The Avengers Are Coming: Part One

Leading up to the May 4th U.S. release of Marvel's The Avengers I will be doing brief reviews of the five films that introduce its major characters: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger. Each of these happen to be the only films independently produced by Marvel Studios, which is why they clearly share the same “universe” and tie-in so nicely.

IRON MAN (2008)

You really have to hand it to Marvel Studios, director Jon Favreau, and Robert Downey Jr. on this one. They took a pretty average, unpopular comic book superhero and turned him into a bad ass. It's one thing to bring crowds in droves to see Superman, Spider-Man, or Batman...those guys are well known and enjoy a devoted following. It's another thing entirely to create a superhero's following from a movie, instead of the actual comic. These days, Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr. are so popular that no one can remember why they weren't a big deal in the first place.

Downey Jr.'s greatest achievement here is making the rich, egotistical, narcissistic Tony Stark into a lovable figure, even when he's being a cad. Early on in the film, the guy is just not a good person, but his bountiful charisma makes him a joy to watch. A genius like his father, Tony inherited Stark Industries, a producer of high-tech weaponry that blows stuff up real good in the name of the U.S.A. We meet him in Afghanistan where he introduces his latest creation, the Jericho missile. Unfortunately, his Humvee comes under attack afterward and he's injured, ironically, by one of his company's own weapons in enemy hands. Stark ends up in the custody of a terrorist group called the Ten Rings where another prisoner, Dr. Yinsen (Shaun Toub), manages to save his life by putting an electromagnet in his chest to prevent tiny bits of shrapnel from entering Stark's heart.

These terrorists, armed with a bunch of Stark Industries firepower, demand that Stark make a Jericho missile for them. Tony has other ideas, working instead on a miniaturized version of his father's arc reactor to serve as his electromagnet and double as a power source for a large, weaponized iron suit. Stark manages to fool the terrorists about his progress on the missile, and boom go his captors as he makes his escape.

Back in the States, the new Tony wants to focus his efforts on more peaceful technology, which doesn't sit well with Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), manager of Stark Industries and the former business partner of Stark's father. With only two true allies, his assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and his friend Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes (Terrence Howard), Stark begins to improve upon the suit design until he becomes the superhero, Iron Man.

As a superhero origin story, Iron Man has few peers. Often these opening chapters are bogged down in exposition as a rather ordinary, flawed person slowly evolves into a fighting force to be reckoned with. Who can forget Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man (2002) running around in his early hero outfit, consisting of a sweatsuit and goofy mask? There is a similar evolution here, not only in Stark's character but in the armor itself, which goes from a bulky gray metal monstrosity to a sleek, “hot rod red” and gold piece of advanced machinery. These two films, along with Batman Begins (2005), are recent examples of how origin stories should be done.

Iron Man has a pretty hypocritical message though, since Tony wants to rid the world of Stark Industries weapons by building another. He wants to keep weapons from falling into the wrong hands, when some of his own tech falls into the wrong hands both here and in Iron Man 2. Still, for the most part, Iron Man really hits most of the right notes for this type of film. Downey Jr. gives us a character we enjoy, one who goes through trials and achieves a genuine transformation. We get some exciting action sequences peppered throughout, a worthwhile villain, and a satisfying final battle. It's not rocket science, but it's a lot of fun; perhaps even the most pure fun of any comic book movie since Spider-Man 2 (2004).

Though we see Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) at various times in Iron Man, stick around after the credits for the introduction of his boss, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. A confused Tony Stark learns that Fury wants to talk with him about the “Avenger Initiative”, then we fade to black.

Iron Man (2008): 7 out of 10
Batman Begins (2005): 7 out of 10
Spider-Man (2002): 7 out of 10
Spider-Man 2 (2004): 8 out of 10

Film Ratings Revealed

People love scores. Out of four, out of five, out of ten, whatever. Sometimes the ratings are done in “stars” or thumbs, other times we just see a number. For a long time I stayed away from scores on this blog, but I have realized that simply isn't a popular decision. Some days a person may not feel like reading the entire review, or maybe that person feels they can't get a proper gauge on my taste without a numerical score.

Truth be told, I always score the movies I see, I simply don't share them. Until now. From this moment forward I will be putting scores within the blog entries themselves. Also, to allow readers to better understand my taste, I have gone back to all the entries I've written thus far, and today I will share the score for every single movie I've ever mentioned on this blog. Even if I just wrote the title of the movie in passing, I will share that score. This will not prevent me from writing in more depth about any of these films in the future, so that's not a concern.

