This Indonesian martial artist is known for his breakout role as the character Rama in The Raid series. While the original film, The Raid: Redemption, is widely considered one of the greatest martial arts/action films in the last decade, it also helped in internationally popularizing the Indonesian martial art, Pencak Silat. Thanks to the intense and innovative action design of Iko Uwais himself, fellow actor/martial artist Yayan Ruhian, as well as director Gareth Evans, Silat as a whole and Indonesian action cinema have gained global recognition. After having become the 2005 national champion of Pencak Silat, Iko Uwais first teamed up with director Gareth Evans for his 2009 film debut Merantau which showcased Tiger Silat, also known as “Silat Harimau”. Since then, Uwais has traveled outside his native Indonesia for various American actioners occasionally returning to his homeland to continue keeping the Indonesian film industry as one of the premiere action nations in the world. So here are my favorite Iko Uwais fight scenes.
#12. Stuber (2019)
This buddy action comedy stars Kumail Nanjiani as the titular "Stuber", a simple Uber driver named Stu minding his own business before finding himself in the middle of a pursuit between an LA detective played by Dave Bautista and an infamous drug lord played by Iko Uwais. As the "exotic" foreign antagonist complete with a blonde sports biker look, Stuber is quite the role reversal from Uwais' more iconic police persona in The Raid series. Since there's really only 2 fight scenes with Iko Uwais in this movie, I might as well put 'em together into 1 entry.
First is the opening scene of the film involving a police raid where Uwais knocks off Bautista's old woman type glasses forcing some subsequent corrective surgery later in the movie but not before Uwais kills Bautista's partner played by Karen Gillan, an MCU co-star of Bautista's known to Marvel fans as the character Nebula. The film's final "fight" sees Bautista wrestling Iko Uwais over a gun with Kumail Nanjiani hilariously attempting to assist which only results in both of them being pistol whipped by Uwais. The world-class Silat expertise of Iko Uwais meshes well with Dave Bautista's physical performance whose Pro Wrestling roots not only give the choreographic experience needed but also supplemented his later training in real martial arts including Escrima and Muay Thai under Panna Rittikrai's protege Marrese Crump as well as earning a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt from the prestigious Cesar Gracie. The combined theatrical and cinematic martial arts talents from both men raises the legitimacy of the fight scenes that much more. Funnily enough, Kumail Nanjiani was also packing some impressive feats of physicality of his own. Around the time of Stuber 's filming, Najiani had put on up to 25 pounds of muscle to present a more convincing superhero physique for his part in The Eternals. This required Najiani to hide his bulked up body in Stuber with especially loose clothing otherwise he would've made for a fairly intimidating reluctant sidekick to the even bigger muscled Bautista. Along with Bautista and Karen Gillan, that's 3 MCU actors in 1 film. Maybe Uwais'll eventually be offered something in the near future?
Whatever Uwais' future filmography holds, every once in a while we're treated with some oddball castings like in Stuber featuring some moderately fun fight scenes all of which were made by stunt coordinator Steven Ritzi, whose work includes many action films whether comedic or non-comedic such as G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Stuber's fight sequences are short with Uwais executing pretty basic moves because the emphasis is seemingly more on comedy than action. But they are nonetheless clearly captured fight sequences shot with a hand-held shaky cam method as is the norm in Hollywood action which actually happens to suit Iko Uwais more given a similar shooting style in his Indonesian films though those had a bit less shake in them. This may be the lightest example of Uwais co-starring with other Hollywood heavyweights but it won't be the last as you'll see in subsequent entries on the list. These 2 fight scenes are merely a more simplified made-for-laughs David vs. Goliath match-up of mostly martial mediocrity but nevertheless decently entertaining hand-to-hand hilarity that will prepare you for what Uwais is really capable of.
#11. Man of Tai Chi (2013)
In Keanu Reeves' directorial debut and his sole directorial credit to date, Tiger Chen stars
as a Tai Chi practitioner whose temple is under threat of being torn down for urban development. And so to earn the money needed to rebuild it, he joins an illegal fighting tournament run by an enigmatic figure played by Keanu Reeves. As he wins increasingly larger sums of cash, Tiger Chen is encouraged by Keanu Reeves to abandon his sense of martial morality by defeating his opponents through all means necessary whether by inflicting severe injury or death. Only towards the end does Tiger begin redeeming himself and refuses to fight an Indonesian combatant played by Iko Uwais demanding instead a match with Keanu himself, the man that had set him on his immoral path.
