The Raid 2 eh? The announcement of the sequel to the hugely entertaining and brutally violent The Raid didn't exactly fill me with excitement. Nothing specifically against this film, more something against the idea of a sequel at all. The Raid was so refreshing; in a world of films like The Expendables with its endless ammunition and rubbish dialogue, it was eye-opening to see a film that harked back to what makes action films great. Would The Raid 2 be able to recapture that excitement? Or would it just end up going over the same old territory?
The first thing to say about The Raid 2 is that it has almost nothing at all to do with The Raid. The plot is that the main guy who survived through to the end of the insanity of the raid on the apartment block in The Raid (Rama) is now drafted into the police's anti-corruption unit. He is to get himself ingratiated into the local crime syndicate in order to find out information about how they are connected to some of the biggest criminals in the city. To do this, he needs to leave his wife and child behind, and get himself sent to prison so he can become the best buddy of crimelord Bangum's son Uco. Cue 2 and a half hours of brutal fight scenes.
Brutal. That's a very appropriate word for the fight scenes that are what The Raid 2 is all about. The film has a number of memorable set pieces. The first is a fight scene in a prison yard in torrential rain during which the ground turns to mud and prisoner after prisoner gets horribly maimed. A second is an astonishing car chase involving several cars, a motorbike and a fistfight inside one of the cars. A final one involves Rama's final assault on the offices of Uco's new associate Bejo; a sequence of fights ensues that involves Rama fighting a baseball-wielding guy, a blind girl with hammers and an amazingly choreographed stand-off between him and Bejo's number one bodyguard (pictured). It's a fight scene that starts off with a sparkle in its eye, as the characters try to work each other out and seem to relish having a worthy opponent; but then becomes a brutal battle to the death as each realise that one of them wont be walking away alive.
Currently The Raid 2 is rocking an unbelievable 8.9 rating on IMDB. Despite this score putting the film ahead of a number of classic movies, it's hard for me to disagree. The film does precisely what it says on the tin; it's an amazing action film with amazing fight sequences that gets to the heart of what makes action films great. You might criticise it for coming across like a computer game with levels, but that would be incredibly picky. You might also criticise its terrible female characters, but that's typical for this genre. It's easily as good as The Raid, better perhaps. Anyone who has ever enjoyed an action film should watch this. Hollywood needs to pay attention and take notes if anyone tries to makes another Expendables movie. Do it like this!
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