My ratings are “out of 10” and I will be categorizing them by score, then alphabetically. You may notice that there are more films rated over 5 than below. In fact, there are very few 3's and 2's, and not a single film rated a 1. This is simply due to the fact that I don't tend to discuss movies on the blog that are bad enough to garner a 3 or below. I have unfortunately seen and rated hundreds of terrible films deserving of a 2 or a 1, but those will rarely make an appearance on my blog. Only films I have mentioned on this blog to date will appear on this list.

Lastly, I have alphabetically arranged movie titles beginning with “The” by their second word.

Enjoy!

10

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
A Tale of Tales (1979)
Blade Runner (1982)
Chinatown (1974)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Los Olvidados (1950)
Love Me Tonight (1932)
M (1931)
Markéta Lazarová (1967)
Mirror (1975)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Napoleon (1927)
Night of the Hunter, The (1955)
Passion of Joan of Arc, The (1928)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Playtime (1967)
Rear Window (1954)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Tree of Life, The (2011)

9

A Man Escaped (1956)
A Separation (2011)
All About Eve (1950)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Andrei Rublev (1969)
Aparajito (1956)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
Battleship Potemkin, The (1925)
Chimes at Midnight (1965)
City Lights (1931)
Dark Knight, The (2008)
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The (1972)
Exterminating Angel, The (1962)
Godfather, The (1972)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The (1966)
Goodfellas (1990)
Grand Illusion (1937)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
High Noon (1952)
Hiroshima mon amour (1959)
Hugo (2011)
Ikiru (1952)
Intolerance (1916)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
L'Argent (1983)
Man of the West (1958)
Metropolis (1927)
Mouchette (1967)
Naked Spur, The (1953)
No Country For Old Men (2007)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Pickpocket (1959)
Pinocchio (1940)
Psycho (1960)
Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
Ran (1985)
Red River (1948)
Ride Lonesome (1959)
Seventh Seal, The (1957)
Shop Around the Corner, The (1940)
Shop on Main Street, The (1965)
Sideways (2004)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Singing Detective, The (1986)
Spirited Away (2001)
Stagecoach (1939)
Sunrise (1927)
Tall T, The (1957)
Tall Target, The (1951)
Thief of Bagdad, The (1924)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Unknown, The (1927)
Vertigo (1958)
WALL-E (2008)
War and Peace (1967)
Wild Bunch, The (1969)
Wizard of Oz, The (1939)
World of Apu, The (1959)
Yojimbo (1961)

8

10 Rillington Place (1971)

About Schmidt (2002)
African Queen, The (1951)
Amadeus (1984)
An American in Paris (1951)
Artist, The (2011)
Away From Her (2007)
Baraka (1992)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Bend of the River (1952)
Braveheart (1995)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Cabin in the Woods, The (2012)
Closely Watched Trains (1966)
Comanche Station (1960)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde (1932)
Drive (2011)
Election (1999)
Firemen's Ball, The (1967)
Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Hero (2002)
Hidden Fortress, The (1958)
I, Claudius (1976)
Incredibles, The (2004)
Ivan's Childhood (1962)
Jaws (1975)
King's Speech, The (2010)
Kingdom of Heaven: Director's Cut (2005)
Kingdom of the Fairies (1903)
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
L'Age D'or (1930)
La Roue (1923)
Lady Vanishes, The (1938)
Le Million (1931)
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)
Loves of a Blonde (1966)
Lower Depths, The (1957)
Man With the Movie Camera, The (1929)
Mark of Zorro, The (1940)
Memento (2000)
Michael Clayton (2007)
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Narrow Margin, The (1952)
Network (1976)
Ninotchka (1939)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Patton (1970)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Ratatouille (2007)
Red Beard (1965)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Seven Men From Now (1956)
Seventh Heaven (1927)
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1966)
Shane (1953)
Shoeshine (1946)
Stolen Kisses (1968)
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Tin Star, The (1957)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
To Live (1994)
Toy Story (1995)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Truman Show, The (1998)
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
Up (2009)
Vengeance is Mine (1979)
Virgin Spring, The (1960)
War and Peace (1972)
Winchester '73 (1950)

7

Applause (1929)

