The Raid 2 released July 8 from Sony Pictures.
This Blu-ray review is a continuation of a two-part look at the Indonesian action films of Gareth Huw Evans. You can view Part 1 on Merantau and The Raid here for the full story; or simply read on for a look at The Raid 2 Blu-Ray.
After the critical success of The Raid, Gareth Evans and his production partners were able to go back to the original plan that they had abandoned due to budget constraints: a sprawling gang war tale called Berandal, only now it would serve as a sequel looking at the continuing tale of Rama (Iko Uwais) following the events of the first film.
Perhaps because of its origin as a stand-alone film, The Raid 2 pretty much works even if you haven’t seen the first film. While it does benefit from knowing the original narrative, most of those elements are dealt with in the first few minutes before the film charges down a new path with Rama working as an undercover as part of a special anti-corruption task force. That said, the film does benefit from watching the original first — not only for the continuing plot threads, but some callbacks that fans might catch onto, such as an under-the-table shotgun that recalls The Raid‘s under-the-table machete.
The Raid succeeded in a contained environment and occurred over the course of a single day, but the sequel casts its net much wider, going full throttle into a bigger story — starting with sending Rama to prison for two years on a mission to befriend Uco, the son of a major gang boss named Bangun. Once he’s out (but not until after a massive prison yard brawl in the mud), he joins the gang as a mole, reporting back to his superior, Bunawar. This is a return to the bigger and sordid world of organized crime and that was hinted at in Merantau, but here we dive headfirst into the muck. Rama’s first job for the gang is to deal with a sleazy violent pornography outfit that has expanded their operations without the proper permission or tribute (spoiler: they all die horribly). Their problem, Bangun states, was that they didn’t know their place, and he fears that his overly ambitious son Uco has the same fault.
Power-starved Uco is unhappy with this father’s even-handed and non-confrontational leadership, and he stirs up trouble by conspiring with Bujo, a hungry mid-level gang boss, to ignite a gang war with the Japanese yakuza, a foreign influence that he despises seeing have control in his territory.
The plot is pretty straightforward, but there are quite a few characters and factions to follow including the leadership of three gangs, their members, and in particular several top enforcers whose main purpose is to fight, fight, fight. Sometimes the giant cast of characters gets a bit confusing, such as when “Bat Boy” and “Hammer Girl” appear and start killing people left and right with extreme prejudice. I wasn’t sure which faction they were with until a later scene when they’re hanging out a Bujo’s place.
With the change of scope and environment, much more of the film is traditionally shot than the first film which was almost entirely in documentary-style (shaky-cam). While there’s still a lot of that here in the action sequences, the overall look is far more cinematic, including a lot of quite gorgeous cinematography.
Yayan Ruhian (Mad Dog from the previous film) makes a return, despite having already played a character in this universe. He’s the Danny Trejo of the franchise: he could come back as a different character in every film and nobody would complain one bit because he’s awesome. True to the “loveable bad guy” thread that has defined his previous appearances, here he plays a top enforcer and friend of Bangun who tries to live with quiet dignity and take care of his estranged family, despite his violent occupation.
The big draw to this franchise, though, is ACTION. There’s plenty of it here (including 19 fight scenes, according to the commentary), and it’s totally brutal stuff. Perhaps the coolest is a sprawling and astoundingly shot fight-within-a-car-chase sequence which must be seen to believe.
In my analysis of The Raid I described it as having something of a video game structure with “levels” and “bosses”. If we stick with the gaming analogy, the finale of The Raid 2 is like a “boss rush”. At Bujo’s place, Rama must defeat all the major henchmen and enforcers before confronting the top bad guys. That only takes a single sentence to say, but in film terms that’s a sustained succession of major, blood-soaked fight sequences with some very intimidating combatants. And while in the first film Rama and his brother tag-teamed against the villainous Mad Dog, the sequel features a reversal callback when Rama finds himself fighting the terrifying siblings Bat Boy and Hammer Girl.
I don’t know if I can agree with the many who claim that The Raid 2 is the greatest action film in years/decades/forever, but it’s unquestionably a superb and mind-bogglingly visceral action spectacle.
THE PACKAGE
The Raid 2 comes to Blu-Ray in a pleasing release from Sony Pictures, featuring original Indonesian and dubbed (English, Spanish) soundtracks.
The film is the same version that screened in US theaters, somehow miraculously rated R for language, some sexual content, and absolutely ludicrous amounts of excessive, bloody violence.
Special Features
For Blu-Ray lovers, there’s definitely a major advantage to having an English-speaking Welshman at the helm: we get a ton of great features, mostly in English. Many Asian martial arts films lack these extras, or they are poorly produced or simply hard to follow in their original languages with subtitles, so this is a great benefit.
Gang War Deleted Scene (4:37)
An amazing fight sequence involving two rival gangs mowing each other down in a close-quarters battle. It’s not a rough pre-viz or raw footage, but a fully produced and edited sequence that could be reinserted into the film. If it takes place where I think it does in the narrative, it would actually help give more weight to the scene in which Bangun scolds Uco about the losses they have sustained. This is the same deleted scene which was released online immediately prior to the film’s US opening, prompting us to wonder, “If this is what got cut, how amazing must what was left in be?”
The Next Chapter: Shooting A Sequel
A discussion of the second film’s continuation of the first film and expanded plot and character threads. Contains an amazing behind-the-scenes look at how the Alfonso Cuarón-like camera work in the chase scene was accomplished, not by using complicated camera rigging, but simple handoffs from operator to operator — a trick that was also used in the first film’s “hole drop” scene but is now taken to an astounding new level of complexity.
Ready For A Fight: On Location (12:59)
Behind-the-scenes look at the prison yard fight sequence
Cinefamily Q&A with Gareth Evans, Iko Uwais, & Joe Trapanese (44:09)
Violent Ballet: Behind The Choreography (19:03)
Director Commentary by Gareth Evans
I didn’t have a chance to review this commentary, but I have done so for The Raid and can say from that experience that Evans knows his films inside out and makes a terrific, engaging, and informative commentary experience with no dead space. From what I’ve sampled, it seems the same is true here as well.
Theatrical Trailer (1:36)
A/V Out.
More Cinapse coverage of The Raid 2:
Ed Travis — THE RAID 2 Expands, Sacrifices Tightness For A New Scope
James Carey — THE RAID 2: BERANDAL — UK Theatrical Review
Get it at Amazon:
The Raid 2 — [Blu-Ray] | [DVD] | [Instant]
The Raid 1 & 2 — [Blu-ray]
