David Halberstadt

by David Halberstadt

Typically, action movies try to impress and amaze with ear-shattering explosions, insane car chases, chaotic mano-a-mano fistfights, and giant robots punching buildings in half. They’ll also give the illusion of non-stop action by having the hero run a lot. The Raid is not typical though. It’s fast, brutal, bloody, and unflinching in its depiction of head-slamming, ass-kicking violence.

Written and directed by Welsh filmmaker Gareth Evans, the film is a showcase for the Indonesian martial art, Pencak Silat, and the first in a trilogy featuring star Iko Uwais as special forces policeman, Rama. Apart from an opening scene showing Rama preparing for the day and saying goodbye to his pregnant wife (you know, easy emotional stakes), the film takes place entirely within a fifteen-story apartment building run by vicious crime lord, Tama (Ray Sahetapy). Rama and his team are sent on a covert mission to take control of the building. Soon after entering the building, their cover is blown and Tama offers life-long sanctuary to the myriad of killers, thieves, and low-lives that live in the building in exchange for the team’s lives. Now Rama must use all his skill to fight through fifteen floors of hell to complete the mission and escape with his life.

That’s about all the story required to enjoy this frenzied fight fest but it does have a few touches to make it seem a bit less shallow. Rama’s estranged brother Andi (Doni Alamsyah) is a resident of the building and there is some of the usual police corruption and double-crossing. Like most martial arts films, these things are largely inconsequential to the larger part of the movie: the action. And when you have a lackluster story, you better damn well make up for it in some way. This movie more than does so. Almost from the get-go, it throws you into a headlock and refuses to let you go until the end. The action rarely lets up and when it does, you’re thankful for the breather so you can prepare yourself for the next incredible action sequence.

Evans and his team of choreographers know exactly how to set up their fights for maximum impact. You won’t find any quick cutting here. Fights are allowed to play out in long takes and every bone-crunching hit is seen clearly. One-on-one, three-on-one, six-on-two, ten-on-three, and everything in between are here. They also make excellent use of the location. Fights take place in cramped hallways, apartments, stairwells, equipment rooms, elevators, and a spacious drug manufacturing warehouse. And the weapons and fighting styles are just as varied. Machetes, pistols, knives, axes, assault rifles, hammers, shotguns, and just about anything else found lying around. All of these are thrown into the mix and used with or against each other like a deadly game of rock-paper-scissors.

Now, if you aren’t convinced that you want to see it by this point, you won’t find any other reasons for going. Obviously, if you don’t like violence stay far away from this. These are specially trained police against a sea of conscienceless baddies. Neither side is in it to disable. Phasers are NOT set to stun here. This is one of the bloodiest martial arts films I’ve seen in quite a while. Faces are smashed, throats slashed, bodies bullet-ridden, and bones broken. And if you like your movies with more substance than style, you might want to save that $10.

Those who crave a good head kick, though, will be more than satisfied. Those of you who cheer at an expertly choreographed take-down or let out a girlish squeal as a guy gets thrown into a wall, will absolutely love this film. The fights are king here but the cinematography, music, pacing, and direction are all fantastic as well. This is not just an excellent action film, it may in fact be one of the best action films of all time. You won’t find a more jaw-dropping, ass-kicking, breathlessly intense, gloriously violent movie than The Raid.

Side Note: Somebody at the studio apparently decided that the original title, The Raid, wasn’t good enough so they added the nonsensical “Redemption” to it. There is no redemption in this story and I have no explanation for why the title was changed.

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The Raid: Redemption is currently in limited release. Click here to find out when it will be playing near you.

Stills courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

by David Halberstadt

I am twenty-five years of age and one-and-a-half years out of college. I’m basically an old man now. If I had a lawn, I’d be telling kids to get off it. So maybe it’s just that I’m getting old and cranky but my experiences going out to the theater have steadily gotten worse and worse to the point that I’ve seriously considered never setting foot in a theater again. It’s not that tickets and snacks are overpriced. It’s not that all movies are crap now. It’s nothing corporate. It’s very personal.

Like a church, I view the movie theater as a sacred place. You pay your $10-$11 (or tithe), sit in your favorite seat (or pew), and pay attention to the screen (or preacher) for the duration of the movie (or sermon). Typically during a church service, unless they’re complete douchebags, people will,
A) Show up before the sermon begins
B) Not converse during the sermon
C) Leave their kids elsewhere or at least keep them under control
D) Not leave trash strewn everywhere
E) Keep their cell phones on silent and in their pocket
You know, common courtesy. But for some reason, all of this gets thrown right out the window at the movie theater. I have to deal with at least one of these every single time I go to the theater. It’s the people who do these things that make me hate going to the theater.

