The Raid Q&A: director Gareth Evans and star Iko Uwais

Twenty cops. One ruthless criminal. Thirty floors of hell. You really have to see The Raid to appreciate just how exciting and nail-bitingly intense the Indonesia-set action movie is. Its story is lean and simple – SWAT team versus criminals in a dingy Jakarta tower block – its action sequences shot and edited with the eye-watering aggression of a horror film. And as we mentioned in our review earlier this year, it’s one of the very best action movies of the past few years.  The precision of Gareth Evans’ filmmaking is matched by the sinewy athleticism of its star Iko Uwais. If his chosen martial art, silat, was almost unknown in the west before The Raid, then the fearsome array of kicks, punches and elbows to the face packed into its 101 minutes will soon sear it into the film-going public’s consciousness, just as Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak provided a showcase for muay thai.  With The Raid out in the UK on the 16th May, we thought we’d share the following question and answer session with you. Following a screening of the movie (which had the entire audience, including the director’s parents, gasping and yelping with shock and appreciation) Gareth Evans and Iko Uwais spoke entertainingly about the lengthy process of planning and filming The Raid’s numerous, kinetic fight scenes, stunts, injuries, and what we can expect from its sequel…Spoilers lie ahead… That final fight sequence. How long did it take to shoot">Facebook chum here.