Directed by:
Gareth EvansScreenplay:
Gareth EvansCast:
Iko Uwais, Arifin Putra, Tio Pakusadewo, Oka Antara, Alex Abbad, Cecep Arif Rahman, Julie Estelle, Very Tri Yulisman, Ryūhei Matsuda, Ken'ichi Endō, 北村一輝 (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Following immediately after the events of THE RAID, Rama (Iko Uwais) is forced to reinvent himself as an undercover cop in order to provide protection for his wife and child. Working for the anti-corruption taskforce led by the one person he can trust, Bunawar, he is given a mission to engage himself as an enforcer for a local mob boss, Bangun. Finding a way in through Bangun's son Uco, Rama must hunt for information linking Bangun with police force corruption. All the while, he harbors a dangerous and personal vendetta for revenge and justice that threatens to consume him - and bring both this mission and the organized crime syndicates crashing down. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (15)
The Raid 2 is for contact action movies what Heat is for he crime movies, what The Dark Knight is for comic book movies, what Once Upon a Time in the West is for westerns and what The Shining is for horror movies. Basically, a genre movie that breaks down the boundaries of this “ignoble" movie genre. It is the plot that’s the most surprising about part two. Yes, really, the plot, something that last time didn’t even figure as essential stuffing, simply because it chose to be nonexistent. This time we have a plot good enough to stand alone even without all that neat action stuff. This time it is a broad uncompromising dirty Hong Kong-style gangster movie that reminds you of Internal Affairs etc. and where the motivations and emotions make sense. In any case, most viewers will just be watching it for the action scenes anyway. And the pleasing thing about it is that even though the choreography was extremely ambitious (and very gory) offering incredible crowd scenes as well as extreme “face to face" fight scenes, it really hurts (the characters and the viewer; especially the final fight scene in the spotlessly white kitchen) and it’s made without any fancy stuff; no tough-guy lines or hyperbole, no shaking camera hand in hand with machinegun editing to cover imperfections and punches that missed, no wires and obvious CGI, but everything nice and clear using long (really long) takes. So, while the rather monotonous part one contained quite a few scenes that were worth watching more than once, here the whole two-and-a-half hour movie is worth your while to watch more than once. And with a movie where everybody’s hitting everybody else all the time, that is the best possible recommendation.
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Gareth Evans is an incredible talent. His ability to compose shots in calm passages with pedantic precision reminded me of the first Kill Bill, where Tarantino also fondled every image. On the other hand, he always manages to spice up action scenes with some unexpected visual flourish and breathtaking vivacity, with choreography that is unrivalled today. Indonesian boys, hats off to you! It's a pity that the film as a whole is a mere wait for each excellent action sequence and the plot in between is nothing but necessary filler that fails to engage the viewer (at least in my case). Still, I applaud Evans and I can't imagine what this guy will throw at us in the future. Hell, he's not even thirty yet! It’s truly admirable how much skill he has despite his youth.
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(49th KVIFF) The atmosphere in the big theatre was unique, but the sequel of The Raid was a big disappointment for me, mainly because it’s a totally different genre than the first one, which was basically a horror survival. Here Evans tries to tell some kind of intricate Mafia drama with a complex story, but he is not quite successful at it: the motivations are lost, the plan as a whole is unclear and, mostly, it’s terribly boring overall. The moment they start kicking the living shit out of each other, though, it’s nice to watch. The choreography of the fights is amazing, but they don’t make much sense from a narrative standpoint. The last hour, when the characters finally have said everything they wanted to say, it’s fun, but the bad aftertaste of the gruelling ninety minutes that preceded it is impossible to forget. Evans should come back down to earth.
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It tries to be more epic, visually polished, and technically lavish with better action scenes than the first film. The action is indeed slightly better, but I still have a feeling that the classic arcade mode was more attractive for this subgenre. The pace is ideal and very enjoyable, and each step up meant better and better villains until the finale. Plus, there’s no need to deal with these or those characters and their motivations. Here, there is a plethora of everything, although the essence is still the same, so in the same trivial story, there is only more chaos and confusion, which spoils the indescribably perfect action scenes. It has a bit of Michael Mann's neon lights, a bit of Michael Bay's cinematography and sound editing, and a touch of Ridley Scott's visual poetry, and Quentin Tarantino (especially the silent scenes with snow, hammers, etc.) – thumbs up for all of this, but I would only watch it again for the action.
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A modern gem of Asian cinema. The Raid 2 is unquestionably the best, biggest and most brutal martial arts and action flick under the sun. Iko Uwais resembles a young Jet Li and he is becoming the martial art star of our time at least for me. Gareth Evans is the most skilled action director on the planet, the guy is a genius, he has impeccable visuals, the most realistic action scenes ever shot on film and perfect camera work. The violence and brutality in the film clearly make a mockery of all PG-13 action films, and the $4.5 million budget makes an even bigger mockery of all big budget Hollywood blockbusters. But the highlights were the flurry of action sequences from the muddy prison (uncontrollable mayhem), a fantastic car chase that will be talked about for a long time, a superb twin action scene where the level of brutality can only be rivaled by horror movies, and a final fight that will take your breath away from the intensity and insanity. Watching will make you swear and scream like at the hockey world championship, sweat and get exhausted like during a 20 kilometre marathon, and most importantly, watch with your mouth open at something you've never seen before in your life. I've never had such an experience, I feel like watching the film over and over again. Awesome! 10/5
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