Michael Bay is producing a remake of a star of Iko Uwais, introduced the world to the lithe brutality of Indonesian Pencak Silat martial arts, and put Welsh director Gareth Evans on the map. It's critically lauded, boasting both audience and critic scores of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, and has a sequel that packs an equivalent punch (although it's arguably a less lean and direct movie than its predecessor). A remake of such a well-received and recent film may not feel necessary in the eyes of many moviegoers – largely because it isn't.
Many people wanted a sequel given the wide acclaim received by both movies, but The Raid 3 never happened. Evans took a break from making action cinema and returned to the United Kingdom from Indonesia, putting a pause on the series. What audiences are getting instead may make or break their relationship with The Raid and its sequel.
One of the reasons for The Raid remake's probable critical and commercial failure might be that The Raid: Redemption isn't only for action fans. Its taut structure, heartfelt performances, and escalation of the narrative in real time found a home with cinephiles alongside adrenalin junkies and fight movie snobs. The narrative thunders along and the dialogue is compelling, but the decision to remake such a physical movie for English-speaking audiences is misguided. Fight choreography is a universal language that doesn't need a forced translation.
A warning should come in the form of Oldboy. Even Spike Lee (an established, Oscar-winning director) couldn't salvage his remake a decade down the line from the highly regarded original, ing one of the worst box-office bombs in history. Ever since The Ring translated Ringu into U.S. box office gold and a wave of mediocre J-horror rip-offs followed suit, other producers have attempted to transplant extreme Asian cinema to Hollywood with poor-to-mixed results.
Patrick Hughes doesn't yet have the reputation of Spike Lee. He put together a fun action flick and sequel in The Hitman's Bodyguard and Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, and he can clearly handle the dynamics of fight scenes. However, he'd have to make a huge stylistic and technical leap to pull off this remake, and he'd be working against the fandom and the critics. Plus, excluding lead actor Uwais, the beating heart of both movies, would change the pace, dramatic core, and fighting style of the remake considerably – and not for the better. Shifting the locale from Jakarta to Philadelphia runs the risk of whitewashing landmark moments in Indonesian cinema and the Silat fighting style.
No movie should be discounted before viewing, and this remake might not all be bad news. Hughes and Bay know the task at hand given the movie's ionate following. Additionally, Raid rip-offs like Dredd may allow viewers to reframe any remake as "not really a Raid remake" but an unrelated action movie with a similar real-time narrative in an apartment block.
Bay and Hughes have sizeable action credentials and could put together a diverting enough action movie (even if Bay seems more about his pyrotechnics than hand-to-hand combat). Plus, those clamoring for another The Raid sequel might be lining themselves up for a similar kind of disappointment given the gradual decline of the once-revered Ong Bak series over several lackluster sequels. Evans said he wrapped up the narrative in the second movie, and dragging the story of a beloved franchise beyond its natural shelf life is rarely a wise idea. Audiences will have to wait to make up their minds – or avoid the remake altogether and use it as an excuse to rewatch the original.
