Blistering action film that more than delivers on a small premise. An Indonesian SWAT team are ordered to take down a big time drug baron and his hoards of kung fu hustlers in a dilapidated tower block, before finding themselves locked in and forced to fight their way out. Evans takes all the best elements from his lumbering debut Merantau (namely most of the cast and his superb silat choreography) and sets phasers to carnage. In a breathless, relentless, head-crunching 100 minutes, extras are dispatched with violent efficiency, from grisly blade battles to point-blank gun fire. Iko Uwais plays the ace in the pack. He has a wayward brother on the inside and a baby on the way, which is seemingly enough of a motivation to explain his superhuman instincts. He is the best fighter, too, although brown-nosing henchman Mad Dog (Ruhian) is just as wild, preferring to put down his guns and fight empty-handed so he can “feel the pulse”. In trimming down the dramatics of his first film, Evans manages to make The Raid everything Merantau could have been. The film’s ultimate simplicity is bolstered by the glory of its set pieces, many of which will no doubt leave people squirming and wincing in their seats. It’s Die Hard with a Machete.

AKA: The Raid