The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2: Berandal (2014)
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC, 16:9 (720x480) VBR | 02:30:21 | 8 Gb
Audio: Indonesian, English: AC3 5.1 @ 384 Kbps; Spanish AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English (& SDH), Spanish
Genre: Action Thriller
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC, 16:9 (720x480) VBR | 02:30:21 | 8 Gb
Audio: Indonesian, English: AC3 5.1 @ 384 Kbps; Spanish AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English (& SDH), Spanish
Genre: Action Thriller
Gareth Evans returns to the director's chair along with his former leading man Iko Uwais for The Raid 2, which follows officer Rama (Uwais) as he is tasked with bringing down a nefarious and powerful criminal by going undercover and befriending the gangster's son, who is currently behind bars. Later, Rama's quest leads him straight to the corrupt politicians and vicious crime lords who have taken over his city. The Raid 2 screened at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.Synopsis by Perry Seibert, Allmovie.com
Make no mistake. If what you’re after is insane, mind-bogglingly violent martial arts action, “The Raid 2” is quite possibly the ultimate.
Some might argue that distinction should go to its simpler, stripped-down 2011 predecessor about a rookie cop (Indonesian Silat champion Iko Uwais) fighting his way through hundreds of armed henchmen to arrest a major drug dealer on the top floor of an apartment building. “The Raid 2” is essentially an extension of the original, though, with the same super-saturation of viciously brutal combat and the same dazzlingly stylized visual flourishes from British-born writer-director-editor Gareth Evans. Only this time, the slaughter has more of an epic quality and there’s more plot to keep track of between maulings.
Quite a bit more plot, actually, making this sequel play more like a martial-arts-movie equivalent of Scorsese’s “The Departed,” if not the “Godfather” saga. Whether or not the crowd that thrilled to the story-optional carnage of “The Raid: Redemption” will appreciate all the dramatic complications (which increase this film’s running time by nearly an hour) is debatable.
After miraculously (and somewhat ridiculously) emerging from the first film with only a few bruises, honest cop Rama (Uwais) is told that the only way to save himself and his family from reprisals is to go back undercover and root out the real bad guys: Bangun (Tio Pakusadewo), the crime lord who rules Jakarta, and a high-ranking corrupt police official. That means getting himself sent to prison, where he becomes friendly with Bangun’s imprisoned son Uco (Arifin Putra) and then hired by treacherously ambitious Uco and his father and gradually becoming embroiled in a turf war with Bangun’s Japanese gangster rivals.
The long, increasingly complicated scenario, populated by an intriguing assortment of bizarre supporting characters (including a couple known as Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Guy), has at least one structural benefit: It provides a little dramatic down time between outbreaks of ultra-violence. Until the gang war is declared, that is, and the bloodletting more or less becomes nonstop.
At that point, you’re likely to fall into one of two camps (assuming you’ve had the stomach to make it this far). You’ll either be delighted that Evans has finally, seriously gotten down to business, or a certain numbness will start to set in. Personally, I find there’s only a certain amount of bone snapping, rapid-fire stabbing, throat slitting, head crushing, facial griddle-sizzling, etc., that can be taken in before mayhem fatigue sets in — and it all starts to seem a bit tedious.
The saving grace throughout, aside from the enjoyment of watching Uwais do his lighting-quick thing, is Evans’ highly stylish cinematic flair, which frequently gives the mayhem in “Raid 2” a lush, almost poetic quality. In the middle of a pitched battle between one man and dozens of attackers, for example, the director cuts to a silent, snow-covered alley. Which doesn’t stay white long after the bloody conflict erupts through a side door.
Even if it makes you feel like covering your eyes from time to time, “Raid 2” is always worth a look.Review by Bruce Ingram, Chicago Sun-Times
IMDB 8,1/10 from 53 627 users
Wiki
Director: Gareth Evans
Write: Gareth Evans
Cast: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Arifin Putra and other
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2 (2014)
Special Features:
- Feature commentary with Director Gareth Evans
- The Cinefamily Q&A with Gareth Evans, Iko Uwais, and Joe Trapanese
- The next chapter: Shooting a sequel
- Theatrical trailer
- Previews
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