The Raid 2 (2014) (English)

The Raid 2 starts where the first film left off. The brother of Rama is killed, and Rama gets the mission to infiltrate a syndicate and at the same time reveal corrupt policemen. Can you smell the blood?

The Raid is again directed by Gareth Evans, and once again we find Iko Uwais in the lead role starring as the policeman Rama. Yayan Ruhian who played Mad Dog in the first film, also shows up in the sequel in a minor role.

To get straight to the point, many critics thinks that The Raid 2 is better than the first film. That statement is in my opinion wrong. The first film had almost no downtime. The pace was perfect, and the energy was there almost all the time.

The Raid 2 has not the same rhythm that was found in the first film. The problem is that running time is 150 minutes. That is about 45 minutes too much. It’s actually more dialogue than action scenes in The Raid 2, that’s just wrong when you make a film in this genre.

But when it is time for action, you really feel the wild energy that the series is known for. Especially with a wild car chase, a tough hammer woman and the final action scene that is just awesome. It is a pity that the hammer woman and her companion, baseball man, did not get more screen time. They come in lawful late, but they nearly steals the show.

The Raid 2 has more varied action scenes compared to the first film. The protagonist is not trapped in a large apartment complex, now he is out in the open. It starts in a prison, but after that he is actually out for a drive as a passenger and he can travel around a bit while he beats up bad people. But when I compare the highlights and the action choreography with what we saw in the first film, I still remember the best moments from the first film, minus the final battle against the strongest villain in the film. That was a disappointing fight.

Where the first film disappointed was with a tedious and repetitive fight scene against the strongest villain, it’s the other way around with The Raid 2. When Rama meets the strongest villain, this fight took me back to the classic and main battle in Drunken Master 2. For a wild and energetic fight scene we are witnessing here! For a wild and raw and energy, it almost feels like that the actors hated each other, because this is a wild and raw energy you almost do not see or feel anymore in films. Excuse me for cursing, not that I mean it, but it’s fucking awesome to watch. More, more, I want more!

In a way I was disappointed by The Raid 2, because I had a lot of expectations. There is too much dialogue, and a generic story about power struggle, betrayal and some gangsters who are taken out of a C-film. That’s not the reason why I watch a film like The Raid 2, director Garteh Evans made a huge mistake to focus so much on the generic bad guys and too little on tempo, rhythm and action. But that said, although the fight scenes where the protagonist must fight against several villains simultaneously becomes repetitive, it becomes considerably better when he isolated and meets only one or a maximum of four people in a scene. At that point I was in action heaven.

You must of course see The Raid 2 if you are a fan of the first film. But I think you will get a little bored, because the running time is too long.

7/10

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The Raid 2 (2014) (English)

7/10

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