The Raid 2 Movie Review

I.... I just.... what the.... Wow.

The Raid 2 is written and directed by Gareth Evans and stars Iko Uwais and is the sequel to the action film The Raid: Redemption. The film literally starts shortly after the events of the first Raid, where Rama has to infiltrate an apartment building and take out and infamous drug lord and his many thugs. The Raid 2 sees the story expand from a small gimmick to a wide-spread crime drama, where Rama has to go undercover in the criminal underworld of Jakarta in an attempt to unveil the corruption within the police force and take out the crime lords.

I can not stress to you how much I adore this movie. There is so much about it that I like and is truly the best movie to come out in 2014, along with one of the best action movies ever made. Director Gareth Evans firmly cements himself as the best action director we have working today as he brings us a sequel which is bigger and better than the first instalment, a film which took the action world by storm.

The largest improvement it has from it's predecessor is with it's writing and the story that accompanies the action extravaganza. The story is very well written and it never spoon feeds you the exposition. It never became confusing for me because I was so heavily engrossed within the plot, absorbing in all of the elements which made this movie a successful crime drama/thriller. In all honesty, the whole idea of going undercover and seeing crime families and other rising criminals perform acts of violence, crime and corruption is just really interesting to me.

Iko Uwais again is unbelievable in the main role as hero Rama, who by the way is the biggest badass in terms of hand to hand combat. If you're a character who gets into a fist-fight with Rama, bad news is it will not end well for you. However, whilst being a major badass, Rama is not invincible. He takes a lot of damage during the 150 minute runtime (which by the way went by in a flash), adding to the tension of the final few scenes. You care for him because his main motivation is the security of his family, which everyone can relate to.

But when you read this review you wanted to hear about the action within the film. To put it bluntly, it's amongst the best I have ever seen! I loved the action in this movie and I can't express to you enough in this one review!

The fight sequences are choreographed and executed masterfully. The Raid 2 has so many of these amazing fight set pieces which do not hold back in terms of their gore and their violence. You, as a viewer, are so invested within the ongoing action because Evans films it in his own unique and beautiful way. Its unhealthily captivating; you feel every kick/punch/hit, you wince at slash, crack and crunch. The Raid 2 just does not take any prisoners, and is an orgasm for action junkies!

There are about 9 or 10 fight/action sequences which left me gawking at how magnificent they were. So many of them stand out in my mind. My favourites are probably a car chase sequence which redefined what a car chase sequence can do, a brutal and mass brawl in a muddy prison courtyard and a fight towards the film's conclusion which seemed to go on forever. The cinematography, editing and sound design is phenomenal, they helped create some of the best action sequences I have seen in my whole life! Gareth Evans directs this amazingly and deserves a lot of credit for the creation of this mind blowing action bonanza.

The acting performances are all good, it has a badass for a protagonist, it has a riveting story about crime and corruption with twists and turns throughout, it has some of the best fight and action sequences put to film. The Raid 2 has everything, and I loved it so much:



Rating - A+


1 sentence summary - Unflinchingly violent and bloody, The Raid 2 is an exceptional crime thriller involving the best action sequences ever put to film!



If you read this, please go and see The Raid 2 as soon as you can. It's phenomenal, spread the word!

Thanks for reading,
Matt