Batman Begins (2005)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Buchanan Rides Alone (1958)
Bullet in the Head (1990)
City of God (2002)
Dark Water (2002)
Decision at Sundown (1957)
Descendants, The (2011)
Devil's Doorway, The (1950)
Die Hard (1988)
El Cid (1961)
Enchanted (2007)
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)
Far Country, The (1954)
Fight Club (1999)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Fist of Legend (1994)
Game, The (1997)
Gladiator (2000)
Hamlet (1996)
Hard-Boiled (1992)
Heat (1995)
Hellboy II (2008)
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
House of Flying Daggers (2004)
Into the Wild (2007)
Iron Man (2008)
Juno (2007)
Killer, The (1989)
Kolya (1996)
Life is Beautiful (1998)
Long Voyage Home, The (1940)
Man From Laramie, The (1955)
Men in War (1957)
Merry Widow, The (1934)
One Hour With You (1932)
Passion of the Christ, The (2004)
Powaqqatsi (1988)
Princess Bride, The (1987)
Raw Deal (1948)
Red Violin, The (1997)
Rescue Dawn (2007)
Ring (1998)
Runaway Train (1985)
Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
Seven (1995)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Spartacus (1960)
Straw Dogs (1971)
T-Men (1947)
Tell No One (2006)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (1974)
Voyage to the Moon (1902)
War Horse (2011)
Waterloo (1970)
Wings (1927)
Zodiac (2007)

6

A Better Tomorrow II (1988)
Becky Sharp (1935)
Chronos (1985)
Drunken Master II (1994)
Evil Dead, The (1982)
Fall, The (2006)
Fall of the Roman Empire, The (1964)
Furies, The (1950)
Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The (2011)
Grand Prix (1966)
Help, The (2011)
Ju-on: The Grudge (2000)
Mongol (2008)
Noroi: The Curse (2005)
Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)
Panic Room (2002)
Police Story (1985)
REC 2 (2009)
Raid: Redemption, The (2012)
Scream (1996)
Side Street (1950)
Speed (1994)
Three Ages, The (1923)
Troy (2004)
Warrior (2011)

5

Armour of God (1987)
Armour of God 2 (1990)
Broken Arrow (1950)
City Streets (1931)
Cleopatra (1963)
Cloverfield (2008)
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Heroes of Telemark, The (1965)
Hostel (2006)
Incredible Hulk, The (2008)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
J'Accuse (1919)
Jazz Singer, The (1927)
Love Parade, The (1929)
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Naqoyqatsi (2002)
Ong-Bak (2003)
Police Story 3: Supercop (1992)
Police Story 4 (1996)
Project A (1983)
Project A 2 (1987)
Protector, The (2005)
Top Gun (1986)
War and Peace (1956)

4

Alien 3 (1992)

Bad Boys (1995)
Cimarron (1960)
Fast Five (2011)
Friday the 13th (1980)
Hancock (2008)
Happening, The (2008)
Last Frontier, The (1955)
Narrow Margin (1990)
Odyssey, The (1997)
Police Story 2 (1987)
Robe, The (1953)
Transformers (2007)
Turner and Hooch (1989)

3

Cell, The (2000)
Friday the 13th (2009)
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
Ong-Bak 2 (2008)
Ong-Bak 3 (2010)
Tango and Cash (1989)

2

Armageddon (1998)
Lady Vanishes, The (1979)

1

None yet.

Hated By the Formatting Gods

This is just a quick note to the email subscribers who received my review of The Cabin in the Woods this morning and undoubtedly thought I was an enormous moron. The title of the post shows up perfectly on my blog as, "Horror Movies Will Should Never Be the Same". I had to use HTML formatting in the title to cross out the word "Will". I learned after the fact that this does not translate to the email. So all of you received a review this morning with the following absurd title: "Horror Movies Will Should Never Be the Same".

My apologies. I have not lost my mind. Thanks for understanding.

Horror Movies Will Should Never Be the Same

Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods opened on Friday, and people are already saying it changes the face of horror films as we know them. It has been called a “deconstruction of the genre”, reminiscent of Wes Craven's Scream (1996), which I saw on opening day all those years ago. Even back then, as a teenaged horror fan, I was in on the joke. Scream was about stereotypical horror movie characters and clichés; it picked fun at the way sex was a prelude to death in the genre, and how the killers always come back after we think they're dead. Scream didn't reinvent the wheel, but it delivered a seismic jolt within the industry and made horror movies relevant at the box office following a long hiatus.

