-Evans for Merantau Films, Irwan D. Mussry, Nick Spicer and Todd Brown on behalf of XYZ.
Matt Flannery (THE RAID: REDEMPTION) and Dimas Imam Subhono served as cinematographers.
To get the look on THE RAID 2, Evans and the behind-the-scenes team focused their efforts on balancing the old and the new. They wanted to make sure the audience recognized the familiar setting from the original, while exploring new parts of this environment.
The sequel focuses on of Rama entering Jakarta’s underworld, where the stakes are higher. The sequel was shot in cinemascope in order to provide a wider frame and give the story a more epic feel. The photography also explored a wider range of the color palette, using different lighting for each character. The film opens with similar tones as the first one and shifts as Rama enters the criminal organization.
Shooting the film was a learning experience. On MERANTAU, the team learned to shoot martial arts. On THE RAID: REDEMPTION, they learned to shoot gunfights. And on THE RAID 2 they went one step further, adding car chases to the mix.
On MERANTAU we felt we were focusing on the narrative drama scenes. For the action scenes, the takes were too long. We learned from that and fixed things on THE RAID: REDEMPTION. THE RAID: REDEMPTION had a majority of action scenes. We got to play a lot with camera angles and fluidity. Finding a new way to shoot action scenes. THE RAID 2 is a much bigger project. What we chose to do is a combination of the two elements we learned from MERANTAU and THE RAID: REDEMPTION: dynamic, edgy and fluid camera movements, while at the same time knowing when to go for more classical and sophisticated compositions (when to use jimmy jib, steady cams and dolly track). Combining those two different styles was an interesting challenge in that respect. (Evans)
Because this was the first time a car chase of this scale was shot in Indonesia, a lot of time was spent on logistics. Unlike places like Hong Kong or the UK, where they have been shooting car chases for years, Indonesia did not have a particular set-up for this. The production team had to build the structure itself to achieve specific shots:
“We had to have a shoot from the inside of one car going down a highway with the camera moving to another car straight away ,then have the back window to blown out for the camera to follow through the back window and out again. To do that, we discussed different combinations of computer-generated imagery, visual effects, green screens and so on. After a long discussion, we felt like we would be technically limited if we were to use too many special effects. In the end we decided to do it for real, meaning moving the camera from one camera operator to the other.
This is something we had done on THE RAID: REDEMPTION when we went through a hole on the floor. It was done in a controlled environment and the only issue was the person passing the camera to another. But the difficulty here was to pass the camera between moving cars on a highway. It was risky shot, but thankfully after a number of takes it was done well”. (Evans)
Camera moves were carefully integrated into the martial arts choreography. The fighters’ moves were choreographed to the slightest detail, and so were camera movements. Camera angles were designed before the shoot, so it never feels like the camera interferes with the action. A constant mantra during shooting was to highlight the actors’ performances.
Additionally, Madison Gate Records and SpaceLab9 have announced the worldwide release of THE RAID 2 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. The album hit digital retailers on March 25th, with the CD format coming April 29, 2014, followed by a deluxe vinyl LP edition early summer 2014.
Composer Joseph Trapanese (The Raid: Redemption, Oblivion, TRON: Uprising) returns along with Aria Prayogi and Fajar Yuskemal to provide a score equal parts electronic and orchestral, deeply layered and breathtaking, all while perfectly complimenting the frenetic on-screen action of THE RAID 2. The 24-track album features original motion picture score with over an hour of music, plus the original song “Hush” written and performed by Indonesian jazz artist Arti Dewi.
“It is with great pleasure that I share with you the original soundtrack to ‘THE RAID 2,’ a creative collaboration with director Gareth Evans that was equal parts inspired, fun, and satisfying,” says composer Joseph Trapanese. “I’m thrilled that Madison Gate Records and SpaceLab9 are releasing the album so that all the fans can relive this film’s brutality and beauty.”
Once more, an incredible film emerges from an once unlikely corner of the world, to many a place virtually unknown to Americans. This time, its Indonesia and the film is THE RAID: REDEMPTION. Do you think you know action? No, not Schwarzenegger and Stallone, but true badass, butt-kicking, jaw-dropping action that sticks to your ribs like so many seen brutally busted? If so, then this is one film you had better not miss… or else!
