Here’s another guest post from KatieBot!
“THE RAID 2: Berandal” (10 out of 10) Written and directed by Gareth Evans; starring Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Arifin Putra, Oka Antara, Tio Pakusadewo, and Alex Abbad; currently unrated; limited release March 28th; running time: 148 minutes
Last year action geeks from all over the world were introduced to “The Raid: Redemption;” an Indonesian action movie from Welsh Director Gareth Evans. And it was perfect. That isn’t exaggeration, this was the best action movie to come out in the last ten years, easy. The fight scenes were brutal and beautifully shot, the plot was simple and easy to follow, and there wasn’t anyone that has topped it with all of the Hollywood money at their disposal. Evans is being held as the next great action director and the movie did an excellent job of showing how movies are changing in a global world. There wasn’t any question that a sequel was on the way and “The Raid 2” made its premiere at Sundance 2014 with huge shoes to fill. A follow up to what is considered THE action movie of the current age?
Is it even possible to live up to all of that?
Our story picks up directly after the events of the first movie. Rama (Iko Uwais) is more or less blackmailed into working for the anti-corruption sector in order to protect his family. His mission is to get close to boss Bangun (Tio Pakusodewo) by befriending his incarcerated son Uco (Arifin Putra). Things get even more complicated when Rama’s personal vendetta against the criminals threaten to come down around him along with the entirety of organized crime in Jakarta.
The movie is just fantastic. The fact that Rama has to go undercover in a prison means that the movie is able to start with a prison fight and keep the momentum going. The pacing is spot on and, despite it being over two hours long, it never feels off. There are a few moments where the movie slows down, but they are usually moments that are full of tension and people threatening each other. The dialogue isn’t as sharp as something you would expect out of, say, a Tarantino movie, but it’s good enough that you’re always engaged.
Unlike the first film, where the story was more of a setup, there is a lot more plot going on in “The Raid 2.” We’re dealing with the mob, so all of the normal cliches are there; power hungry son, crazy assassins with weird choices in weapons, people getting killed and betrayed, all of it is present and accounted for, but I can’t really hold that against the movie. It uses cliche in a good way, allowing the focus to be on the fight scenes, and that’s what we’re here for. They are spectacular; well shot and the choreography is breathtaking. A good action scene is when you, the audience, can always tell where everyone is in proximity to each other. It’s what makes the fight scenes memorable when other movies tend to be so busy you can’t remember anything that happened in the big set piece fights.
The movie even manages to elevate itself with a little more diversity and features a female assassin giving one of the best beat downs on a train that I have ever witnessed in a movie. There isn’t enough of her or her incredibly quirky and crazy assassin buddies but by the time they show up the movie has already gone freaking nuts.
Back in 2012 I went to the midnight premiere of “The Avengers.” The moment in the movie where the camera swoops around the entire team and the theme plays at full blast my entire theater erupted into claps and cheers. I love moments like that and I don’t see them happen very often because it means that the audience is really into the movie. During my screening of “The Raid 2” my entire theater erupted into cheers and claps more than once.
“The Raid 2” is another action masterpiece that raises the bar for the entire genre, from a director who is just getting started on what is going to be an extremely promising career. If a lot of punching, kicking, and brutal beat downs are your sort of thing I recommend you check this one out when it comes out in late March. Absolutely recommended.