Hello, everyone, I'm a fairly new member to the site, but I've been in the shadows lurking for quite sometime. Consider this my inaugural post.
Several months ago there was an article posted on this very site which had posted the trailer for
The Raid 2. At the time, I had never even heard of The Raid. What had sparked my attention however was the headline of that article. It was something to the effect of "The sequel to the film that many claim is the greatest action movie of all time". I read that headline and said to myself, "greatest action movie of ALL time? That's one Hell of an endorsement." As an action movie aficionado I was shocked that I had not even heard of this movie before.
So, with my interest piqued I decided to look up this supposed 'Raid' movie. The more I uncovered about this movie the more rave endorsements I came across. It seemed that, indeed, this movie was being touted and heralded as one of the greatest, if the not the greatest, action films ever produced. Once again, I was floored that someone like myself had not even heard of this. There was only one thing to do: grab my Visa card, head to Vudu and purchase this bad boy.
Two hours and twenty dollars later, I had finished watching the film and I was floored. Although a tad bit slow in its first act,
The Raid: Redemption very proved itself worthy of its reputation. I've seen a ton of action movies, I'm a huge fan of the genre, but this film had brought martial arts action to a whole new level. So, naturally my anticipation for the sequel
The Raid 2: Berandal was at a zenith.
So, being lucky enough to be in New York (The film was only released in NYC and LA until its wider release on April 11th) I caught a showing of it in the big city. Two and a half hours later:
HOT. DAMN.
Floored. Floored, I tells you. I'm going to keep this review straightforward (especially since you just sat through four paragraphs of foreplay): I could not remember the last time I had been so viscerally impacted by a film. This film truly ups the ante on every conceivable level. The cinematography, the acting, the plot, and the fight scenes, OH THOSE FIGHT SCENES.
Good Golly is this battle incredible.
This movie has hands down the most incredible, most brutal looking brawls ever put to film. I am in awe as to how they were able to pull some of these moves and stunts off without seriously injuring the actors. And when I say brutal I mean
brutal. This movie is not for the faint of heart, there will be moments that WILL make you flinch, but believe me, its a good thing. By the time the film is done you will find yourself just as breathless as the protagonist who basically takes on what feels like hundreds of baddies.
The story is simple; it takes place a few hours after the original. I won't say what happens but something pretty significant happens in the first scene of the film that causes our hero Rama to go undercover to take down an evil crime organization. Its all fairly basic stuff that you've seen over and over again but it is executed in a way that makes in feel fresh enough.
The movie itself feels like a much better production on a whole than its predecessor. The visuals, the locations, the score, the performances, all of it are vastly improved from Redemption.
Did I mention the fight scenes are incredible? I don't think I did. Seriously, that’s really what this film is all about. This movie is a crowd pleaser, folks. The audience that i saw this with ate this up. Without spoiling it, my favorite fight in the movie, which is the second to last battle where Rama has to fight two individuals with, shall we say, special abilities, had my theater roaring with applause at its finale. Believe me, people, the action in this movie is something that needs to be seen to be believed. Iko Uwais, who plays our hero Rama is an immaculate martial artist and mark my words: we will be seeing more of him in Hollywood after this movie. Uwais is hands down the most badass brawler of our time, or at least the best since Tony Jaa (man, would I love to see those two face off).
Ok, that's enough of my incoherent ramblings, in summary: GO SEE THE RAID 2: BERANDAL. I promise you it will be one of the most thrilling, visceral and jaw dropping cinematic experiences of your life. I'm almost worried that this film may have ruined action films for me because this truly does raise the bar to a near unreachable height.
Thanks for reading! Peace and love.