This style vs. style match-up is more a teaser for their actual fight scene in Triple Threat (more on that later) and disappointingly but justifiably serves as a pivotal point in Tiger Chen's character arc rather than being a true fight sequence. Regardless of its brevity, we see more of Iko Uwais' personal brand of martial arts than in Stuber portraying a more traditional Silat fighter complete with a traditional outfit and traditional stances as opposed to the more modernized combat he's shown in recent films. From this 1-on-1 alone, we can already tell what an impressive full-on fight the two could potentially perform if the scene was actually made for that purpose. No surprise as Tiger Chen is made from similar martial material as Iko Uwais in terms of skill level being a competitive Wushu champion as well as a member of Yuen Woo-Ping's renowned stunt team and even considered his protege. Having met Keanu Reeves on the set of The Matrix films, the two became close friends and this kung fu camaraderie culminated in Man of Tai Chi, an old-fashioned martial arts tournament film and one of Tiger Chen's only lead roles. Keanu Reeves wanted a new style of Tai Chi to be created expressly for the film to prevent actual Tai Chi practitioners from criticizing the Tai Chi presented as an inauthentic amalgam of multiple styles of Tai Chi and other Chinese martial arts. We don't witness this in great detail in the fight with Iko Uwais but the rest of the movie is proof enough of Tiger Chen's Tai Chi talents.
Keanu Reeves' celebrity resources and familiarity with the high choreographic calibre of Hong Kong action allowed him to cast more of his Matrix brethren for the film bringing in Yuen Woo-Ping as the action director, action choreographers Yuen Shun-Yi and Ling Chi-Wah, as well as Keanu Reeves' Matrix stunt double, director of the John Wick films, the Chad of all Chads, Chad Stahelski, as the martial arts choreographer. Adding to the mix is Jon Valera, a prominent Hollywood fight choreographer responsible for the John Wick series, Atomic Blonde, Aquaman, Black Panther, and many others whose work in Man of Tai Chi was supplemented by pre-vis from Lu Junchang, a fight coordinator of Shang-Chi. There are shorter takes than you'd expect from Yuen Woo-Ping which might be due to the involvement of the other fight designers outside of his team and possibly Keanu Reeves' own intention to not entirely follow the shooting methodology of The Matrix. What does resemble The Matrix is the softer sound effects placing more emphasis on the dramatic music. It isn't a true exhibition of Iko Uwais' Silat mastery but it is technically his first "American film". Though it's labelled as a Chinese-American production with trilingual dialogue consisting of English, Cantonese, and Mandarin and a cast that includes Hong Kong acting veterans Simon Yam and Karen Mok. Some upcoming Hollywood-made fight scenes on this list are more entertaining and creatively crafted but captured far less effectively making Man of Tai Chi an example of how a western actor like Keanu Reeves can transfer his direct knowledge of properly shot action from the best fight film-makers in the world and apply it to his own film.
#10. Mile 22 (2018)
Iko Uwais has not had the greatest of luck breaking out into the western market. Part of that can be blamed on how the current generation of Asian martial arts movie actors are not nearly as in demand as they were during the Jackie Chan/Jet Li era causing big names like Tony Jaa to only manage side roles and even Donnie Yen to still not achieve as much fame as his 2 aforementioned Hong Kong contemporaries. In fact, cinematic martial artists in general are not as big business as in decades past as is the case with Scott Adkins only really dominating the VOD world. A man who is cited as the Van Damme of his time but without JCVD's theatrical success. Mile 22 was Uwais' first big budget Hollywood role and supposed to allow him to successfully cross over into the western film hemisphere. Sadly that just didn't happen despite the movie being helmed by Peter Berg, a director known for military thrillers like Lone Survivor, sci-fi blockbusters like Battleship, and superhero satires like Hancock. Berg is also no stranger to recruiting prodigious martial artists such as Ernie Reyes Jr. in The Rundown for a quick jungle beatdown against Dwayne Johnson. So it's unfortunate to see this film not launch Uwais' foray into American action cinema.
Playing a variation of the cop character that cemented his cinematic status in The Raid series, Iko Uwais is a cop from the fictional country of Indocarr (meant to sound like Indonesia) who has turned himself in to the US Embassy promising intel on the whereabouts of the remainder of some Russian cesium. A special CIA team called Overwatch (not as cool as the one from the online game) lead by Mark Wahlberg is tasked with safely escorting Iko Uwais out of Indocar to a location 22 miles away (hence the title). Uwais brings his frantic fist fighting to round out the frenetic firefights that otherwise dominate the movie's action sequences. With only 2 fight scenes to choose from, including a 3-on-1 featuring the King of Capoeira Lateef Crowder who was also one of the movie's fight choreographers and assistant fight coordinators, the winner of this entry on the list was obvious. Not long after Iko Uwais' introduction, some disguised Indocarr operatives working in the embassy building's medical lab try to assassinate Uwais. Handicapped by handcuffs, his hand-to-hand skills are translated into foot-to-foot fighting desperately defending himself from his assailants using any improvised weapon he can including the very bed rail he was restrained to.
Creatively choreographed with a vignette of visceral violence that Uwais is known for, Uwais designed the fights himself collaborating with fight choreographer/assistant fight coordinator Sam Looc, a fellow Zero Gravity stunt team member of Lateef Crowder, along with fight choreographer Rama Ramadhan, and fight coordinator Ryan Watson who is behind the fight sequences of major DC films like Wonder Woman, Man of Steel, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Star Wars streaming giant The Mandalorian, and a long line of other Hollywood hits like V For Vendetta, Serenity, and the Peter Berg directed The Rundown. Having just a week of pre-vis and 4 days to shoot, Uwais had far less time than in his Indonesian films forcing him to adapt to the incredible time constrains common to American action films. The final product is a bloody yet balletic fight that is unfortunately downgraded by the chaotic camerawork endemic to much of Hollywood's editing style. We can only be optimistic that there might be less choppily cut action in the radio silent sequel originally intended to be part of a trilogy. Until then, we have this; another lesson in an awesome fight scene made by an awesomely talented team of action designers whose work is butchered by unnecessary over-editing.
