review by Ian Loring
Merantau 2009
Watched May 15, 2012
Ian Loring’s review:
In prep for The Raid I thought it was about time I saw the first Evans/Uwais team-up and while the narrative is complete balls and the film is far longer than it needs to be, the action in the thing which takes up more of the runtime as the film goes on is absolutely incredible with an obvious lack of stuntmen and wonderfully coherent editing creating a great many combat scenes which really do get you pumped, and it's all helped by the unique hot neon look provided by Jakarta. Uwais is a force of nature and in hearing The Raid is a serious step-up has me very excited.
Blimey Ian, The Raid is such a step up from this for both Evans and Uwais. It is going to knock your brains out of your ears.
On watching The Raid I LOVED it but I'd still say some of the action here rivals it.
Agreed, the fight in the elevator is magnificent. Easily on a level of the raid.