The Raid: Redemption (2012)

A fact Hollywood does not want you to know: American action films pale in comparison to their foreign counterparts, and “The Raid: Redemption” –- made in Indonesia -– is a prime example. The plot is bare bones but all the better for it: A skittish SWAT unit raids a high-rise slum apartment building to nail the drug lord who rules from a top floor. The cops must battle goons, killers, and drug-fueled tenants at every inch and on every floor. The daddy-to-be rookie officer (Iko Uwais) who finds himself leader of the unit has a secret up in the high-rise, and I guess that’s where that “Redemption” part comes in. Director /writer Gareth Evans, a Welsh transplant, has made a film that neatly excises all dialogue from the genre, and focuses on the most intense martial arts fight I have witnessed, including a three-way between Uwais, and two of the drug lord’s henchmen that may defy physical logic with its horrific beatings, but must be seen. (Really, see this. Now.) Logic and continuity errors pop up, but that does not diminish this film as a treat that kicks American ass. Pure adrenaline. B+