Review of The Raid 2 (2014) by David B — 03 Aug 2014

I was blown away with The Raid 2, no it's not tight and action wall to wall like it's predecessor. It's a bit convoluted and a tad vague on characters introduced but I feel this might be intentional on director Gareth Evans part. He says he wants the 3rd and final film of the trilogy to start 3 hours before this ends and I feel he might be filling in some of the blanks with this (well at least I hope).

I personally think it's the equal of the first film and applaud Evans ambition. Rather than peddle out a pale re-run like say Die Hard 2, Evans has subscribed to the Christopher Nolan play book of how to make sequels and taken his first film somewhere entirely different with it's follow up. It's more epic, more explosive and yes nearly an hour longer than the first film but for me the running time is not a problem and it flew by. As long as you don't go in expecting more of the same you'll have a blast, as with the first film a strong stomach is recommended as this is incredibly violent and gory somewhat more so than the original.

Iko Uwais as our hero Rama is developing into a real star and shows a level of charisma not seen so much in The Raid, he also again delivers with some of the most incredible fight sequences ever put on screen, a muddy prison brawl, a car chase with a punch up going on at the same time and one of the goriest and visceral fight sequences in a kitchen I've ever seen. Yes at it's length it's spaced out with dialogue sequences and maybe Evans isn't as good a storyteller as an action director but this puts to shame all Hollywood action thrillers of the last 20 years, it's the real deal and worth your attention.