There seems to be much debate over the origin of the saying "Be careful what you wish for, as it may come true", but we've all heard this cautionary phrase which warns that the thing you think you desire may not be desirable in the end. I came of age in the 1980s and watched very horror movie that I could. Well, if you know anything 80s horror, then you know that, in most cases, no matter how cool the film's concept was, the final result was typically 85 minutes of talking and stalking and only about 5 minutes of actual action. We all like action in our movies, so I yearned for a movie which actually made good on its promises and featured wall-to-wall activity. Well, I got my wish when I shelled out way too much money for an import DVD of the 2000 Japanese film Versus, which I'd heard was the answers to my prayers. Sure enough, the movie is chock full of action, so much so that it become overkill after a while and I learned that a little story and character development can be a nice things. Recent film festival hit The Raid: Redemption comes close to falling into this category.

The Raid: Redemption takes place in the slums of an Indonesian city. An elite SWAT team, lead by Dagu (Eka "Piranha" Rahmadia) and Jaka (Joe Taslim), have arrived in an armored vehicle with the intent of storming the apartment building run by crimelord Tama (Ray Sahetapy) in order to take down the thug. The building is large and completely controlled by Tama's gang. The heavily-armed policemen have completely underestimated their opponents and while gaining entry into the building is relatively easy, they soon find themselves overwhelmed by Tama's forces. Rookie cop Rama (Iko Uwais) soon finds himself alone and roaming the corridors for a way out. How can this young man escape this high-rise death-trap?

I'm a sucker for an interesting behind-the-scenes story and The Raid: Redemption certainly has one. Writer/Director Gareth Evans is Welsh, but went to Jakarta, Indonesia to work on a documentary. There, he met Uwais and learned of the Indonesian fighting style called "pencak silat", which often involves blades. Evans and Uwais made a film entitled Merantau and then made The Raid: Redemption. The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and began to build buzz as it played more festivals, becoming that rare action film which appeals to the arthouse crowd.

However, not unlike so many films before it, The Raid: Redemption arrives unable to live up to the hype. There's no doubt that this is a good-looking and well-made movie. Evans, Uwais and all of the actors and stuntmen (are there stuntmen in Indonesia?) have worked very hard on the fight scenes and the choreography. The fights are very detailed and lovingly filmed. We've seen knife fights in movies before, but I can't remember another martial arts film which had so much stabbing...wince-inducing stabbing. Sure, there's plenty of punching and kicking and some gunplay here, but the knife-fighting really stands out. The production design handled well, as the bleak corridors and sparsely furnished apartments add to the sense of doom encountered by the SWAT team.

However, I can't shake the feeling that so many critics and film festival crowds are falling over themselves to praise this movie because they haven't seen anything like it. Well, I have and therefore I didn't find The Raid: Redemption to be anything special. Once you get past the somewhat unique fighting style, there's not much originality here. Evans admits in the extras to having been influenced by John Carpenter, but I didn't need to hear him say that to figure that out, as it's evident throughout the film. The Raid: Redemption is essentially a reverse siege film, in which the main characters came in to a location and now can't get out, and it's very reminiscent of Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13. However, much of the movie made me think of Escape from New York, despite the fact that it's set in a building, as opposed to a decaying city. Evans attempts to add some substance to the script by including some plot twists, but these do little to support a screenplay which is just a skeleton on which action scenes have been hung.

And, not unlike that expensive Versus movie (which has since been released at a much lower price in the U.S.), The Raid: Redemption offers nearly 100 minutes of action, but it gets repetitive and numbing after a very short while. Again, the fight scenes are very detailed, but they go on for too long with very little variety. I guess if you are a martial arts fanatic/expert, you'll find these scenes interesting, but the average person will simply say, "How many times can these guys punch each other and still get up?" And the movie contains one of those scenes where wave after wave of faceless baddies attack a good guy only to be beaten down. Why do all of the bad guys think that they are going to be the one to finally bring down the guy who's abusing everyone? The most disappointing thing about The Raid: Redemption is that it didn't have "the" scene. Most of these movies, no matter how bad they are, have that one scene that you immediately rewind and watch again, and then call someone into the room to watch with you. But, this movie never reached that point. The Raid: Redemption is certainly a solid action movie, but it's also decidedly mediocre, bringing nothing new to the table and inspiring no re-watching.

The Raid: Redemption teaches us not to stand near windows on DVD courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The picture is sharp and clear, showing only trace amounts of grain and no defects from the source material. So often Asian films, even brand new ones, can look flat and faded, but that isn't the case here, as The Raid: Redemption has a slick look. The colors look good, although there are few bright colors in the dark environment and the image is never overly dark or bright. For a DVD, the image is detailed -- never too soft -- and has a nice amount of depth. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The pulsing music sounds fine here and the action scenes fill out the front and rear channels. The subwoofer effects nicely enhance punches and gunfire and the cries of the rampaging bad guys come from the surround channels with good detail.

The Raid: Redemption DVD contains several extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Writer/Director Gareth Evans. "Behind the Scenes Video Blog" (39 minutes) sound as if it might contain random video, but this is a series of making-of vignettes which focus on the cast's training, the locations, the fighting and stunts, and the staging of some specific scenes. These piece do indeed contain a nice amount of on-set footage, as well as comments from Evans and the cast. "An Evening with Gareth Evans, Mike Shinoda, & Joe Trapanese (41 minutes) is a Q&A session with the trio which was clearly shot at a screening, in which the film and the music are discussed. "Behind the Music with Mike Shinoda and Joe Trapanese" (11 minutes) shows the two musicians at work in the studio. "Anatomy of a Scene with Gareth Evans" (2 minutes) has the filmmaker breaking down the "hole in the floor scene". Here he admits to being influenced by Escape from New York. Really? "In Conversation with Gareth Evans and Mike Shinoda" (11 minutes) has the filmmaker and the musician interviewing one another. "Inside the Score" (90 seconds) is like a commercial for the soundtrack. "Claycat's The Raid" (3 minutes) is a claymation version of the film featuring cats. I enjoyed this more than the actual movie. "The Raid TV show ad (circa 1994)" (1 minute) is a fake animated trailer for the movie which looks like cheap anime. The final extra is the THEATRICAL TRAILER for the film.