It was only a matter of time before one of the best action movies of the last five years, Indonesian actioner The Raid: Redemption would be getting an American remake. Having already secured a director, the film has potentially just cast its lead character.
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Frank Grillo, who we last saw playing Crossbones in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a fine and imposing actor, is set to play the lead in the remake. The film is set to be directed by Patrick Hughes, who has another small action movie coming out in August that you might have heard of, The Expendables 3 starring Stallone, Statham and just about every other action star ever. One is surprised that Grillo is not amongst the cast.
A remake of The Raid: Redemption seems pointless to me. Yes, it is not in English, but the plot is so paper thin and the dialogue rather stilted that it doesn't matter. You could watch the whole thing with the sound off and not miss a beat, though you would miss out on some incredible sound design. The original film concerns a group of police officers who storm an apartment building owned by a major criminal, who then must fight their way to the top of the building. If you have not seen it, you simply, simply must.
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Grillo boosts the profile of any project he's in and is as physical an actor as there can be, so the real wild card lies in the Hughes himself. The Expendables 3 is sure to be filled with violence aplenty, but I can guarantee it will be edited with the choppy, quick cuts that have so dominated American action films of late. What makes The Raid: Redemption and its even more insane sequel The Raid 2 is the deliberate, steady hand of its director, Gareth Evans, and the physicality of its star and fight choreographer Iko Uwais. They're beautifully done action scenes, filled with long takes and ballet-like grace. American action films are big on explosions, but rather lacking in the fluidity of fight scenes that their Asian counterparts possess.
The original films utilize the Southeast Asian martial art called silat, which focuses heavily on joint manipulation, strikes and weapons work. I hope I am wrong and that Hughes and Grillo can make something as beautiful and brutal as the original, but I fear the film will be graceless and more concerned with 'big man punching big man' than anything resembling well thought out choreography.
There is still plenty of time between now and then. Filming on The Raid: Redemption remake will begin in January.