The Raid 2

Director: Gareth Evans

Writer: Gareth Evans

Starring: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Arifin Putra, Julie Estelle

Runtime: 150 minutes

Certification: 18

Rating: 5⁄5

Subtitled _Berandal _in the US (much like the original was subtitled Redemption), The Raid 2 picks up (chronologically-speaking) exactly where the original left off, with rookie cop Rama having survived the brutal tower block that claimed the lives of (almost) all of his squad. There’s a few, brief moments of calm exposition (which are still punctuated by even briefer outbursts of violence, summing up The Raid 2 in microcosm), and then the expansive, multi-year plot explodes into being.

This is a far trickier, far larger, far more complex beast than the straight-forward (in a good way) original. Spanning multiple years and (in contrast to that single tower block) multiple environments, this feels like the story director Gareth Evans has been waiting to tell, and the incredible (and deserved) success of the first film has just given him the platform he needs. Riddled with faction rivalries and double-crossings, exploring the brutalities and complexities of power inside prison and outside of it, it’s a true epic that makes maximum use of its two-and-a-half hour running time.

Obviously, such dedication to story requires more dialogue-heavy scenes than the original premise of ‘get to the top of this tower’, but it’s testament to Evans’ skill with his own script (and with editing) that these moments never slow the film down. Always laced with myriad undertones, often with the threat of sudden violence simmering gently beneath every line, there’s tension in every scene, and the whole shebang hurtles along at a break-neck (sometimes literally) pace.

While this dedication to the story (and the rapidity of the plot’s progression) is ultimately what makes The Raid 2 so compelling, it’s probably not the reason why so many fans of the original will want to watch it. The ultra-violence is back, and if anything it’s even more extreme this time around. Provoking groans from the audience, and more frequently expletive-laden outbursts of shock, The Raid 2 earns every inch of its 18 certificate, and then some. It’s gorgeously filmed – a veritably beautiful, bloody ballet of death and pain that comprises what might just be some of the best action scenes to ever appear on a cinema screen. It is, quite frankly, phenomenal.

What could be fairly by-the-numbers action scenes (there’s plenty of the traditional beats of the genre, including a pulse-pounding car chase) are elevated to something more, both by the sheer quantity of unflinching gore (the camera almost never cuts away from breaking bones and bleeding wounds, displaying every injury as it happens regardless of how horrific) and by the impeccable choreography and camerawork. Credit must go to everyone involved – the actors, the stuntmen, the choreographers, the director, the cameramen, absolutely everyone.

It’s not perfect – not quite (the run-time is on the borderline of outstaying its welcome, and some of the characterisation is a little lacking beyond the required stereotypes) – this really is something special. Faultless acting, peerless action, stunning choreography – it all blurs together to make what might just be the greatest action film of all time. It’s certainly one of the greats.