Review: ‘Russian Raid’ is an Action-Packed Extravaganza

March 8, 2021

RUSSIAN RAID Ivan Kotik Well Go USA — Well Go USA Entertainment

When I think of Russian action films, it takes me back to the ’80s and ’90s, as movies like Red Scorpion, Red Heat, or even The Russian Specialist (that one is 2005, but you get the idea) were all the rage. So I certainly became interested when I heard the title Russian Raid for a couple of reasons. I knew by the title it drew some sort of inspiration from Gareth Evans’ superb piece of action cinema The Raid (2011). Also, a martial arts film from Russia? Sign me up! So I guess the question will be, is it any good?

As a child, Nikita (Ivan Kotik) lost his father, a secret agent who was murdered by Russia’s most vicious criminal. As an adult, Nikita is now a former Spetsnaz operative working as a mercenary. He’s hired by a shady business man who assembles a team to storm and take over a guarded abandoned warehouse. The team immediately begins to clash with armed guards, as well as each other, as they quickly learn their boss isn’t exactly who he claims to be. The warehouse is the home of a massive Russian military weapons cache that belongs someone who Nikita knows all too well, someone he hopes to unleash his vengeance on.

The film starts out slow, taking its time to establish plot, meet the characters, and to build anticipation. Once you get past all this, the action kicks in and rarely lets up. It takes the approach where director Denis Kryuchkov deliberately only gives you a little bit at a time until, eventually, all hell breaks loose.

I’ll get back to the action in a minute because we need to mention the film’s star Ivan Kotik. This film is certainly a vehicle designed to showcase his talents as a performer. He’s appeared in bit parts with the likes of Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, and Nicolas Cage. While the supporting cast is highly impressive (and trained fighters as well), it’s Kotik who really impresses throughout the picture.

The action scenes are kind of all over the place. They make sure to throw in a little bit of everything. Shootouts, sword fights, explosions, brawls, and stylized martial arts action. There were a few times they attempt to stylize with ultra-fast camera movements, which detracted a bit from what was happening. I did, however, appreciate the fact they attempted a few different things I’d never seen before and the use of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) during many of the battles, which certainly added to the excitement.

Although some may find a few grievances with it, Russian Raid is still an impressive effort by all and hopefully the film is successful enough to reunite this team so they can take things one step further.

Russian Raid is debuting on Digital, DVD, and Blu-ray on March 9th from Well Go USA Entertainment.