The Raid 2 is
writer/director Gareth Evans’ sequel to the 2012 breakout hit The Raid. After barely surviving the
assault on the tenement block, Rama (Iko Uwais) is recruited by his superiors
for a deep-cover mission inside a prison in order to befriend a powerful
warlord’s son (Arifin Putra). After two years inside, and having emerged
unscathed from riots and attempts on his life by other prisoners, Rama is drawn
into an escalating conflict between rival gangs, delving into the depths of
porn dens, drug trafficking and, as you’d expect, a series of increasingly
violent incursions.
One of the few criticisms levelled at The Raid was that it’s narrative structure was too simple, and The Raid 2’s 150-minute running time
ensures that a simple cops vs thugs romp evolves into an intricate crime drama,
which begins to feel more like The Dark
Knight than just a martial arts movie. Nolan’s Batman sequel film has already
been cited aplenty in preliminary reviews of the movie, but the notable difference
here is that The Dark Knight devoted
too much of its running time to an un-necessary love triangle and one too many
scenes of ‘moral panic’, Evans manages to find room for the smaller and more intimate
scenes in amongst the action sequences and allows the drama more time to fully
unravel without feeling rushed.
As for the fight sequences, undoubtedly the main selling
point of the film, they are orchestrated masterfully. While the first movie
made me feel like people were genuinely being badly hurt, The Raid 2 made me wonder how no-one was actually killed
during filming, as the combination of physicality, incredibly solid sound
design and the sheer amount of blood on screen leads to an raw, intense and
often wince-inducing experience that is gleefully gory and breathtakingly
choreographed. The martial arts are beautifully orchestrated, each fight
building on the last and managing to raise the stakes still higher, introducing
fresh environments, weapons, and fighting styles.
The cast all perform extremely well, Iko Uwais particularly
lending an electrifyingly intense screen presence that shifts seamlessly
between sullen, desperate, and incredibly determined. Arifin Putra is more than
capable as the up-and-coming young crime lord, his feverish determination
bridging the gap between power-hungry and power-mad, and his various rivals and
cohorts perform admirably, Julie Estelle providing one of the most memorable
screen adversaries despite how little screen time is devoted to her.
Joseph Trapanese makes a welcome return as lead composer,
the pulsing electronic score returning to the fray, remaining unobtrusive but
giving the fights an underlying level of menace burning away beneath the
crunches and thuds of the martial arts. The joint cinematography between Dimas
Sabhono and Matt Flannery is also back, always keeping pace with the whirlwind
of action and never feeling like it's simply running to catch up, and providing
some starkly bleak establishing shots of the city and surrounding countryside.
The Raid 2 is an
astonishing collection of action, martial arts and intricate character drama
that are flawlessly executed, and provides a level of intensity rarely seen on
screen. If – like me – you’ve felt that action movies of late have lost their
physicality and a sense of genuine threat in favour of headache-inducing CGI
and giant robots, then set aside a
couple of hours and see Gareth Evans’ martial arts masterpiece. Trust me; you’ll
emerge from the cinema feeling like you’ve been beaten savagely over the
head...but in the best possible way.
5 Stars
5 Stars
