*The Raid 3 - Bloodbath*

Bloody, gory, brutal, over-the-top and fun! Indonesians sure know how to do a proper action movie. If I compare this to *The Raid* (which is flawless in terms of action), there's a few fake-looking moves in the action sequences here and there but for the most part the hand-to-hand martial arts are phenomenal. The choreography is superb and the action is non-stop. Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim and Julie Estelle are the standouts, they're so badass.

It doesn't happen too often but the parts with no action is when the movie takes a few bullets—not the worst story ever but meh. The characters do cool stuff, sure, but they're not that interesting. The camerawork is hit and miss for me, I hate it when it's shaky but it does capture the action in the right angles. No distinctive score or songs. Some rough character interactions and acting. The film does look good though and there's a variety of locations which keeps things interesting.

I'm here for the action though and ***The Night Comes for Us*** certainly delivers. The parking lot car sequence was so intense. Excellent use of weapons in the three women fighting scene. The last fight was the best though, i'll never look at an exacto the same way again.

It’s Crazy Rich Asians for guys! A dedication to toxic masculinity and what a movie! A spiritual successor to The Raid considering they both star and feature action choreography by Iko Uwais, this movie is brutal. Also with the way the blood flows almost in line with a splatterfest horror film. But enough about the gore, the characters really sell it and you root for Ito and his team and their path to redemption by doing one good thing in this crazy, mixed up world. If only Ito and Arian could join forces and right all the wrongs through gun and machete fights, the sun would be a bit brighter each day. Anyway, I both appreciate and get frustrated by some of the motivations and choices or back story on some of the characters. On one hand it seems that things happen in convenience to the plot on the other hand these are hints at a much larger world at play and it makes sense that this was a script turned graphic novel then turn back to film. I wouldn’t put it over either Raid film but I welcome more even if at times if feels like you are watching people actually die.

_The Night Comes for Us_ features levels of gore not found anywhere else but your most gratuitous horror flicks, so if you can't handle that sort of thing, I suggest you give it a wide berth. If some blood and guts aren't an issue for you though, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY ARE YOU SPENDING VALUABLE TIME READING THIS REVIEW THAT COULD BE SPENT WATCHING _THE NIGHT COMES FOR US_?

_Final rating:★★★★ - Very strong appeal. A personal favourite._

Even for this genre, X is exceptionally gory. And yes, over-the-top fights are what you expect as a viewer - and you get plenty of them here.

But beyond that, what motivates the story? Why should a viewer sympathize with any character, why stick around except to see the next fight?

This film actually has a very viable backstory for one of the main characters, and this is also shown in scenic flashbacks.
But unfortunately it leaves it at that. What is the benefit of having the top bunch of Triad fighters wipe each other out (plus an estimated thousand mooks) remains unclear. What's all this about? What kind of plan, what strange intrigue is behind it? On the one hand, there was a lot of emotional drama built up for motivation, but unfortunately it falls completely flat.

And Iko Uwais is kind of a star for this genre; and he is certainly a master of his martial arts. He also had the opportunity to act in this film; but if he can do that too, he hasn't shown it.

So if you just want to see the very bloody fights, then you'll be well served here. (And the score would be 7/8 for that.)

However, if you ask yourself afterwards: was this film worth your lifetime to have seen it? Then my judgement is: on the brink. You can skip seeing this without having missed anything.