#foregin

Introduction: The Raid: Redemption (or simply The Raid) is a martial arts action film starring Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Ray Sahetapy, Yayan Ruhian and Donny Alamsyah. Directed by Gareth Evans, this film was first released at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 8, 2011 before being released in theaters on March 23, 2012 in Indonesia and on DVD and Blu-Ray in the United States on August 14, 2012. The film received positive reviews with 86% out of 155 critics giving an average score of 7.5/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The film ultimately made a total of $9.1 million worldwide, plus $9.4 million on DVD and Blu-Ray sales in the U.S.. With a reception like that, it makes one wonder if there’s more to this film then just impressive martial arts or if it’s just style over substance. Well, let’s dive in to this and judge for ourselves, shall we?

The Plot: The plot of this film is as follows: Rama (Iko Uwais) and a team of 20 men infiltrate an apartment building to take down the infamous crime lord, Tama Riyadi (Ray Sahetapy). However, Tama has his goons get the jump on the team and only 5 members remain: Rama, Bowo (Tegar Satrya), Jaka (Joe Taslim), Wahyu (Pierre Gruno) and Dagu (Eka Rahmadia). As they traverse the building trying to complete their mission, Rama encounters his estranged older brother, Andi (Donny Alamsyah) and we learn what’s happened to him and why he’s part of Tama’s gang. The “Redemption” part of the film comes into play when Andi questions his loyalty to Tama. The reality is this film is very much a survival story with Rama and his team trying their best to stay alive while also finding Tama and taking him out. This film takes the time in between the amazing action scenes to tell a coherent story about survival and loyalty without being overly preach about either moral.

Cast and Characters: While none of the cast is recognizable by American audiences, these men leave a lasting impression with their memorable performances. Iko Uwais brings a level of charm and grit to the character of Rama, making the character likable and sympathetic throughout the picture. Donny Alamsyah brings the right amount of sympathy to the character of Andi, and his chemistry with Rama is spot on. Bowo, Jaka, Wahyu and Dagu are each portrayed with a level of realistic and sympathetic as they try their best to stay alive. Then there’s Tama, the main antagonist of the piece and the one Rama and his team are trying to get. Ray Sahetapy plays the roll very calm and collected as he shows a certain form of apathy towards the team, seeing them as mere bugs to be squashed. His most trusted henchman is Mad Dog, played brilliantly by Yayan Ruhian, who shows no mercy when he’s hunting down Rama and his crew.

Awesome Action: As a martial arts movie, it’s only fitting that this film is littered with amazing action sequences. The type of martial art used in this film is NOT kung fu, but Pencak Silat, in which every part of the body is subject/used to attack. The choreography for the film was lead by Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian, and it shows in the final product how much the actors practiced their techniques. The film uses plenty of wide shots and long takes to showcase the skill and accuracy of every punch, kick and blow to the body. One of the best action scenes in the flick is Rama’s first hallway fight when he’s trying to protect Bowo. It’s such a perfect, well timed sequence and it was all done in 1 continuous shot. The actors and director deserve credit for their commitment to making the action as memorable as possible.

Where it Falters: Bowo, Jaka, Wahyu and Dagu aren’t really given much character development in the picture, so you’d be forgiven if you did’t remember them by the end. Also, the first action scene in the film is a standard shootout. While not bad, it’s not really as memorable. 

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙩, 𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙 “𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡” 𝙖𝙣𝙙 “𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡” 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙮𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣.

𝙀𝙧𝙞𝙘 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙝𝙞𝙢.

𝑱𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑬𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏, 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒈𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓, 𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅, 𝒑𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒚 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.

𝑬𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒂𝒈𝒖𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕, 𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝑬𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 “𝑵𝒐!” 𝑨𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 “𝒀𝒆𝒔!”

𝙀𝙧𝙞𝙘 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙙, 𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥 𝙖 𝘽𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚. 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝘼𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢.

𝘿𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝙀𝙧𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨.

𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙣𝙖𝙥𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨𝙩. 𝙀𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣.

Eric wasn’t truly possessed.

He developed a genuine hatred for religion solely based on the abuse he received under the name of one.

During his psychotic break, Eric killed roughly around 4/5 people, before fleeing.

The next time he was caught by another priest who attempted another exorcism on him. He is visibly fuming. Not because he had a demon inside him but because he wanted to be left ALONE. All Eric does as the priest spews prayers in his face is set the cross on fire with his mind.

Believing that this child was truly possessed by an evil entity, and was a threat to the town. The priest conspires with the parents of his own nephews, and older brother to lure him to the tidelands and leave him there for the incoming flood.

Eric drowns in that flood, his body later found and taken to the basement of the very church he worked at and buried in a crypt.- The church later being relocated and a library being built over it.

( It being revealed that Helma‘s grandfather took over as head priest after Eric had murdered the pedophiliac priest, and upon realizing his own possible fate, as well as guilt set the church ablaze then took his own life. )

His death, and the circumstances that lead to this child’s mental breakdown since then are hidden, and lied about to anyone whom may ask.

It isn’t until his nephew Phillip, returns to his childhood town and resurrects Eric from beyond the grave, to return as the Gonger a vengeful poltergeist who takes his anger out on those who betrayed his trust in life and murdered him.

Eric embarks on a mission to murder everyone responsible for his murder, his nephews, and brother. While he is also livid that he has been painted with this horrible name also through his telepathic abilities shows Phillip in a series of agonizingly painful flashbacks the truth about his life and what actually happened to him.

Phillip feels genuinely horrible for how this child was treated, and even says “He was still just a child.” Upon learning exactly what the priests had said about the boy in a notebook including photographs of what he had done. As they declared him pure evil, the cursed child.

That being the only true thing stated.- Eric had cursed himself to forever walk the earth as the Gonger for his own sins of murder. The mark of which is seen on his hand, appearing very much like a birthmark. That most likely steadily began to appear after the last person was killed at his hand.

I feel the Gonger movies, and the character Eric Hansen are simply far too underrated, unrecognized, and simply just not as well known for being such a heartbreaking, powerful story of a child who was gifted with these abilities that weren’t understood in the time period, alongside mental illness which this boy most likely definitely also suffered with after years of neglect, and abuse. Both simply seen as a demonic possession that could be driven out via exorcism.