#9. Snake Eyes (2021)
Snake Eyes stars Henry Golding as a not-so-silent version of the eponymous serpentine assassin who adopts his codename after the dice roll that leads to his father's murder. Years later as an adult, Snake Eyes is brought to the Arashikage ninja clan upon saving its next-in-line leader, played by Andrew Koji, from his power hungry cousin, a yakuza boss. Although Iko Uwais has but a minor role in the film, this is one of the most expensive movies he has ever appeared in which is more saddening knowing that it was a financial flop and how very little action screen time he gets in it. Uwais plays the Hard Master who halfway through the movie issues out the first of 3 tests that will determine Snake Eyes' membership into the Arashikage clan.
Iko Uwais's Hard Master hardly shows off his masterful hand-to-hand combat at all throughout the rest of the run time which isn't surprising seeing as he not part of the main cast. But the film's climactic battle could've at least substituted his simplified Silat with something a little more worthy of his time. Instead, the only worthwhile Uwais fight scene is in an almost old-school kung fu keep away challenge that teaches Snake Eyes that peaceful discourse is often a superior alternative to more forceful means. Henry Golding performs his moves fairly well despite it being his first transition into action-heavy territory and his 2 months of intensive training paid of well especially in his on-screen swordsmanship as he merely had some casual experience in Boxing and Muay Thai beforehand. Of course, not nearly on the level of his predecessor Ray Park, Darth Maul actor and Wushu expert who portrayed the speechless iteration of Snake Eyes in previous live action films. Yet Golding still plays a comic book hero that proves he can be a lot more crazy and a lot less rich than his prior rom-com claim to fame. Ultimately, Snake Eyes is more an example of unrealized potential than it is as an action hero breakout for Henry Golding or a vehicle for adopting Asian action standards into Hollywood. Iko Uwais' cup combat sequence is honestly quite original for a cinematic fighter recognized for gritty realistic martial arts and is a testament to how flexible he can be in his overall martial aesthetic.
But even this bit of originality is somewhat undermined by the now expectedly annoying editing choices of American action film-making. Sadder still is how the combined creative efforts of Iko Uwais and legendary action director Kenji Tanigaki are wasted on camerawork that does not care for the choreography. With indie fight scene legend Bryan Sloyer at his side, also a fight scene craftsman of far better action films like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Boss Level, Snake Eyes was a golden opportunity for Kenji Tanigaki to transform the western world's action cinema by importing the live action Rurouni Kenshin series' uniquely superb swordplay stateside. In the end, unlike his former collaborator Donnie Yen, Tanigaki's attempt at entering the American market was relatively unsuccessful. Not even an actor with as much authentic martial screen presence as Andrew Koji of HBO Max's Warrior could save this movie. As the first in a now doubtful G.I. Joe: Origins reboot/prequel series,
director Robert Schwentke of not-too-bad but also not-too-good action movies like R.I.P.D. and the Divergent series, tried his best to revive one of Hasbro's most iconic properties. At the very least we can say that Schwentke knew the right people to hire to elevate the action above another forgettably failed reboot in spite of said action being sword slashed by poor edits. Let this movie be a cautionary tale in how Asian fight choreographers should always be given complete control in all aspects of their output particularly in their method of filming.
#8. Beyond Skyline (2017)
Follow-up films are often an exercise in diminishing returns but there are sometimes cases of superior sequels. 2010's Skyline is one of them where Frank Grillo is an LAPD detective who has just broken his son out of prison during a mass extraterrestrial attack leading to their later abduction and crash landing in Laos after taking down the ship that had captured them. There they meet a couple of local cartel enforcers one of which played by Iko Uwais who are in the middle of a conflict with both hostile former policemen and the alien invaders. Despite showing up only half-way through the film, Iko Uwais gets some decent on-screen action time including a bare-knuckled brawl against Frank Grillo.
Teaming up against their common otherworldly foe, Iko Uwais, Frank Grillo, and Yayan Ruhian playing an ex-cop enemy-turned-ally, put their fists and blades together in an all-out final battle while the son of Frank Grillo's son, now converted into a biomechanical giant, aids the last of the resistance against the extraplanetary aggressors. Said to be taking place in Laos, this carnage filled climax was actually shot in an Indonesian temple giving Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian a sense that they were defending their own homeland. Frank Grillo arms himself with an alien gauntlet blade meanwhile the 2 Silat masters unleash an absolute anatomical assault slicing apart their alien adversaries limb from limb, tendon to tendon, Iko Uwais with his dual daggers and Yayan Ruhian with his machete. Iko Uwais even modifies his signature Silat striking combo into stabs and slashes enhancing his special flavor of blood-letting brutality first established by, yes, The Raid. All of which filmed with a slightly shakier shaky cam than The Raid series further intensifying the blood-soaked bladework. Uwais and Ruhian may outdo Frank Grillo in pure cinematic martial arts ability but this doesn't take away from Grillo's own underrated action star charisma. Sharing a passion for martial arts with his Indonesian cast members, Frank Grillo is one of the fittest 50-year-old actors in the industry and an avid MMA fan with decades of training in Boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under preeminent BJJ master Rickson Gracie.
