12 Foreign Films That Show Hollywood How A Genre Film Should Be Done

Country: Indonesia

Genre: Action

Plot: A SWAT team go into an apartment block to take the criminals inside down. Think Die Hard in a tower block with martial artists.

The Raid looked like another cliched action movie, but it ended up being one of the decade's best action films. So, what does The Raid do that Hollywood doesn't do?

First of all, it's intelligently simple. With action films like this, too much story slows the film down and many blockbusters make the mistake of trying to emotionally engage viewers with one-dimensional characters.

Secondly, the style it fully embraces is actually something to write home about for once. We've seen all the CGI explosions, gunfights, slow-motion and chase scenes that fill Hollywood too many times now. In contrast, The Raid uses genuinely awe-inspiring martial arts with barely any CGI and genuine suspense, with no shaky cam in sight. All of this is what makes The Raid a modern action classic, as well as that rare film which improves with every viewing.

A sequel was released three years later. It has some brilliant action but unfortunately, it tries to be a crime saga and winds up being bloated and irritating.

Remake?

Sadly, yes. The long-developing American remake is finally moving forward with Gareth Evans producing and Joe Carnahan directing. They haven't got a bad director, but what's the point of a remake?

Cynics might say Dredd 3D was a remake of this, but that was just coincidental. The Raid is miles better regardless.