Action movie fans rejoice, The Raid 2 is here.
The follow-up to the 2011 Indonesian cult hit from Gareth Evans has made it to the big screen in New Zealand and it delivers on the hype.
While The Raid was a short, sweet rollercoaster, The Raid 2 is much bigger and slower paced, giving the audience time to breathe in between the hits. But then it hits much, much harder.
Martial arts sensation Iko Uwais returns as protagonist Rama, this time going undercover and into the midst of a brewing war between three of Jakarta's mob families. The first film contained all the action to one building complex; The Raid 2 bursts out all over the city with action scenes in prisons, bars, restaurants, trains, busy streets and in, on and around moving vehicles.
What makes these movies so gratifying is the sublime choreography coupled with superb camerawork. It throws the audience into the middle of the action, where we feel every bone-crunching moment. While there are a few sequences in The Raid that will remain all-time classics, I'm happy to say that The Raid 2 ups the ante and delivers action that is substantially more mind-blowing.
Evans' filmmaking style emphasises every punch, kick, gunshot, machete slice, car crash, baseball bat swing, hammer smash - all of the multitude of ways human beings hurt each other in The Raid 2 is presented with a gorgeous clarity most films don't get close to.
Every fight is constructed and filmed in a different way, each wondrously inventive. Equally as impressive is that every fight is crucial to the plot and teaches the audience something about the characters involved.
Developing several characters through action and dialogue scenes in the first two thirds of the film means when all the table-setting is done and we're into the full on thrill ride of the last act, we know plenty about each and every one of Rama's opponents. Some of them are sympathetic rather than evil, and most of them are particularly skilled and fearsome warriors.
Uwais has grown as a fighter and as an actor since the last film. This role demands a lot more emotion from him and he comfortably displays things like anguish, sympathy, hope and rage. His Silat is just as brutal as it was in The Raid, although it seems more calculated now. As the fights are not constricted in hallways, he's often working out how to take down multiple enemies at once in more open spaces.
A special mention must go to the vehicular action of The Raid 2. It is simply stunning, incorporating a combination of ingenious camera tricks with jaw-dropping stunt driving to create unforgettable results.
The plot is more complex than the original, and it does a great job of keeping the audience engaged and interested for every minute of the film. But it is a fairly simple gangster tale that has been done better in other similar films - see Infernal Affairs or The Godfather Part II as examples.
Does this hamper the enjoyment of The Raid 2 overall? Not in the slightest. The story is excellently paced and strings together the action sequences better than most action films could ever dream to. If it aspired to be something greater than it is and didn't quite make it, that doesn't detract from what an astonishing achievement it still is.
The Raid 2 is not for the squeamish. It's extremely violent, outdoing the original's brutality by quite some margin. But although there are gleefully over-the-top moments of violence, it never becomes comedic splatter or sadistically nasty. The ultra-violent shocks are added to each action sequence like a fine spice, enhancing them without being overpowering.
The Raid 2 ends rather abruptly with the door wide open to The Raid 3. We have a few years to wait before we're treated to the final part in Evans' trilogy, and I am already particularly excited to see how it all ends.
Action doesn't any better than this. Go and see The Raid 2 on the big screen while you can.
Five stars.
3 News
The Raid 2: Berandal
:: Director: Gareth Evans
:: Starring: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Raiden Integra, Donny Alamsyah, Kazuki Kitamura, Julie Estelle, Tio Pakusodewo, Ryuhei Matsuda, Kenichi Endo
:: Running Time: 151 mins
:: Rating: R18 - graphic violence and offensive language
:: Release Date: March 28, 2014
source: newshub archive