This triple team of some of the finest film fighters make for a fitting finale under the choreographic direction of Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian themselves as well as Very Tri Yulisman, the mysterious "baseball bat man" from The Raid 2. If Man of Tai Chi didn't count out of a production-based technicality, then this is Iko Uwais' first official "American film" and a pretty damn good entrance into the western film market action-wise making up for his (and Yayan Ruhian's) disappointingly under-utilized cameo in their other major sci-fi flick and otherwise grandest Hollywood film Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. During then first-time director Liam O'Donnell who would also direct the next installment, Skylines, which also had unexpectedly great fight scenes, probably gave Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian a simple suggestion; "Do what you do in The Raid but against aliens." That's the only sales pitch any of us likely needed to get on board.
#7. Wu Assassins (2019)
(does not feature Kathryn Winnick)
Going from silver screen to small screen silat, Wu Assassins sees Iko Uwais play a chef in San Francisco’s chinatown who is bestowed the title of "Wu Assassin" whose mission is to eliminate all 5 of the ancient Wu Warlords, powerful beings that can each manipulate a unique element. Among the many standout fight scenes in the series including a hallway fight reminiscent of The Raid, there is only one that truly exemplifies the supernatural martial arts premise best. The 4th episode follows Iko Uwais attempting to subdue his adoptive father and Triad leader played by Byron Mann who possesses the elemental powers of the ancient fire Wu Warlord in an infernal face-off that combines The Raid with Avatar: The Last Airbender. The majority of the series’ cast have strong martial arts backgrounds with Byron Mann being a skilled artist of Wushu lending him the screen fighting skills to provide a convincing pyrokinetic pummeling upon Iko Uwais casting fire balls and flaming whips on the nearly elementally outmatched silat master.
This is definitely not Mann's first martial arts action heavy role as he played Ryu in the notoriously campy 1994 live action Street Fighter movie alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme and later went on to land recurring roles in DC's Arrow and Netflix sci-fi thriller Altered Carbon. Byron Mann in fact advocated for longer takes in this particular Wu Assassins fight scene to prove to audiences the cinematic martial prowess displayed by him and Uwais. Besides the escalator segment which might've used a stunt double, Byron Mann seems to have performed much of the complex strings of striking and grappling movements all himself. The two would team up in a later episode where they fend off some racist rednecks in a diner but this 1-on-1 is the truest example of their choreographic chemistry. Mann and Uwais are not the sole screen fighters to impress action aficionados in this episode though as Kathryn Winnick fights off some Triad guards in the outer hallways. Winnick might be more recognizable as a Viking vixen from the 2013 TV series but she is really first and foremost a martial artist. Having been a Taekwondo practitioner since age 7, earning her 1st black belt at 13, and now a 3rd degree black belt as well as a 2nd degree in Karate, Winnick has opened 3 TKD schools beginning her career as a martial arts instructor for other actors before becoming an actor herself. She was even the director of Wu Assassins' 7th episode. If that isn't enough evidence that she'd be top pick for Sonya Blade in a Mortal Kombat film then I don't know what is.
Another famous movie martial artist, Mark Dacascos, also shares the lead role with Iko Uwais as Kai Jin’s warrior monk disguise. Unfortunately Dacascos’s skills are underutilized as we rarely ever see his performance. Iko Uwais’s on-screen presence would’ve also been wasted as he was initially hired as merely the action choreographer but on second thought was luckily selected as the lead character (and also producer). There’s clearly no one better to play the part and Uwais definitely deserves breaking out into the world of streaming to expand beyond his big screen filmography. Thanks to Uwais and action design assistance from Dan Rizzuto, a stunt performer and coordinator of a multitude of movies and TV series ranging from the obscure small budget to the blockbuster mainstream, the 4th episode of Wu Assassins is quite literally the most explosive action sequence in its 10-episode run filling the moderately shaky screen with fists of fury and fire sufficiently making the case for a 2nd season. And I mean an actual 2nd season and not the disappointing feature-length film follow-up Fistful of Vengeance.
