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Quickie Review - The Raid; Redemption

Do you like action movies? I generally do not. I've always been more of the dialogue, mental anguish, troubled protagonist, looking for purpose and answers kind of guy.  That being said, before I turned 30, my favorite movie of all time was Lethal Weapon and even today, my favorite movie is The Killer.  The Raid: Redemption, might be #3 in terms of action movies.  While I can't say it's perfect, because the plot is so painfully simple, it does unravel into something with a few more layers and like most great action movies, leaves way for a definite sequel.  One which I have read is in the works.

Here's the great thing about this movie. You don't know these actors and none of them are big stars, even in their native lands.  The movie is fast paced.  Let me rephrase that.  The movie is so ridiculously fast paced, your heart is never really given a break.  There is arguably the best martial arts fights choreographed in any movie ever made.  That's saying something after seeing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero.  This movie, does not however have the beauty that those possess.  It's dark, it's dingy and there is a lot of violence. This movie was done on a very low budget from what I read and when you see the violence, you have to assume that 90% of it was creating things these guys could have their heads smashed into without dying.  Ironically, the blood level is minimal.

The best part about the movie is that you know because of the first five minutes that you want one guy to live and you know there is someone he is going after with his SWAT team that he knows. That is all you know and then you strap in. I must admit, I wash shocked when it ended to see that it was 101 minutes, because it felt, at most, like it was 75.  You almost feel as if you've had a workout. I'll try and put this in true perspective.  The Dark Knight Rises seems like Downtown Abbey in comparison.

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