The Hollywood remake of Gareth Evans’ 2012 action masterpiece The Raid: Redemption has struggled to get off the ground, but two outstanding martial arts films make a direct remake all but unnecessary. In an interview with Kristian Harloff, Werewolves and Creature Commandos star Frank Grillo spoke on the struggles in realizing the Hollywood remake of The Raid, to which Grillo himself was once attached. Grillo also stated his newfound feelings that the two The Raid films “should be left alone” and that “If something is that difficult to recreate, it’s telling you something.”
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The Raid focuses on an Indonesian police unit that storms a Jakarta apartment complex populated by criminals, only to find themselves fighting for their lives when the building’s criminal overlord unleashes his tenets upon the team. Despite over a decade in the works, The Raid‘s English-language remake seems unlikely to happen anytime soon, if ever. That is probably for the best, as two popular martial arts from India and Australia respectively capture the greatness of The Raid in their own unique ways – namely, Baaghi and Life After Fighting.
2016’s Baaghi Is A Bollywood Riff On The Raid
Following his big-screen debut in 2014’s Heropanti, Tiger Shroff returned in his sophomore outing as leading man with the 2016 Bollywood martial arts film Baaghi (Hindi for “Rebel“). Shroff plays a rebellious youth named Ronny, who comes under the martial apprenticeship of Guruswamy (Grandmaster Shifuji Shaurya Bharadwaj). Soon, Ronny becomes a skilled exponent of the Indian martial art of Kalaripayattu, but when his girlfriend Sia (Shradda Kapoor) is kidnapped by ruthless rival Raghav (Sudheer Babu), Ronny must battle an entire apartment complex full of his enemy’s henchman to save her.
Baaghi acts as a Bollywood version of The Karate Kid in its first third, and draws clear influences from Tony Jaa’s 2003 hit Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior in its second act. The real pay-off for Baaghi is the movie’s extended final showdown in the towering apartment complex, with Tiger Shroff blasting through fight after fight in an explosive Bollywood ode to The Raid. Shroff’s extraordinary martial arts and gymnastic skills and dynamic screen presence, along with the film’s loving tribute to India’s ancient martial art of Kalaripayattu, make Baaghi a real treat for martial arts fans.
The success of Baaghi launched Tiger Shroff to Bollywood action movie stardom, and kickstarted the popular and ongoing Baaghi movie franchise. Meanwhile, fans of The Raid have a kindred spirit in Baaghi with the movie’s Raid-esque action scenes seasoned with plenty of Bollywood flair and musical numbers.
[RELATED: The Raid 3 Plot Revealed by Director]
2024’s Life After Fighting Has An Epic Raid-Style Finale
2024 saw the arrival of another spiritual successor to The Raid in Bren Foster’s directorial debut Life After Fighting. The movie centers on Australian former MMA champion Alex Faulker (Foster), who runs a thriving martial arts school. When two of Alex’s students are abducted by child traffickers, Alex heads into a life-or-death showdown with the kidnappers.
Life After Fighting presents a layered and gripping tale of Alex coming to terms with the end of his MMA career, while trying to become a strong mentor for his students. Life After Fighting hits its pinnacle in the finale, in which Alex faces the child trafficking gang in a glorious 40-minute smackdown. Drawing clear inspiration from The Raid, Alex takes on a continuous succession of masked opponents, battling his adversaries in hallways, office spaces, and on the school’s mat. Alex also causes excessive amounts of damage to his own school with the number of foes he smashes into walls, floor, and through windows.
Bren Foster’s script and direction are excellent in his directorial debut, while his acting chops and astounding martial arts abilities immediately put him alongside the likes of Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, and The Raid‘s own Iko Uwais as a modern martial arts movie titan. Additionally, Life After Fighting‘s 40-minute finale fully equals the intensity and power of The Raid, and is one of the best final showdowns since The Raid itself.
[RELATED: One of the Best Action Movies You’ve Never Heard of Is Now on Prime Video]
Baaghi & Life After Fighting Work Better Than A Direct Remake Of The Raid
Rather than directly recreating The Raid, Baaghi and Life After Fighting plug its life-or-death battle in an singular environment into their own respective stories and arcs of their distinctive characters. That, in turn, is essential to understanding why Baaghi and Life After Fighting work so well.
For Baaghi, the movie’s Raid-style finale is the culmination of Tiger Shroff’s Ronny going from an undisciplined youngster to a focused warrior fighting for love. Baaghi also doesn’t make Shradda Kapoor’s Sia into a helpless damsel waiting to be rescued, but a warrior in her in own right, with Sia even replicating The Raid‘s head-slam-into-the-wall money shot in the finale.
For Life After Fighting, Bren Foster balances a story of Alex dealing with the regret of how his MMA career (and his marriage) ended, and channeling his fighting spirit into inspiring his students. Life After Fighting displays its Raid-DNA in its finale with Alex’s fighting skill and warrior mindset put to the test in the most challenging battle he’s ever faced, in which Alex is fighting not just for himself, but those he cares about the most deeply.
In the end, The Raid being among the greatest action movies ever made makes it a tough nut to crack with a remake. While the influence of The Raid has frequently been seen in action films, Baaghi and Life After Fighting are two of the movies to have understood its lessons the best. These titles have risen to the occasion as the most enthralling homages to The Raid that world could ever ask for, making a remake nearly unnecessary.
The Raid: Redemption is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