#6. Triple Threat (2019)
The greatest martial arts action ensemble cast of the 21st century finally came in 2019
directed by one of the leading B-movie action directors of our time Jesse V. Johnson. A movie I was lucky enough to see in theaters during the one single day it was released I might add. Iko Uwais plays an "ordinary" Indonesian man whose wife and entire village is slaughtered by a team of hired soldiers lead by Michael Jai White masquerading as a rescue team liberating some P.O.W.s when their real objective is to free their captured leader played by Scott Adkins. Tony Jaa and Tiger Chen play members of this martial mercenary group who are unaware of their squad's hidden agenda until the village is obliterated. Iko Uwais, hellbent on avenging his dead wife, eventually confronts the two in an underground fighting ring. With an all-star list of martial arts actors like that, it's no surprise that the film is a full-on fight fest that, fortunately for us fight scene fanatics, favors fists and feet over firearms. And you really do get your martial money's worth of Iko Uwais even if his fight with Tony Jaa was cut painfully short by Jeeja Yanin's grenade launcher. The mixing and matching of multiple martial arts styles makes for some enjoyable fantasy fight fulfillment but Iko Uwais' confrontation with Tiger Chen is probably the movie's best exhibition of Uwais' cinematic silat skills.
This is the fully fleshed out fight that was merely teased in Man of Tai Chi. Tiger Chen's Tai Chi and Kung Fu blends so well aesthetically with Uwais' Pencak Silat allowing the two to have a more similar stylistic cross-over than they do with any other character in the movie. It is unarguably the fastest and most choreographically complex sequence in the film weaving together an intricate series of striking, trapping, and grappling techniques captured in extended wide shots lit in a deep golden hue forming a beautifully brutal dance of traditional martial arts in an otherwise very modern action flick. Even Tiger Chen admitted that it's his own favorite fight scene of the film. And who better to orchestrate the fight sequence between these contemporary film fighting legends than the modern martial movie maestro Tim Man and his assistant fight choreographer Eric Cullet? This fight scene would of course lead Uwais to joining the titular "triple threat" alongside Tiger Chen and Tony Jaa to bring down the likes of Michael Jai White and Scott Adkins in the film's final rounds. Yet it's the Tiger Chen vs. Iko Uwais that brings out the best in both fighters.
Tiger Chen's idea of an "Asian" version of The Expendables is what actually gave birth to Triple Threat with Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais being the first ones contacted about the concept and the first two to be on board with it. Plans for a sequel have been discussed but any further news on it has been nothing but radio silence. Until then we do have The Expendables 4 supposedly coming out later this year which will ideally provide the Iko Uwais vs. Tony Jaa rematch that could compensate for what should've been Triple Threat's excuse to pull out a powerhouse pairing of Southeast Asia's most stunning action superstars. Let's hope the Uwais-Jaa fight in Triple Threat was a teaser for the real deal in The Expendables 4.
#5. Headshot (2016)
From here on down it's only gonna be Indonesian films and you'll quickly realize why as Iko Uwias' best work almost always comes out of his own native country. The first of these is Headshot directed by the Mo Brothers, a directorial duo consisting of Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel, who until then had never strayed outside the horror genre. Iko Uwais takes on the role of an unidentified man stricken with amnesia found lying on an Indonesian shoreline by a local doctor. Their lives are soon threatened by a ruthless criminal organization that is revealed to be the very same one that raised Iko Uwais to become one of its mindless assassins. Headshot contains a bevy of bloody action sequences from a brutal bus brawl, to an office shotgun showdown, a wince-inducing baton-based forest fight against Very Tri Yulisman (The Raid 2's "baseball bat man"), and the penultimate beachside knife duel with Indonesian femme fatale Julie Estelle. However, the choreographed carnage reaches its climax in the film's fateful finale against our protagonist's adoptive father played by Sunny Pang. Quite the coincidence that we'd get another father-son fight in Wu Assassins some years later eh?
First trained in military combat when serving under the Singaporean Army, Sunny Pang later took up the Chinese/Singaporean martial art of Nam Wah Pai while also dabbling in Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kenjutsu, knife/stick fighting, Krav Maga, and the Keysi Fighting Method. Pang is a highly overlooked cinematic multi-martial artist who has mastered both the performative and creative side of the art having served as action choreographer and stunt coordinator on numerous films. And he undoubtedly brings this skillset to enhance his villainous vitriol in this familial fight with Iko Uwais which starts off with traditional stances but breaks out into a brawl of widely swung hooks and powerful kicks before transitioning into a more form-driven fight. Sunny Pang tears through Uwais' flesh with his immensely strong grip possibly derived from Dragon Kung Fu stemming from his Chinese martial arts background or perhaps some Tiger Silat he picked up from Iko Uwais. Whatever the style it is that Pang is using, Uwais is of course no slouch when it comes to his Silat skills returning Sunny Pang's own double punches back at him and executing his expected special multi-strike attacks to escape Pang's tiger-like strength and bombard him with a blinding barrage of fists and elbows.
