Martial artists are probably the best athletes on the planet. That becomes evident when you watch such immaculate action spectacles like The Raid 2: Berendal. When blended with an ambitious, Mafioso-thriller story, it becomes one of the greatest action sequels of all time. Yeah, I done went and brought it.
A direct sequel to the global hit The Raid: Redemption (which features an English redub by Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, which we can also forget about), this little Sundance darling quickly made waves as one of the best action movies in a decade. On that totally-not-pressure-filled note, it doesn’t disappoint.
Anyone who basked in the originals glory is well accustomed to its nutter butters style fight scenes. Here it’s all elevated to jaw-dropping heights.
Machetes and guns are traded in for bats, hammers, knives, chairs, fist-blades and more machetes. Pretty much anything that can be picked up and used to bash someone with is used to deranged perfection.
And don’t forget the carnal rule of action sequels: With bigger weapons come bigger sets. The slim hallways of the original are replaced with massive warehouses, car chases and a possibly recording breaking mud-wrestling bout.
Within these sets brains are mashed, throats are ripped out, bones are broken and more brains are mashed. But it’s not all just blood and guts. It’s done with grace. The actors and stuntmen are like murderous ballerinas dancing to pulsating score. It’s quite elegant; think Gone with the Wind, but with slightly more blood.
What makes the movie stand above the rest of the competition is not the impressive scope of the action, but of the story as well. Whereas the original was a simple cop action movie, The Raid 2 has a much more Godfather like tone.
A mafia thriller filled with deception, seedy black locations and plenty of discussions over wine. From its opening moments it feels like a superior action movie, designed to take itself seriously but still have plenty of fun doing it.
Director Gareth Evans is a true talent, understanding what made the original great but still having the ambition to take everything higher. He has an artist’s eye for creating atmosphere out of both carnage and human drama. And I don’t mean artist like shooting butterflies while some angsty teen quotes a random dead poet. I’m talking framing, color palettes, and music that envelop the world the characters live in. You know, stuff most action movies don’t have.
The story is only slightly muddled. That’s not because of the dialogue or the fine performances. It’s mostly that along with increasing everything from blood to drama, characters end up falling in between.
There are just so many of them it’s hard to keep track of who’s doing what and why, or who they even are. As a result, some of the main characters are stuck on the sidelines while someone else does their thing. It’s the cost of trying to be more operatic, but it’s a price I’m glad they paid.
What more could I say about such a kinetic piece of filmmaking? The fight scenes, as well as the men and women behind them, are breathtaking and there’s a moody, well-directed story to back it all up. Actions fans will go ‘gaga’, but there’s still plenty for artistic folks (*cough* snobs *cough*) to enjoy. The latter may have to adapt to the Passion of the Christ level gore. Luckily its less torture-y, and more “Oh my God, where did that guy’s face go?!”
