The Night Comes For Us

It's been a really long time since I've seen a great martial arts film that made it to the mainstream (varying degrees of course). 

In recent months I've been pining to revisit The Raid 2, which is still probably one of my favorite films that I've reviewed for this site. It's a relentless 2.5 hour martial arts epic that, even 4 years later, I can still remember specific scenes, fights, etc. 

It was incredibly deserving of the "Instant Classic" rating I gave it back then. 

So when I started to hear rumblings and glowing reviews for a spiritual successor to The Raid coming to Netflix, I knew I needed to make time for it. The Night Comes for Us has been making a stir in the past couple weeks for not only being balls-to-the-wall action, but insanely violent and gory. 

Plus it's got Iko Uwais who is likely our generation's Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, so that's always a plus as well. 

The bad news first: The Night Comes for Us is no Raid 3. It's on par with the original Raid, but dwarfs in comparison (considerably) to the gargantuan sequel. 

The good news: that honestly doesn't matter because The Night Comes for Us is still f**king crazy. 

Martial arts films always struggle a bit - and please keep in mind my knowledge is limited and this is based off very limited experience - because they feel like a plot dictated by fight scenes rather than fight scenes being dictated by the plot. The creative genius is from the various locations, elements, props, etc that occur in the fights and the plot is a bridge to get from one to the next. Both Raid movies even did this, albeit I feel like they masked it a bit better, and it's perhaps The Night Comes for Us' biggest misstep. The plot is simply that a man, once a member of the Six Seas Triad defenders, fights to save a girl. It eventually complicates itself more than that, but the additional plot lines are really thin strokes and I felt as if they came a little too late in the film. A few flashbacks seemed to be inserted to make us connect with these characters too little too late, but I still welcomed the fleshed out backstory they generated. They serve the film well, but overall, it's a simple plot (good thing) that feels like it's there to serve as the transportation from fight to fight (not good). 

Somebody bout to get in a club fight!

Notice the "Safety Starts with Me" office
sticker in the back. Priceless.

On our way to talking about the fights (we'll get there, I promise!), the film is also well made in most aspects. I really enjoyed this varied cast who are different in more ways than just their weapons. The acting is appropriately cheesy, but everyone is on the same tone and no one immediately feels like a weak link. I quite frankly love Iko Uwais and wish he would go even more mainstream, and it's a bit odd to see him in a secondary role here, but he's still awesome. The cinematography isn't as consistently masterful as The Raid 2, but it has moments of greatness where it counts (i.e. the middle of fights). Overall editing and pacing are pretty good other than the disjointed ordering of the story as I mentioned before and the original score is serviceable. It has a few really cool songs to accompany the action, but overall is largely forgettable.

Let's be honest though; you're watching this movie for the over-the-top action and gratuitous violence. In that regard, The Night Comes for Us delivers in spades and will leave you tired after watching it. Similar to both Raid films, it skirts that line with "How much action is too much?" but if you know what you're getting into, you'll be well adjusted. The fights range from good to downright bonkers and while very few are Raid 2 caliber (sorry for all the continued comparisons, but it's hard to avoid), they're all unique in some way. I found throughout the course of watching it that the one vs. one fights were the best and had far better choreography while some of the group fights felt a bit sloppy, but still enjoyable and often hilarious. Our fastest, hardest hitting, and most unique choreography comes when there are fewer characters on screen and it's when this film is at its prime. 

That face when:
the Taco Bell hits

The Night Comes for Us has similar amounts of violence to other martial arts flicks, but it dials up the gore factor to 11. It's minimal at first but by the time the film is nearing its 2 hour conclusion you'll have seen some pretty gnarly deaths that will make you squirm, look away, or just go "WTF?!?". It's fairly typical in this genre, but it's worth noting if you're trying to watch this with someone who may be offended by such things. You will see brains and intestines and all that gory stuff. You've been warned. 

My craving for crazy martial arts was satisfied having watched The Night Comes for Us because it delivers exactly what you're looking for. The fact it's readily available on Netflix means it's easier than ever to go check out. Assuming you can handle it... 

CONS

• With these films there is always the fine line of how much is too much. Varies for each person, but just know that this film flirts with it
• Presents its story in a weird way that I'm not sure was necessary. We don't care/know too much about these characters until it's too late
• Moments of technical mediocrity between cinematography and original music
• Feels very much like it was designed around the fights and the plot is simply a bridge to get us there

PROS

• Moments of technical greatness with cinematography and original music
• Stellar and varied cast including Iko Uwais
• Simple plot
• Incredible fights and choreography that span nearly the entirety of the film. The fights with less participants are the best and they hit hard and fast
• Very, very bloody and gory. Creates some fun moments of humor (because it's so over the top) and some of gross-outs
• You get exactly what you're looking for 

Rath's Review Score | 8.5/10