The camera is kept mostly steady occasionally spinning around to dynamically alter the point of view and cutting to wide open shots resembling old-day kung fu flicks. Adding to the retro-kung fu feel is its similarity with the beauty and brutality of the Silat vs. Kung Fu aesthetic we saw in Triple Threat but more greatly emphasizing the brutality. The tone of the movie and this particular fight sequence is thus nearly that of some kind of Silat slasher flick taking the elegant yet often grizzly labyrinth of limbs that is the specialty of old-school kung fu cinema and dropping it into a horror-like atmosphere. Such mildly macabre martial arts mayhem was thanks to Iko Uwais and his stunt team consisting of fight choreographer Muhammad Irfan, action/stunt coordinator Very Tri Ulisman ("baseball bat/baton man"), and stunt coordinator Udeh Nans. Co-director Timo Tjahjanto has carved out a reputation for taking The Raid director Gareth Evans's style of gritty violence to the extreme and it all started with this gloriously gruesome actioner.
#4. The Night Comes For Us (2018)
Timo Tjahjanto's 2nd action film began as a simple screenplay which was then to become a graphic novel/comic and eventually wound up as a straight-to-Netflix movie. As the 1st Indonesian Netflix original ever made, the over-the-top violence sent The Night Comes For Us's otherwise TV-MA rating received by most other gory Netflix action movies all the way to an NC-17 level. Headshot dialed up the bloodshed to 11. Well, The Night Comes For Us turned it up to 12. Iko Uwais is only a supporting character here tasked with hunting down a rogue enforcer once working for the South East Asian Triad, played by Joe Taslim, who has decided to leave behind the world of crime by rescuing a young girl he was ordered to execute. Sunny Pang and Julie Estelle from Headshot are also brought back by Timo Tjahjanto in side roles. Iko Uwais' character is offered to replace Joe Taslim as one of the Triad's six deadliest assassins culminating in a climactic fight between two former friends and gang rivals. The Night Comes For Us reunites Iko Uwais and Joe Taslim who portrayed Indonesian SWAT officers 7 years earlier in The Raid but are now both on the opposite side of the law.
Joe Taslim, an national Indonesian Judo champion turned actor who has also practiced Wushu, Taekwondo, and for his Indonesian films, Pencak Silat, has arguably found greater international success than Iko Uwais landing roles in Hollywood films like Fast & Furious 6, Star Trek Beyond, and even Sub-Zero in 2021's Mortal Kombat. He's even entered the realm of streaming with Cinemax/HBO Max's Warrior and somehow ended up in Korean period film The Swordsman. In spite of his bigger breakout around the world, Joe Taslim is sort of the underdog of this story and most importantly this final fight in the beginning outmatched by Iko Uwais who is clearly the more technical fighter. His flashy suit matching his flashy fighting form carrying quick kicks and even faster fists, Uwais repeatedly outstrikes Taslim with his signature salvo of silat strikes chaining together a multitude of punch-elbow combinations. Joe Taslim gradually gains the upper hand utilizing his Judo background implementing his greater grip and ground fighting techniques devolving the at first clean and crisp fight scene into a blood-splattering bone-crunching brawl. Limbs are snapped, teeth are dislodged, tissue is torn. The battle switches between bareknuckled blood-letting to improvised weapons grabbed out of an entire garage containing murderous implements from buzzsaws to box knives. Every major hit and stab is relished in excruciating detail forcing the audience to endure the martial massacre occurring on screen. These characters may be the most dangerous and resilient killers/fighters of their cinematic universe but they are still only human highlighted by 2 particularly painful missed hits on a metal support beam. Timo Tjahajnto's Gareth Evans-inspired method of camerawork shakily but mostly steadily keeps the characters clearly in frame following their every movement to focus on the exact body part in motion punctuated by pain-inducing pauses sometimes savored through slow-mo.
This brutally epic finale required 8 days to film and was obviously the choreographic creation of Iko Uwais. Very much like Wu Assassins, Uwais was initially only cast as action coordinator but given a dramatic part once he was confirmed to be available. The Raid series co-stars Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman were also in the casting list but were too busy with other projects to make it into the movie. The actors that did show up more than made up for their absence as the near perfectly produced poetry of pain that is Iko Uwais and Joe Taslim's long-awaited 1-on-1 served as the blood-covered cherry on top of a savage sundae.
Robert Leifeld, comic book co-creator of Deadpool, declared on Twitter that Timo Tjahjanto be given full funding for the yet unmade Deadpool 3 and even a solo movie revolving around the character Cable who appeared in Deadpool 2. After last year's effectively comedic but bloodbath of an action film that was The Big 4, that proposal is all the more persuasive. A spin-off/sequel of The Night Comes For Us with Julie Estelle's character is already written, the next installment of a trilogy that has so far made no production progress.
Since only 2 out of the 6 top triad enforcers are shown, Joe Taslim and Sunny Pang, the remainder were planned to be revealed in future films that still haven't reached the light of day. Whether we will ever see more from this seres is unknown but suffice it to say that besides Gareth Evans, Timo Tjahjanto has rightfully claimed his title as one of the grandmasters of gore when it comes to action cinema and that's in no small part due to Iko Uwais' involvement.
