A couple years ago, an Indonesian action movie was released. It had a simple plot: a S.W.A.T. team tries to take out a vicious crime lord, but instead find themselves trapped by his thugs within the apartment complex, forcing the team to fight their way in to their goal. It is almost sounds like a video game

And it’s just as cool as it sounds. 

The Raid is now getting a sequel, The Raid 2: Berandal. So I thought I would showcase the first one, released in 2012 to American audiences, since the sequel is beginning to hit more theaters. 

The movie has some great action scenes. It has numerous references to some of the great kung-fu martial arts movies, and it’s just great fun. 

It perfectly combines hand to hand combat with gunplay, for a really awesome variety of action scenes. Some of it is at time hard to watch, so if you have a weak stomach do take heed when sitting down to watch it. 

The movie, I will say, ends like a video game does: with a really powerful boss-battle that feels way too long and seems like it is impossible to win. 

The cast does good too. We are introduced to some of their back stories as well as other reasons why they are trying to take down the crime lord. It has some pretty good writing for movie that so heavily relies on violence. 

So, if you want to see a really cool action movie that has some great martial arts and punches that will make you wince, check out The Raid, and then check out the sequel when it hits theaters near you.