Amid a sea of sequels, superheroes and bloated CGI effect comes The Raid, an incredibly satisfying and stripped-down action release that is utterly essential.

Lauded as a modern classic by numerous critics prior to this weekend there was a feeling on my behalf that The Raid could simply not live up to the hype.

As I took my seat in a crowded critic screening (many critics admitting that they were rewatching the film just because the opportunity had arose), I felt somewhat sceptical and folded my arms as it began, as much to say: “Best action movie in the past decade? We’ll see about that…”

Two hours later, I honestly could have walked out of the cinema and into another screening of The Raid, such is the visceral thrill of what Welsh director and writer Gareth Evans has brought to the screen due to a combination of expert pacing, incredible Indonesian martial arts and a pumping soundtrack from Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park).

Like all action greats such as Die Hard or Hard Boiled, The Raid is a simple story expertly told. Set in the slums of Jakarta, an elite SWAT team is tasked with conquering an impenetrable apartment block; a notorious safe house for the city’s most dangerous killers and gangsters. Considered untouchable, the mission is fraught with danger and as it soon transpires, no back-up is on its way.

The entire film takes place within this apartment block and as the SWAT team’s own body count begins to mount, the action scenes become more elaborate, more audacious. Evans’ pacing is incredibly fluid, as fight scenes (aside from a slightly over-indulgent final bout) never overstay their welcome, with the intervening dialogue scenes providing a few minutes for audiences to cool down, catch their breath and check if their socks have been blown off.

Indeed, this reviewer will admit to having nearly had to physically restrain himself from shouting random expletives due to sheer amazement of what was on the screen.

From an early scene in which the SWAT team escapes through the flooring of an apartment and the camera literally follows them down, you're under no illusions here that Evans has a few tricks of his own to match the jaw-dropping martial arts skills of stars such as Iko Uwais.

Inventive in every facet imaginable, the bone-crunching action scenes are frenetic yet never less than exhilirating and crucially, vivid. There's no shaky cam nonsense here; every blow lands without any audience confusion due to a combination of electric choreography and tight editing. After watching what two grown men can do with nothing but expert skills and a taste for survival, watching CGI monsters get clobbered in Manhattan every week for the rest of the summer doesn’t hold quite the same thrills.

The Raid is everything action fans could hope for and more. It's sense of confinement elevates its unadulerated ambitions and while there's a huge amount of blood, broken bones and battered police, you'll never want to leave its apartment block setting. A modern action classic? Believe it.