#3. Merantau (2009)
While Timo Tjahjanto has stayed within the Indonesian cinematic stage, his friendly competitor and primary source of action inspiration, Gareth Evans, has remained busy overseas with his mafia thriller streamer Gangs of London and the who-knows-when-it-will-come-out UK actioner Havoc starring Tom Hardy. But before all of these British brawler classics ever existed, Evans skyrocketed himself up the action movie-making hierarchy by summoning up a silat storm to come all the way in Indonesia. That storm was none other than Merantau, Iko Uwais' film debut and his first official movie with Gareth Evans after their first-time collaboration in a previous Silat-centered documentary. In Gareth Evans' foray into feature-length film-making, Iko Uwais stars as a silat practitioner who must partake in the titular tradition of "merantau", a rite of passage in which a grown man must pursue a living outside of his village. Uwais is intent on becoming a silat teacher but after his new building of residence is unexpectedly demolished and saves a girl from her abusive shady employer, he becomes entangled in the city's seedy sex trafficking network. Merantau is an excellent exhibition of a traditional style of Pencak Silat called Silat Harimau also known as Tiger Silat.
Not nearly as bloody or violent as Gareth Evans' later filmography, Merantau's sensational silat-centric stuntwork sails through alleyways, rooftops, night clubs, as well as an elevator fight with The Raid's very own "Mad Dog" Yayan Ruhian in his own first film. As the old cliched saying goes, the best is indeed saved for last in a closing fight atop shipping containers.
Knocking out and knocking over henchman after henchman, the bone-snapping grappling and precise body strikes likely took influence from Tony Jaa's Tom-Yum-Goong but adds Iko Uwais' distinct flair ending his techniques with his anticipatory jittery-footed hand-waving movements before moving on to the next opponent. This 1 vs. many segment is followed by a 2-on-1 against the crime boss himself played by Danish actor Mads Koudal and his right-hand man played by Lohan Buson, a French martial arts actor, Wushu master, and one of the founders of Z Team Stunts. Most martial arts action cinephiles know of Iko Uwais, but Lohan Buson's name has gone far less heard, a fight choreographer of The Witcher series, and creator of two of the best indie fight flicks out there, Die Fighting and Duel. Buson spent several years as a Beijing Wushu team member and undergone 1 year of training at the original Shaolin Monastery soon after making one of his first film appearances as a minor henchman in the Michelle Yeoh starring live action manga adaptation Silver Hawk. Buson's acrobatic Wushu talents, disappointingly but understandably, are toned down for the more grounded approach in Merantau. Coupled with Mads Koudal's brute strength, Lohan Buson's flexible legs present quite the challenge for Iko Uwais. But Uwais, being a silat specialist, keeps the two traffickers from staying in standing position by launching leg strike after leg strike prompting the traffickers to even the odds by arming themselves with some skull-cracking crowbars.
Filmed in 10-day shoots for 2 weeks straight, Iko Uwais was given the reigns as fight choreographer, a dramatic and creative achievement for Uwais and a testament trust in his talent afforded by his director Gareth Evans. There is none of the familiar shaky cam that we know and love from Gareth Evans who had only relied on a wide open steady camera that sometimes slowly circles around the action in 180 degree turns or quickly zips away to and from the fighters in focus or to fully appreciate the excellent body breaking stunt falls off the shipping containers. The higher-pitched chirp that would be re-used for The Raid elevates the realism of the fight sequences differentiating itself from the still very realistic but more intentionally intensified bombastic bass of Timo Tjahjanto's films. Merantau is what gave Iko Uwais his first step towards silat superstardom who was at the time working for a phone delivery service and introduced Pencak Silat to much of the world as a viable cinematic martial art announcing Indonesia as one of the newest nations to contend within the global action arena.
#2. The Raid 2: Berandal (2014)
Sadly we have never been blessed with a third entry in The Raid series which would have acted as a spin-off/midquel set a couple hours before the final moments of the The Raid 2. Staving off any chances of sequelitis that might have plagued production of a potential Raid 3, director Gareth Evans decided to return to the UK as a hiatus from martial arts film-making. If The Raid 2 is the last we'll ever see of this franchise then it can be considered a satisfying end to a classic silat saga. As did it's predecessor, The Raid 2 raised the already insanely high standards of martial arts action films and action cinema as a whole boasting a superb selection of silat sequences from a claustrophobic bathroom brawl, to a prison courtyard free-for-all, a car chase that blurs the boundaries between a fight scene/shootout and a vehicular pursuit, as well as the the warehouse rampage and 2-on-1 against hammer girl and baseball bat man immediately preceding my personal pick for Iko Uwais' 2nd best fight sequence, the kitchen karambit carnage with Cecep Arif Rahman. Reprising his role from the previous film, Iko Uwais goes undercover to infiltrate Jakarta's criminal underworld and the crooked cops allied with them. Although the drawn out duel between Uwais and Cecep Arif Rahman isn't technically the final action sequence, it is definitely designed like it is.