It's important to understand that when people claim The Cabin in the Woods is a new chapter in horror, they aren't saying it reinvents the wheel either. They are saying it picks fun at every little predictable flaw in conventional horror, thus making it harder for studios to continue churning out the same old formula to make a quick buck. One can only hope Goddard's film will promote evolution in a genre that has once again grown stale.

Since much of the film is based on the element of surprise, rewarding its audience with fun twists and turns, The Cabin in the Woods is very difficult to write about. How much should be revealed? That's a subjective question, if ever there was one. I had seen the trailer prior to viewing the film, which I admit makes it look pretty average, but it also reveals a few things I believed were “spoilers”. Until I saw the movie, that is. The trailer actually gives away very little of what makes the film so wild, crazy, and unpredictable. No one will accurately guess what happens in the last twenty minutes of this movie. No one.

Going into it, viewers who have seen the trailer will think the big surprise is that there are people in an underground lab controlling the various horrors at the cabin. I thought it would end up being like a slasher version of The Truman Show (1998). Maybe a sort of reality show put on for wealthy sickos around the world, similar to Hostel (2005). Wrong and wrong. Besides, that's not “the big reveal” because guess where the picture opens? In an underground lab. The very first thing we see are these two tech guys, humorously played by the great Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford, chatting over coffee. Just another day at the office.

We are then introduced to some terribly stereotypical young characters (relax, it's part of the joke). There's the jock (Chris Hemsworth), the smart guy (Jesse Williams), the slutty airhead (Anna Hutchison), the stoner (Fran Kranz), and the virgin (Kristen Connolly). They take off for the weekend in a big camper; their final destination being an isolated cabin that supposedly belongs to the airhead's cousin. They stop at a gas station, which will instantly remind viewers of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). They pass through a long mountain tunnel and arrive at a cabin that looks exactly like the one in The Evil Dead (1981). They swim in a lake that looks just like the one in Friday the 13th (1980). Even Japanese horror gets hilariously lampooned here, so those who have seen Ring (1998), Ju-on (2000), Dark Water (2002), The Curse (2005), etc. will be in good shape. The more you know your horror movies, the more you're going to enjoy The Cabin in the Woods.

Eventually, the teens drink and play Truth or Dare just before the cellar door flies open for no apparent reason (as it did in The Evil Dead) and the jock reveals the limits of his intelligence by saying, “Must have been the wind.” They explore the dark cellar and discover all kinds of strange objects that act as triggers for which scenario will play out. Will they be massacred by zombies? Vampires? Werewolves? Witches? An Angry Molesting Tree (another Evil Dead reference)? Deadites (yet another Evil Dead reference)? All of these options, and many more, are seen on a dry erase board in the underground lab where various employees are competitively betting on how these poor teens will die.

The virgin finds an old diary and reads an incantation in Latin, despite the stoner's warning: “I'm drawing a f***ing line in the sand, here. Don't read the mysterious Latin!” The incantation seals the deal (as it did in, you guessed it, The Evil Dead). These teens will die at the hands of the “Zombie Redneck Torture Family”, which Jenkins comically explains is an entirely different kind of threat than regular zombies.

Aside from the stoner, the teens seem oblivious to all the weird stuff going on, they act no differently than characters in any number of silly horror films. Well, it turns out the technicians behind the scenes have laced their hair styling products with drugs and happen to be piping in certain chemicals to alter their behavior. The slut gets extra slutty, and the jock becomes an even dumber alpha male. At one point, mist machines in the forest send pheromones into the atmosphere so we get the obligatory teen horror sex scene. Luckily for the stoner, his love of marijuana reduces the effect of the other drugs, allowing him to discover that things are not quite what they seem.

Anyway, the dead things rise up from the earth and wreak all kinds of havoc. The teens fight back and try to escape, but much like Truman Burbank, they come upon barriers they can't even see. They are rats in a maze, and this maze features redneck zombies.

Tempting as it may be, I can not discuss the film in detail any further without spoiling it. Know this: there are many more laughs to be had, as well as numerous shocks, scares, and surprises. The last twenty minutes are so over-the-top insane that they nearly succumb to overkill. Drew Goddard and co-writer/producer, Joss Whedon (director of the upcoming superhero film, The Avengers), toe a very thin line, but ultimately I was so flabbergasted by what had just occurred, I could only smile and shake my head as I walked out of the theater. These guys showed some real balls, for lack of a better word, in making this movie. They exhibit a real affection for horror tropes, while spitting in the face of every last one of them at the same time.

Now, if I were rating this picture on a numerical scale, I would probably go with an 8 out of 10. It simply does not hold up under close scrutiny, and frankly it makes no logical sense. Still, it's so well made, so incredibly amusing, such a blast to watch, and features such a “throw all caution to the wind” last reel that I still believe it worthy of praise. It's an absolute must-see for horror fans, and should be fun for just about anyone who gets the joke and doesn't take it too seriously. When the ending comes, think of it as another way of saying, "Let's get rid of the old formula and give new, original work a chance!"

SPOILER ALERT!!! DO NOT READ BELOW THIS LINE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM:

I would like to briefly explain why I said the film makes no logical sense. I could cite many examples, and here are several. How the heck does this massive cult, with so many members and paid employees, keep their actions a secret from the world at large? How did they successfully capture all these monsters and keep them imprisoned when one little press of a button by the virgin unleashed all hell? If the history of these sacrifices goes back thousands of years, what system was in place for these rituals during less technologically advanced times? If the technicians could see all the teenagers and were monitoring their hearts, how did they fail to notice that the stoner never flatlined? Etc. Keep in mind, I really enjoyed the movie and these issues did not hinder my enjoyment.

END OF SPOILERS

The "Great" Plotless Wonder

The Raid: Redemption, directed by Welshman Gareth Evans, is a shamelessly pure, unadulterated action film from Indonesia. The reviews have been spectacular, some have even claimed it to be the finest all-out action movie in over a decade. At Rotten Tomatoes the film sports an 86% on the Tomatometer (out of ninety-two reviews, seventy-nine are positive) and a 7.6 out of 10 average review score. These are pretty hot numbers folks, numbers that scream, “Get out there and see this movie!”

I was looking forward to The Raid as I enjoy action set pieces in films that get it right. Unfortunately, not many do, and some of the worst action scenes are found in those bloated, massively budgeted Hollywood productions that make millions of dollars. As a teenager, I remember being enraptured when I first came across the films John Woo made in Hong Kong (A Better Tomorrow II, The Killer, Bullet in the Head, Hard-Boiled, etc.). His action sequences were like nothing I had seen in a Hollywood film since Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969). People referred to his pictures as “bullet ballets” due to that certain beauty and elegance found in his masterfully choreographed carnage. Unfortunately, even some of Woo's best movies are difficult to watch now since they tend to slip into extreme melodrama and cheese, for lack of a better word. In short, Woo's action scenes were better than his films ever were.

This is often the case in similar pictures, like those of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Tony Jaa, etc. All are graceful physical specimens; it's a joy to watch the poetry of their bodies in motion. Still, great films must give us more than exceptional athleticism. Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Burt Lancaster, and others have proven that thrilling stunts need not be exclusive to average movies. Keaton is actually Jackie Chan's hero, and from the 1980's to the present day, Chan is probably the closest thing we've had to Keaton in the cinema. He's funny and he performs insane stunts; the problem is that his movies just aren't as good.

I can enjoy all four Police Story films as much as the next guy, there's a certain goofy charm to the Project A and Armor of God movies, and Drunken Master II (1994) has its moments. These aren't exceptional pieces of filmmaking though, not by a long shot. My favorite Jet Li pictures are Fist of Legend (1994) and Hero (2002), and while the latter is quite wonderful, it's an 8 for me, rather than a 9 or a 10. As for Jaa, does his Ong-Bak trilogy even begin to enter the “great movie” conversation? How about 2005's The Protector (despite that amazing tracking shot that lasts three minutes, forty-five seconds)?Hell no.

Now we have Iko Uwais, born in Jakarta and trained since the age of ten in Pencak Silat, Indonesia's homegrown martial art. In the process of making a documentary about this fighting style, Evans met Uwais, and the rest is history. They made a film called Merantau in 2009, but it's this one, their latest, that has all the fans of martial arts movies drooling on themselves. The Raid: Redemption delivers the goods in terms of action and mayhem, the hype is accurate on that front, but like the films of Woo, Chan, Li, and Jaa, it's a guilty pleasure, not a top tier piece of work.

The plot, so wafer-thin as to seem nonexistent, concerns Rama (Uwais), a rookie cop with a pregnant wife, who finds himself in a hell of day on the job. Basically, he and a group of cops under the command of Sergeant Jaka (Joe Taslim) must launch an attack on a run down apartment building filled with killers and drug addicts. The king of this domain is Tama (Ray Sahetapy), a crime lord who keeps an eye on things via monitors in his fifteenth floor control center. He has two trusted lieutenants, the wild fighting god, Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian), and the brainy Andi (Doni Alamsyah). Our group of heroes tries to pull off a covert operation, subduing the tenants floor-by-floor, but their half-assed plan is thwarted around the sixth.

