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First things first, don't watch the "Redemption" aspect of this film. Just watch "The Raid". It's better without the inexplicably terrible new Linkin Park soundtrack and astonishingly comical dub.
The remix is in no way an improvement over the original soundtrack. I've nothing against LP, believe me, but the original soundtrack is simply more exciting and a lot more dramatic--I have no clue why they thought this poorly-done new soundtrack was warranted, because it makes the movie less exciting.
OK, we have that out of the way? Cool. Now, if you've done this properly, you'll be listening to the original audio with subtitles (I know they can be annoying and I don't like to have to read subtitles either if I can help it, but anything's better than this laughably bad dub that couldn't possibly have taken more than a single afternoon).
So, it goes like this:
The Raid: Redemption: One star. Seriously, with the dub and new soundtrack, you can't even take it as a dumb action flick. It's there, but with the new audio, it's just...No, just no.
The Raid (original): Five stars. Yes, it's that much better than the default settings on the disc.
Now let's review "The Raid" briefly, in a few pros and cons to keep it nice and brief.
Pros:
- Some of the best martial arts sequences you'll ever see, especially given the cool context (no one's flying through China here on trees like in Crouching Tiger, it's just guns and fists and a lot of violent punching and kicking, not to mention some exciting takedowns involving windows, machetes, and exploding refrigerators.)
- Best. Villain. Ever. Not the drug-lord guy, he doesn't really do anything, but Mad Dog, his protector, who is portrayed as a maniac...And he really is. The title of "Mad Dog" fits him perfectly, as he just detonates into a fury of complex martial arts when he gets into his fights, all of which are very exciting. He clearly and openly seeks out challengers for hand-to-hand combat among everyone there, since he often gives the good guys tremendous advantages on purpose just so he can have some sort of fun. He never uses a gun because, as he says, "I never liked these things. Pulling a trigger to kill someone is just way too simple. It's like ordering take-out." He literally positions two characters between him at one point before a fight just for the hell of it, like fighting one at a time isn't any fun at all and no challenge whatsoever. And who can blame him? You just can't stop this guy from beating the life out of everyone he comes across. He lives to fight hand-to-hand, and that's it. Screw guns, they're just a nuisance. He has this fanaticism of killing people with his bare hands, purely for the rush, to the point that he literally gets bored with fighting normally and intentionally ups the difficulty for himself (such as the aforementioned two-on-one he sets up for no real reason except his own pleasure). Yeah, he's one scary bastard.
- The Dragon of the film, Mad Dog, has his own finishing move, and it's not what you think. It's freaking frightening. When he first uses it, it's just insane and unbelievably violent, yet signature for him. He's one scary bastard, even with a gun pointed at him.
- Crazy-cool protagonist who does a great job being a protagonist who can beat the crap out of anyone without mercy, you know, for justice.
- The police sergeant is also really cool and authoritative in his own way, and he definitely isn't all talk and no action. He also comes off as pretty intelligent along with being fierce. Nicely done character.
Cons:
- The plot is virtually identical to Dredd. Seriously, if you haven't seen Dredd, this is the film, just in a different context and with a higher budget. Even some of the scenes seem strikingly similar. Menacing drug lord on a high floor? Check. Sealed inside? Check. The practice of buying police to protect the drug lord from police? Check. Residents told to fight protagonists? Check. Drug lord on top floor watching everything through monitors? Check. Some similar spoilers? Check. Drug lab fight scene? Um...Yeah, check. I could go on, but yeah, pretty much the same movie, except Dredd was, well, Judge Dredd.
- For better or worse, and maybe not really a con, every single person in this film--all of which are oriental--seem to know advanced martial arts, even the freaking guys making meth who are minding their own business. Yes, it has that thing where every single Asian character knows martial arts, like they're somehow born with it. The meth lab guys are a real piece of work. There's no reason for them to know any type of self-defense, but they're still skilled enough to give the protagonists a good fight.
- The story initially appears to be the dumbest thing you've ever seen in your life and makes zero sense. This isn't a spoiler: The police can't handle when the power is cut. Yeah, apparently no one thought of that and brought so much as flashlights with them.
- The box says "30 Floors of Hell". There aren't 30 floors, there are clearly 15. The drug lord's on the 15th floor. What's with the extra 15 floors we never see?
- The box also says, iirc, "15 Elite Cops". But they aren't, they're rookies. That's not because they do stupid things, but because they're pointed out to almost all be rookies early in the film. So, uh, that's a lie. Not a big one, since the main characters can still kick enough ass for all of them combined, but these definitely aren't "elite cops". See: Flashlight problem, mentioned above.
- Gunplay is a bit over-the-top, since *everyone* uses fully-automatic assault rifles that apparently don't need reloading (do they ever replace their magazines?) throughout the film. Some might not mind that, but one Commando is enough. There is no unit on the planet that uses fully automatic weapons for the simple reason that it's a dumb idea, and when they're all *missing* with that wasted ammunition, it kind of destroys the effect. They might as well be semi-autoing, you know, like every police or military unit does in close-quarters combat.
- That thing regarding Andi...Well, not so well done. For his significance, he felt horribly underdeveloped, considering his key role in the film. They say a few sentences about him and that's it, despite that he turns out to be really, really significant. Well, whatever, no spoilers.
SUMMARY:
Okay, so that sounds like a lot of negatives, sure, but they're not that bad. The pros make up for it. It's not too long, it's stylish, and it gets its job done. Sure, the plot's about as deep as a generic PlayStation 2 shooter, but that's not necessarily an awful thing. It's a dumb popcorn flick, after all, and isn't supposed to be anything else, so no points off.
Just remember: DO NOT LISTEN TO THE STUPID REMIX. And while you *may* be able to stomach the dub, it *does* suck. You'll probably choose subtitles, and you'll definitely want the original audio, which is paradoxically a lot more intense and heavy-metalish (as opposed to the downright strange and even boring electronic/nu-metal Linkin Park thing they threw on there) than the remix.
Go for it if you want nothing but the dumbest of action and you like violent martial arts. Just remove the "Redemption" piece of it in favor of the much-better basic "The Raid" and you'll be good.
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