Russian Raid review – hostile takeover of screens in steroidal martial arts actioner

Hooligans are up to all sorts of impish mayhem in this rote action flick apparently modelled on The RaidRussia’s hooligan set will have a new Friday-night post-pub favourite with this martial arts film, modelled on Gareth Evans’s The Raid.

In a literal hostile takeover, former Spetsnaz sniper Nikita (Ivan Kotik) leads a squad of tracksuited casuals into a vodka factory/mafia front on behalf of a shady businessmen (Ilya Antonenko) looking to seize it – but he also has a personal beef with the owner.For reasons half-explained, the squad are forbidden from carrying guns, and the chief heavy (played by real-life Mma fighter Vladimir Mineev) chafes against Nikita’s command from the off.

They work their way up through the factory’s security to the C-suite, with much fisticuffs, mostly in the fashionable Mma style – with heavy emphasis on grappling and backhanded slaps that look prissy but probably aren’t.

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