Why didn't they come up with a better idea? Like, say, landing on the roof and knocking on the door of Tama's office? Well, for the same reason that there will be no reinforcements apparently; the raid was not approved by the police department. This was a private job, planned by Lieutenant Wahyu (Pierre Gruno). So the cops find themselves trapped in the building as Tama speaks over the intercom. He offers rent free living to all his tenants if they wipe out the intruders. A bloodbath ensues.

The rest of The Raid is chock full of gunfire, explosions, shattered glass, axe murders, broken bones, writhing bodies, stab wounds, hand-to-hand fighting, machete attacks, and enough sweating and grunting for a dozen porn films. When the ammunition runs low, the fists and blades come out. When a throat needs slicing but knives aren't available, a broken light bulb is used. One unlucky fellow is nearly decapitated by the shredded wood at the base of a door. Let me be even more clear; there are violent movies, and then there is The Raid. After this, The Passion of the Christ (2004) can be re-released under the Walt Disney banner.

I also recommend a bare minimum of thought while viewing this film, lest the fun be entirely spoiled. Don't ask me why all these low life druggies are exceptional athletes and fighters, able to scale walls to the next floor with ease. Don't ask me why the inexhaustible Mad Dog is three feet tall but able to annihilate any mortal human in his path. Don't ask me why Rama hides from four thugs, when he just got through killing twenty. Just try to enjoy the splendid action scenes, that's what you're here for after all.

In fact, it seems like defibrillators hit the projector every time a fight breaks out; the movie comes to life. The choreography by Uwais and Ruhian is energetic and imaginative, while Matt Flannery's camerawork does a fine job of framing each battle in dynamic, effective fashion. The current trend for action scenes in Hollywood is still the “shaky cam” with rapid fire editing combo, which has lasted far too long. It works for war movies like Saving Private Ryan (1998) because it portrays chaos and confusion, two things we can all do without when the goal is to understand and perhaps admire what is going on. The Raid, like many Asian features, really allows its audience to appreciate the athleticism and ability of the actors. Despite being in perpetual motion, the camera holds everything in medium shot as it dollies around the action with minimal cutting. It's this combination of fine cinematography and choreography that makes the action sequences work, one without the other would be a disaster.

However, the film slips up by giving us very little to root for. Oh sure, we are supposed to get behind Rama so that he'll make it home to his wife and unborn child. It's about survival, I suppose, but Rama just isn't a very compelling character. We don't get any particularly interesting villains either. Mad Dog is a tough, formidable presence in his fighting scenes, but other than that he's somewhat boring. Sahetapy, as Tama, seems to have responded to a casting call that said, “Look mean and act heartless.” Ninety-five percent of the cast is expendable, their corpses end up littering the hallways of the complex. More than once I was reminded of the Spanish film, REC 2 (2009), which also featured a team of heavily armed men assaulting a similar apartment complex.

The other obvious comparison is Die Hard (1988), a more effective version of the “one man army in a building” concept. John McClane (Bruce Willis) was fun and somewhat human, while Alan Rickman did a bang up job as Hans Gruber, a villain everyone loved to hate. It was still an action movie, no question, but with a touch more drama to hold our interest. I think it might be more fun to watch the fight scenes in The Raid as stand alone set pieces, rather than part of the film.

Having said all that, The Raid makes good on its promises if all you desire is crazy action, booming sound effects, and gore by the bucket load. It's more enjoyable than most silly kung fu/wuxia movies, though there are several made in the last twenty years that I would take over this, including Tsui Hark's Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), Gordon Chan's Fist of Legend (1994), Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), and Zhang Yimou's Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004). I realize these films differ from The Raid in period, setting, and fighting style, but Evans has never made a secret of being inspired by “the Golden Age” of Hong Kong/Chinese cinema.

At any rate, those interested in a superior action movie made in the last year should look no further than Brad Bird's inventive and fun-filled Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011). Too bad it can no longer be seen on IMAX screens, the scaling of the Burj Khalifa won't be as effective in home theaters. Please understand, I'm not talking anyone out of seeing The Raid: Redemption, I'm simply recommending alternatives. The Raid is bloodier and more visceral than Ghost Protocol, so if that's how you like your entrées seasoned, then by all means get to the theater immediately.