The Raid 2

  • USA The Raid 2 (more)
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After fighting his way out of a building filled with gangsters and madmen, rookie Jakarta cop Rama thought he could resume a normal life. He couldn't have been more wrong. His triumph attracted the attention of the criminal underworld, and with his family at risk, Rama has only one choice - to join the gang undercover and begin a new odyssey of violence. (Entertainment One)

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Reviews (14)

J*A*S*M 

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English (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. ()

POMO 

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English If Gareth Evans controlled the characters and dialogues as skillfully as Andy Lau did in Infernal Affairs, The Raid 2 would have been the best action movie ever, even better than the best of John Woo in the fight scenes. But it’s too long, with too many characters and an overly complicated plot. For this to be a pureblood action movie, there are too many dialogue scenes that fill two-thirds of the film and try to build a mega-epic drama. Visually, however, it is perfect – especially the interiors are refined in the manner of Kubrick. A great aesthetic experience on the big screen at Karlovy Vary’s Thermal Hotel. ()

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Kaka 

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English 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. ()

Lima 

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English 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. ()

Marigold 

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English The first film was the work of an excellent choreographer, part two an excellent director. The first film is a test reel for this heavy stuff. Sure, it has a simpler structure and thus a seemingly stronger push, but where Evans hit the accelerator pedal to floor the after a few minutes (and monotonously hummed after a few minutes), he demonstrates in part two the precise revving of the machine. At the end it gets to a speed where I say quite responsibly: I have not seen anything better, more pampered, more of a catalyst and more brutal in an action film. Kinetic crap that only the third Bourne film can compete with. Evans also turns out to be a good narrator, if not a screenwriter - he works well with the acting material (the return of the man-macaque !!!), delicately pulls the atmosphere of corpse neon sets even in quiet passages and manages to squeeze more from the main character than an elbow harvester. Despite the rather murderous runtime and the very transparent plot, it holds tight and does not let go. The film has very simple but brutally effective emotions under an incredibly badass aesthetic surface. The film hooked me so much that I experienced the kitchen scene with Rama (together and deliciously) physically - for me, it's A Space Odyssey of fight scenes. The Raid 2 it is not just a level plaything, but rather a monstrous and enchanting world, something similar to what Refn tried to do in Only God Forgives. This is a major genre event for me, compared to which the competition is just shaking with digital and wired shame. [95%] ()

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