Short Film: Claycat's THE RAID

Gareth Evan’s The Raid: Redemption is easily the most intense experience I’ve had in a movie theater so far this year.  It’s a fearsome, untamed beast of an action film that offers the viewer no respite.  I don’t expect any other action movie this year to match it, much less top it.  I also didn’t expect a truly effective parody of the film to surface so quickly, especially not one featuring…claymation cats!

Claymation Cult favorite Lee Hardcastle has crafted a three minute retelling of The Raid: Redemption as part of his “Claycat Cinema” series.  It recreates key moments from the film in “Claycat Cinema” terms.  The results are legitimately (and intentionally) hilarious, especially for those who’ve actually seen The Raid: Redemption.

An Aardman Studios production this is not.  It appears to have been made with the same art materials available in just about every Kindergarten classroom in America.  Fingerprints can even be seen on the clay at points.  It’s quite surreal seeing Mike Shinoda and Joseph Trapanese’s musical score playing out underneath such silly, crude visuals.

The jokes are obvious, but each and every one of them works.  Hearing the claycat version of Tama’s intercom announcement/offer to the building’s residents is enough to leave any fan in hysterics, as it might as well have been issued by Charlie Brown’s teacher.  There’s also a running gag with a ball of yarn that gets funnier each time it’s used.  Claycat’s THE RAID brought a huge smile to my face, and I now gladly share it with my readers.  Enjoy.