The Raid: Redemption

THE RAID: REDEMPTION (2012) - March 30, 2012
A flat-out awesome movie about a group of cops who go to take down a crime lord in an old apartment building, which just happens to be filled to the brim with thugs and criminals.  The first half hour or so feels fairly perfunctory, with the team initially working their way through the building, and eventually getting ambushed.  It's after the ambush, when the team gets whittled down to a handful, and the film becomes Iko Uwais taking down wave after wave of hapless thugs that it becomes really magical.  The amazingly staged and fantastically choreographed fights are an absolute joy to behold.  There are some scenes here that are absolutely stunning in their intensity.  This is also an amazingly violent film; I don't think I've ever seen a martial arts film so breathtakingly combine intricately choreographed fights with in-your-face violence.  The fights here are absolutely no-holds-barred -- if a character has a knife, you'd better believe he's going to use that knife.  I seriously loved this movie.  ****