Cecep Arif Rahman, previously a Silat instructor and elementary school English teacher, in his debut film plays the movie's deadliest assassin, foot shuffling his way towards Iko Uwais in the most honorable arm-crossing fight in an otherwise dirty back-stabbing crime thriller of a movie. Featuring two of the savviest silat masters, Iko Uwais and Rahman display a definitive demonstration of almost the complete range of Pencak Silat movement but in bloodier, more practical combat than the somewhat more traditionally focused Merantau. Starting in standing stances, moving to crouched positions, grappling their way onto the ground, and all the way back up, the two utilize possibly every strike known to silat until Cecep Arif Rahman realizes his only advantage lies in his concealed dual karambits. Iko Uwais frantically dodges Rahman's spinning slashes before disarming and arming himself with one of the two karambits turning a frenetic face-off of fists and feet into a savage knife battle. Every fight sequence in The Raid 2 is a vicious struggle for survival and the seriously beaten down and battered Iko Uwais only wins by a literal razor's edge, every slash and stab splattering the serenely clean kitchen with a bucket of blood.
Preparation for such a climactic showdown necessitated half a year of cast training, 6 weeks of planning out, and a little over a week to shoot the entire scene. The camerawork is as varied as the physical techniques executed by the combatants melding wide shots with close-ups, short shots with longer takes, shaky cam with steady cam, and slow-motion with real time resulting in the camera acting as its own character moving within the space around the fighters meticulously following their every motion. By now you would probably guess that the one in choreographic command of the fight sequence is of course Iko Uwais whose creative talents are backed up by co-choreographer Yayan Ruhian and guest choreographer Larnell Stovall of Undisputed 3 fame. The final result is director Gareth Evans' personal favorite of the film, a beautifully brutal ballet of bloodshed that shot Iko Uwais further into the silat stratosphere. Also, I may used one too many silat alliterations in the last few paragraphs....
#1. The Raid: Redemption (2011)
Coming out in 2011, The Raid was only Gareth Evans’ 2nd film and sophomoric collaboration with Iko Uwais but it spawned an entire sub genre of silat cinema redefining martial arts movies and action film-making itself. Iko Uwais plays a member of a special police squad storming a multi-story building to apprehend a notorious drug kingpin and the criminal residents seeking refuge there. Uwais leads the action appearing in all but one fight scene (Yayan Ruhian vs. Joe Taslim) whether it be a two-room close quarters gun melee, a hallway tonfa-knife skirmish, a drug lab beatdown, or an epic brotherly brawl against the "Mad Dog" himself Yayan Ruhian. As highly regarded as the last of those fight sequences mentioned is, my choice for Iko Uwais' best fight scene of all time is the movie's mid-act machete mayhem.
All cast members portraying the SWAT officers received real-world training in weapons and tactics from KOPASKA, Indonesia's actual Navy Special Forces, but that in no way makes them ni-invincible elite paramilitary soldiers. Establishing a survival horror like tone especially evoked through a nail-bitingly tense wall-hiding scene preceding the machete fight, Iko Uwais at this point is merely attempting to stay alive and only resorts to unarmed combat when there is no way out. Dim drab dread-inducing lighting and a pulse-pounding menacing techno-traditional soundtrack accentuates the film's intense and relentlessly grim atmosphere further heightening the sense of danger and fear felt by an exceptionally skilled yet still very vulnerable human being. Sadistic killers or not, there is humanity in even the criminals that have mercilessly wiped out the majority of his squad as we see the remorse and horror of Iko Uwais realizing he was forced to impale an adolescent onto the jagged wooden base of a broken door. Each machete gang member is individualized from the first unfeeling waist-grabbing man who is only disposed of with a back-breaking throw off a balcony, to the enraged youngest member witnessing the death of his close companion who himself is killed in even more brutal fashion, to the braid-wearing kicking specialist, and finally the strongest and most wildest among them all, their leader. Every minor character is fleshed out with distinctive combat characteristics making the fight more than just another encounter with faceless henchmen.
Iko Uwais anatomically dismantles his assailants kicking and elbowing legs and joints in a show of economically brutal silat savagery. All the while conveyed through Gareth Evans' stylistic yet gritty cinematography and amped up by a slightly bassier sound design than his prior film Merantau. The Raid 2's kitchen open-handed-to-knife duel may highlight Iko Uwais' ability to choreograph and perform one of the bloodiest yet technically immaculate silat sequences out there but the original Raid's machete gang fight claims greater novelty in its survivalist scenario and the coordinated chaos of juggling between multiple blade wielding men in a tight narrow space. This hallway fight is thus a hallmark of Uwais' gifts both in front of and behind the camera as action designer along with his choreographic confidante Yayan Ruhian and of course their directorial collaborator Gareth Evans forever cementing the trio's sovereignty over cinematic silat. Now, I know that James Gunn and company are completely overhauling the DC cinematic universe but could we just get that Gareth Evans Deathstroke film made anyway? I mean, it could still happen given the loose nature of the DCEU not to mention the existence of the separate Matt Reeves Batman trilogy and stand-alone Joker movie.
And there you have it fellow film fight fanatics. The 12 greatest Iko Uwais fight scenes of all time. Comment on how much farther you think Iko could push himself into the western movie market or if he should stick to his silat strengths and stay closer to Indonesia. Subscribe to the website to be notified of the next article where we go back to Hong Kong by covering Wu Jing!