Visceral thrills explode in exceptional actioner

UWAIS. Topbills exhilarating police procedural from Indonesia.

Forget “Expendables 2.  If it’s nonstop action you like, the movie to watch doesn’t have Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and other aging Hollywood action heroes in its cast: Gareth Evans’ exhilarating “The Raid: Redemption,” which begins its Manila run next week, is the best action movie we’ve seen in years—and it’s from Indonesia!

The pulse-pounding police procedural follows a SWAT team trapped in a Jakarta tenement run by a sadistic mobster, Tama (Ray Sahetapy), and his army of gun-wielding, bolo-toting thugs. To bring the ruthless crime lord to justice, the group infiltrates his safe house—and all hell breaks loose!

Estranged brothers

Caught in the midst of this dangerous quagmire are Rama (Iko Uwais), a rookie cop, and Tama’s assistant, Andi (Donny Alamsyah)—and they happen to be estranged brothers who haven’t seen each other in six years!

Unlike most actioners these days, Evans’ movie—which won awards at film festivals in Toronto, Dublin and Amsterdam—doesn’t rely on deafening explosions or CG-heavy special effects to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. It showcases the indigenous Indonesian martial arts, pencak silak.

Sure, the acclaimed production has all that, and more—but, its visceral thrills mostly come from breathtaking and deftly choreographed man-to-man combat that, in local films, ran its course in the early ’90s. “The Raid” is a should-see for speed freaks and action aficionados.