The Raid 2 (2014)

The Raid 2 (2014)

6/10

Starring

Iko Uwais

Directed by Gareth Evans

I saw and enjoyed the first The Raid (2011) the writer and director Gareth Evans was very more focused in the movie delivering an exciting ride. The Raid franchise is different from what we were used to and placing our lead in impossible situations and making it seem impossible for him to get away alive from it, was great because he always found a way out.

The Raid 2 has a different setup and that difference took a lot away from the movie title. Add to that the movie is over two and a half hours long as the writer hasn’t heard of the phrase “to summarize.”

The screen time could have been reduced in numerous places, but if you are watching this movie you got a long ride to the end. The reason this movie will not be able to step to the same level as the first is because, the first movie was linear and focused on a single task, this movie is not.

The Raid 2 starts from where the first movie stops. Our lead, Rama has escaped from the house only to find himself in the hand of a deep investigation into matters of bribery and corruption happening in the police station. If you recall from the first movie that the culprit behind the fake raid was arrested and led for trial. Well he and Rama’s brother didn’t make it past the first ten minutes of the movie as both were killed.

Rama was recruited to go undercover in a prison where the crime boss who oversaw the man who ran the house raided in the first movie son was imprisoned.

Rama went undercover and became close friends with the young man, but what he expected will take months, turned to years. He succeeded in winning the trust of the young man and infiltrated the group.  Soon he was close to the man at the top then many betrayals, killings and fights later the movie path turned from an action to a drama.

The movie is not that bad, but it is too long. Gareth Evans may have always wanted to make a movie with a lot of angles rolled into one, but there are better ways to do it than this. The first movie was simple, short and well done.

The fight choreography and the fights themselves are worth seeing and the movie delivery – and well placed acting made this Indonesian movie one you must see, regardless of the different tone it takes away from the first movie.