One of my fondest cinematic experiences came about during an initial viewing of The Raid : Redemption in an indie theater called the Violet Crown. The Indonesian action flick had garnered a reputation online as one of the more brutal martial arts flicks, partially meant to shed light on Silat, an indigenous martial art central to the region. The plot was very similar to Bruce Lee's Game of Death, centered around a special forces cop called Rama fighting his way up a criminal infested building with the big boss at the top. The movie was just so uncharacteristic from what I'd come to expect from typical indie theater fare that it was surprising, more resembling the type of R-rated action movie you'd expect to see in the big screens back in the 80's.
While we've all seen our fair share of action and martial arts films (Just a guess), we were completely surprised by the brutality of the takedowns in the movies, and the body count that this cop racked up (I'd say over 100 easy) in the slick and amazingly orchestrated action sequences. Hearing the gasps of horror from the unsuspecting audience when Rama unleashed his pure insanity on whomever stood in his way was kind of hilarious (We'll never unsee that broken door scene). Needless to say the movie was a surprise hit internationally, especially after the word of mouth spread like wildfire following a very limited initial release.
This brings us to The Raid 2 - Berandal, which follows the same cop realizing that his entire first raid was a corrupt orchestration from the powers above him, and that the crosshairs are now on him and his family. The movie was already a hit at Sundance and other film festivals, and has been lauded for improving on the original, especially in regards to dialogue and plot that took a backseat to the action in the first film. The flick is releasing on March 28, so check your local indie theaters-This one's a must see.
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