The Raid
Genre: Action
Director: S. Craig Zahler
Writer: Mark Newton
Based on the 2011 Indonesian film
Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Eric Bana, Common, Demian Bichir, Stephen Dorff, Isaiah Washington, Dora Madison Burge, James Ransone, Luis Guzman, Gabriel Chavarria
Plot: Houston SWAT Officer Cole Roberts (Taylor Kitsch) enjoys a nice breakfast with his wife Amanda (Dora Madison Burge) and their newborn daughter in their quiet suburban home. Roberts then heads into the precinct where he suits up with his colleagues Officer Diaz (Gabriel Chavarria) and Officer Bowers (James Ransone). The three then head to a briefing with their superiors, Sgt. Jensen (Eric Bana) and Lt. Wallace (Isaiah Washington). They are getting ready to conduct a raid on an entire apartment building in the slums of Houston that were mostly destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. Most people left the area after the hurricane damaged it to the point of resembling a third world country, but Jensen details that since then the area has been taken over by various criminals. Wallace explains that the city pretty much left the area to the drug dealers since there weren't any tax payers left to protect and serve. Jensen and Wallace give the squad details on their primary targets of the raid. First is Tejada, a former Mexican cartel enforcer who has gone into business for himself in Houston. He has taken over the apartment building where he has been allowing criminals and addicts rent rooms under his protection.
The team arrives at the apartment building undetected. They quickly sweep the first floor, rounding up a handful of low-level thugs and addicts. The officers zip-tie the criminals. They come across a man, Jorge (Luis Guzman), who they think is bringing drugs into the building, but it turns out it is just medication for his sick wife. They tell him the stay out of the way while they do their job. Tejada (Demian Bichir) is informed by a child lookout that cops are in the building. He calls in for reinforcements, who brutally attack the SWAT team on the sixth floor. Tejada then has the lights in the building turned off. He announces over a PA system that the SWAT team is stuck on the sixth floor and that he will grant a free lifetime residence in the building to anyone who kills one of the cops. The SWAT team is soon pinned down by a barrage of bullets from the low-level thugs in the building. Wallace admits to Jensen that the primary goal of the mission was always to kill Tejada since he is in league with corrupt cops, which is the real reason the police have stayed away from the area. Wallace then admits that he set up the mission himself and that it is not officially sanctioned by the department. Wallace was tasked with eliminating Tejada off the books since his corrupt superiors believed he would turn on them.
The SWAT team retreat into an empty apartment to figure out their next move. Diaz and Bowers cover the door while Wallace and Jensen argue about what to do. Roberts grabs an axe and begins chopping through the floor to make a hole so that they can go down to the fifth floor. The team drops down into the apartment below, but find a group of Tejada's thugs waiting for them. The SWAT team takes cover in the kitchen as the thugs fire upon them. Bowers is hit by the enemy gunfire. Diaz drags the critically injured Bowers out of harm's way. While Diaz, Wallace and Jensen trade fire with the thugs, Roberts makes a Molotov cocktail and throws it at the thugs, killing them. The team realizes that they're just about out of ammunition. With more of Tejada's thugs bound to come for them any minute, the team decides to split up. Jensen, Wallace and Diaz will stay on the fifth floor while Roberts and the injured Bowers will go back up to the sixth.
On the sixth floor, Roberts and Bowers find Jorge again. They plead with him to let them hide in his apartment since Tejada wouldn't be looking for them there. Jorge reluctantly agrees and tells them to hide out. Roberts tends to Bowers' wounds, before leaving the apartment to try and find the other SWAT members. Roberts crosses paths with some machete-wielding thugs on the eighth floor. He fights them in a stairwell. He defeats the group and then takes on their leader. He grabs the leader by the head and smashes him through a window. Roberts is then grabbed by Andy (Stephen Dorff), Roberts' brother. Andy reveals that he's been working as an enforcer for Tejada since being kicked off the Houston police force for stealing drugs from the evidence locker. Andy tells Roberts that they need to get out of the building now, but Roberts refuses to leave without the rest of his squad. Roberts leaves his brother to search for his team members.
One of Tejada's chief enforcers, Mad Dog (Common), discovers Jensen, Wallace and Diaz hiding out on the fourth floor. Wallace runs off, and Jensen tells Diaz to follow. Jensen stands in front of Mad Dog, who is pointing a gun at him. Mad Dog then tosses his gun aside and challenges Jensen to hand-to-hand combat. Jensen and Mad Dog exchange blows for a minute, but Mad Dog begins to overpower Jensen. Mad Dog grabs Jensen and proceeds to snap his neck, killing him. Mad Dog and Andy both report back to Tejada, who reveals he had a camera in the hall where Andy and Roberts met. Tejada tells Mad Dog to deal with Andy before leaving the room.
Roberts regroups with Diaz and Wallace on the fourth floor. They fight their way through a drug lab as they begin making their way toward the top floor penthouse where Tejada should be. Along the way Roberts looks for his brother. On the 12th floor, Robrets hears his brother screaming and runs off from Wallace and Diaz. Roberts breaks through a door where he finds Mad Dog torturing Andy. Mad Dog allows Roberts to free Andy from his restraints and challenges the two brothers to a fight. Mad Dog has seemingly super human strength and speed and initially has the upper hand over the brothers. Roberts and Andy soon start fighting in synch and start to wear Mad Dog down. Finally, after a long, brutal fight, Roberts manages to kill Mad Dog with the help of Andy.
Meanwhile, Wallace and Diaz confront Tejada in his penthouse after killing the remaining henchmen. Wallace, however, turns on Diaz and executes him in front of Tejada. Wallace then holds Tejada at gunpoint and orders him to help him escape the building. Tejada laughs at Wallace. Roberts and Andy make their way into the penthouse where they find Wallace and Tejada. Tejada reveals that he knew about the raid before the SWAT team arrived. Wallace's superiors were really trying to get rid of Wallace himself, not Tejada. Angered, Wallace shoots Tejada in the head.
Andy helps Roberts escape the building with Bowers and Wallace. Jorge watches from his window as the squad exits the building. Andy gives Roberts blackmail recording Tejada made of his dealing with the corrupt officials he had been working with. Roberts tells him to take the recordings to Barnes in Internal Affairs, assuring Roberts that he can be trusted. Roberts asks Andy to leave with him, but Andy refuses, saying that he's a criminal now, he's good at it. Andy wishes his little brother good luck before walking back into the apartment building.
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