THE RAID: REDEMPTION — from here out referred to simply as THE RAID — is written and directed by Gareth Evans. You may be wondering why or how a film from Indonesia is made by a guy who certainly doesn’t sound Indonesian, but really… who cares?!?! [From what I gather, Evans is Welsh-born and a cinephile uniquely obsessed with Eastern culture. I’m down with that.] Evans clearly has a firm grasp on the culture, the setting and the hardships of the Indonesian people. The film takes place in a crumbling, urban setting, primarily a towering housing complex/fortress controlled by the local drug and crime boss who rules with a heavy hand, blatantly providing safe haven for all the worst type of subhuman beings — for a price — mocking the authorities who fear to enter his domain, as many have tried and failed.
Reluctant but loyal to his duty and eager to do his part in ending the reign of criminal terror, this is where our hero Rama (Iko Uwais) enters the story. Rama is a young, but lethal soldier for justice, a husband and soon-to-be father with a glimmer of giving his unborn child a better future twinkling in his eye. This will ultimately be what drives Rama through the pain as he takes on the highrise from hell. What Evans does that I appreciate is to introduce our hero in a way we’re not normally accustomed to seeing, a montage cutting between shots of Rama training in solitude and shots of Rama praying in solitude as well. He’s a complete man, father and husband, at peace and clear-headed… making him dangerously focused and powerful.
THE RAID spends a little time up front introducing the characters on both sides, a little time setting up the premise for what is about to take place on screen, then quickly throws the audience right into the police raid which rapidly unravels into chaos and bloodshed, a vertical monsoon of bullets followed by a barrage of unbelievable feet and fists that will have you on the edge of your seat. The fight choreography in THE RAID is superb, and without the (apparent) use of wires, this is a feature film showcasing a whole new cast of awe-inspiring martial artists. At first, hot lead is everywhere, followed by cold steel and hardened fists when the bullets run out. This is when the fun really begins and the pain takes hold.
The story, while simple and direct, has a team of SWAT-like police infiltrating the corrupted high rise with the implied intent of ridding it of the criminal cockroaches plaguing their city. What eventually reveals itself is a twist at the end, one I will not divulge, but will elude to it being a fairly formulaic but effective plot tool which takes a backseat to the great portion and focus of the film, which is the magnificent fight choreography, conceived by Yayan Ruhian (remember this name) and Iko Uwais himself. Truly amazing stuff on display here guys, and gals. THE RAID features more moments of phantom pain amidst the audience than I can recall in so many years. I found myself on multiple occasions reacting with an “Oooh, ow!” or flinching or briefly turning away, then morbidly looking back for more. Busted heads, broken backs, faces, ribs, necks, limbs… it’s all demolished on both sides of this epic conflict with fantastic, painful realism. I do love Jackie Chan, but these guys make his real-life stunts and fight choreography look tame in comparison.
Remember that guy whose name I said to remember? In addition to co-choreographing THE RAID, Yayan Ruhian also plays Mad Dog, the crime boss’ enforcer, opposite his right hand man, who has a secret of his own to be discovered when you see this film. Mad Dog is the little psycho killer who could, and seemingly NEVER FREAKING DIES! This short, long-haired little mutt’s bite is way, way way worse than his relatively quiet bark. It’s rare that I find myself actually rooting in a way for the bad guy, but Mad Dog in a monster in a small package. He does more damage to this crew of tactical enforcers of good than Godzilla has down to Tokyo. Pain is his middle name and he prefers fists and feet to guns, as he explains before utterly annihilating Rama’s #2 guy Jaka (Joe Taslim), but not without a lengthy and spectacular fight to the death.
THE RAID only has one, relatively minor flaw, hence receiving 4.5 rather than 5 stars. The film is light on depth of plot and back-story, but not so much that it detracts from the overall enjoyment of the film. Hey, sometimes you just want to be entertained by extraordinary, excessive violence, right? Otherwise, why would mixed martial arts be so popular? Speaking of which, imagine the best MMA fighters being thrown together into a massive multi-level royal rumble a la Donkey Kong and you still wouldn’t have the level of awesomeness available to you in THE RAID: REDEMPTION. ‘Nuff said!
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
THE RAID: REDEMPTION opens today, April 13th, in Saint Louis at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre.