Walking in Late
Apart from being incredibly distracting when a person is trying to find a seat in the dark (why they can’t just sit in the nearest aisle seat rather than insisting on stepping over everybody to get to the middle is beyond me), I don’t understand how you walk into a movie 10 minutes late and then expect to enjoy the rest of the film. This may just be a personal thing but I cannot watch a movie if I’ve missed out on the beginning. My dad is one of those people who flips the TV over to a movie or show that’s already well underway and continues to watch it! It bugs the hell out of me. It would be like starting a book 30 pages in. You aren’t getting the story the way the filmmaker or author intended!

Talking During the Movie
“Hey, trio of girls behind me! The theater may have a state-of-the-art sound system blaring away but I can still hear your yammering. Why of all places would you come to a theater to gossip about Ginny’s latest boyfriend and how she’s making a horrible life choice dating him. There is way better drama happening on screen! Look! The guy is trying to land his burning spacecraft on an inhospitable planet while being chased by bounty hunters! How can you talk about trite idiocies at a time like this? Shut the hell up! Thank you!”

Or that’s what I would say if I wasn’t such a nice guy.

Bringing the Kids
A matinee showing of a PG rated movie aimed at kids, fine, bring the kids. Whatever. But parents who bring their preteens to anything PG-13 and over or after 7pm are just plain inconsiderate assholes. They either don’t give a crap what their kids are watching or couldn’t find a babysitter. Whatever the case is, they thought it was just fine to make you share in their suffering and misery instead of being responsible adults and staying home with their premature, out-of-control progeny. I’d never lay a hand on a child but if that kid keeps kicking the back of my chair, daddy’s gonna get a knuckle sandwich.

Leaving Trash
Why is it that theaters seem to be the only acceptable place to leave your trash strewn everywhere? Seems there’s always at least one giant tub of popcorn spilled everywhere and ground into the carpet or a barrel of soda cascading like a system of waterfalls down to the front row ending in a fizzy, sticky lake. And they almost always never mention it, preferring to leave it as some kind of horrible surprise for the usher to deal with in the 15 minutes they have before they have to let the next screening in. Beyond these grave offences, no matter how much crap someone walked in with, they always leave empty handed. There are trashcans just outside of every single screen for your convenience. Are people seriously so lazy that they can’t be bothered to carry their skittles wrapper 50 feet to the trash?

Using the Cell Phone
To me, this is an offense punishable by death. Slow, painful death. What could possibly be so important that you can’t turn off your phone for two hours? Is a nuclear power plant going to meltdown? Does the President need your advice on how to deal with North Korea? Is your boyfriend going to assume you’ve died and jump into bed with your best friend if you don’t reply to his text within 30 seconds? I guarantee that life will carry on just fine without you. This problem is compounded by the fact that in a dark theater, a cell phone screen shines like a stadium floodlight in a cave and your eyes, like a moth, are uncontrollably drawn to the pinpoint of glaring white light in the darkness.

On top of all the people around you being inconsiderate assholes, theater projectionists are either lazy or overworked and don’t or can’t make sure that the projection is running correctly, at proper brightness, centered, and in focus. All they have to do now is push a button and the movie starts. Glance out the little window once to make sure the previews are playing and it’s on to the next one. There was one theater in particular I used to go to (never again) where the projection was consistently and blatantly horrible no matter how many times I pointed it out to the management.

And yet, I still go to the theater.Why, when I hate so much, do I continue to attend?

Because the theater is still the optimal way to see a film. There are two reasons for this.

First, because of the community. “What!?” you must be saying. “You just spent seven paragraphs explaining (quite eloquently, good sir) that you hate everybody!” you add. That’s only partly true. I do hate people who are rude and inconsiderate to the people around them and I do write quite eloquently. But I don’t hate everybody and every little noise they make. No, I don’t want a silent theater full of silent robots passively watching the movie. What I love, is when a room full of people of different ages, lifestyles, creeds, and experiences, are completely in sync with each other. When the entire auditorium laughs at the same joke or gasp as one when the killer reveals himself or applaud together when the hero makes the game-winning shot. There’s no other word for it but magic. This is what the theater experience is all about. Bringing people together.

Second, I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a 15 foot high screen with a premium surround sound system and 4k projector. Some films I have no trouble waiting for the home release but then there are other films are made to be seen as big and as loud as possible and it would be a disservice to the film to see it any other way. I’ve seen 2001: A Space Odyssey numerous times but never projected on a theater screen and I feel like, until that happens, I haven’t really seen the film. Not the way Kubrick intended.

Additionally, fortunately, there are still theaters and theater owners that do care about the movie-going experience and I try to give those places all my business. In Hollywood, The Arclight is about as close to perfection as you can get. They may charge more than the average but to me, it’s worth it. And I don’t always have to pay a premium for that perfect screening. There are smaller theaters like The New Beverly and The Aero that are made for and run by film lovers like myself who value quality screenings and generally charge between $8-$10 for a double feature. They may not be as prevalent or as convenient as your local cineplex, but they actually care. They care about the movies, about the community, and about you. And that melts this cynical, bitter, theater-goer’s heart and keeps me going back to the movies.