In this week’s edition of our new favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon, otherwise known as Scenes We Love, we celebrate the fact that ActionFest is happening this weekend. And while coverage of that event will be streaming in from our BBQ-fed dynamic duo of Brian Salisbury and Luke Mullen over the next few days, we thought it appropriate to get your week kicked into gear with a bit of action that, if you haven’t seen the movie it’s from, will leave you in a bit of bone-crunching awe. Long before director Gareth Evans was asked to bring his breakout hit The Raid: Redemption to this year’s ActionFest, his debut action feature Merantau was there winning the festival’s inaugural award for Best Film.
Starring Iko Uwais, Merantau delivered unto the world the splendor of Silat Harimau and told the simple story of a country boy who comes to the big city and takes down a major sex trafficking ring run. And the film’s final scene — a thirty-odd minute fight scene that will take the air right out of your lungs — is still one of the most impressively choreographed sequences we’ve seen in a long, long time. So impressive that it’s our action-oriented beloved scene this week. Well, the first two and a half minutes of it, at least. Consider that: this mayhem continues well beyond what you see here.
Watch a clip from the final fight scene of Merantau below: