Rent The Raid (2011)

There's only so much chop sockey that a man can take... - The Raid review by RP

I seem to have watched a few 'action' films set in tower blocks recently - and here's another. I don't know quite what the fascination with the particular building design is, but if you've seen 'Dredd' then I reckon you'll recognise the plot of this one: law enforcement team enter dodgy tower block to get big boss baddie. Err, that's it.

The difference is that this - despite starting off as a gun-laden SWAT team assignment - is a violent Indonesian martial arts movie with much kicking, punching, knives and machetes and spilling of blood. If you like the genre then you'll probably like this: the action is non-stop and the fight scenes lengthy and well choreographed.

But after a while I longed for some semblance of a plot (or at least an original plot), better dialogue, more character development. I know that may be asking a lot from a film like this, but after a while there's only so much chop sockey that a man can take.

I'll give it 3/5 stars. Despite the non-stop action I found it profoundly average.

When Tactics Give Way to Carnage, Survival is the Only Mission Left - The Raid review by griggs

The Raid kicks off like a gritty SWAT procedural—tight, tense, and full of promise. Those first 20 minutes had me hooked: strategic sweeps, creeping dread, a grounded sense of danger.

Then it flips the switch and turns into a martial arts showcase. Beautifully choreographed, yes—but once the realism gives way to relentless hand-to-hand carnage, it lost me a bit. The stakes blur, the tactics vanish, and it becomes all about the beatdowns. Impressive? Absolutely. Exhausting? A bit. It’s brutal, stylish, and undeniably well-made, but I preferred the claustrophobic tension to the flying fists.

What begins as a mission with purpose spirals into chaos, with no glory—just wreckage. It’s thrilling, yes—but behind the shattered bones and slick moves lies a bleak truth: sometimes survival is the only thing left to fight for.

Fast, Violent Action Film - The Raid review by GI

A Hi-Octane action film full of martial arts, gunplay and bloody violence that is as relentless as it is exciting from Welsh writer and director Gareth Evans. Set in Indonesia a heavily armed SWAT team arrives at a dilapidated tower block, the headquarters of a big gangster, with the intention to shut the place down and bring the big bad guy into custody. But unbeknownst to the team their boss is a corrupt cop and the team have no back up. With their presence soon discovered the cops become engulfed in a huge battle with the last survivors holding out on the seventh floor and who decide their only option is to counter attack. Basically the narrative follows the mythological 'trapped in a labyrinth' scenario and much of the fighting occurs in long corridors or small rooms with he enemy armed with machetes and knives. It's a brutal film in many ways and some of the fight scenes do tend to drag on just a little too long. But this is a film that has gained huge popularity and as an action film it's fast and furious and thoroughly entertaining.