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Can't wait till April.
I've no idea. I don't even know of any theaters playing the film around here, sadly.
That top down shot of the fight in the car was pretty innovative. :)>-
The film started 10minutes late then as soon as the first words were spoken, the subtitles were cropped off so we could barely see the top parts of the lettering and after about 5mins of this despite a few audience members rushing immediately to inform staff of the foul up, the movie was stopped and we had to wait another 10mins to get the problem sorted. Once sorted, we watched the movie from the beginning this time with visible subtitles to which the whole audience cheered and then the movie played on. As we got to a pivotal point between a son and his father and the action set to begin with Rama's undercover agent showing up, the film freezes and again we're waiting ages for the problem to be sorted out. Once the film starts playing again, a new problem arises, there are NO subtitles altogether, which was only softened by the dialogue scene between the Jaoanese family not being too long and was immediately followed up by the insane car chase. However, once the chase cane to an end and the dialogue started again, we were reminded that there were no subtitles and the problem had been mentioned to staff before the action set piece. The subtitles were finally sorted and the film rewound to the scene with the Japanese talking about going to war and then from then on the film suffered no more interruptions but the damage had already been done really. The only reason why I and most if the audience stayed was because it was an exclusive showing, the film doesn't come out here for another 2 to 3 weeks and because it's the ****ing RAID2!
All that being said, this movie is INSANE! I don't know who said it but I think it was someone here that did but the Raid 2 makes the first one look like a pillow fight. As others have said, this film is longer and conveys itself in a much wider scope and so has time to breathe and create enough exposition in telling a compelling story of respect, honour, trust, loyalty and betrayal. Whereas, in the first movie everything is taking place in such an enclosed environment with essentially a single objective which brings the action in hard and fast, making the I acing if the film a lot quicker. With the Raid 2, it's a good thing the pacing is slower because with the relentless and mercilessly brutal action taking place one needs a few moments to comprehend and recover from the poetic barbarism being witnessed.
From amazingly gritty beat downs in grubby toilets to prison fights in the mud, villains taking out other villains in the most spectacular fashion using baseball bats to a pair of hammers, point blank range gunshots to the face, necks being slit open, punches being thrown at lightening speed to pummel people, strap on dildos, crashing through everything, honestly, being a gangster is more trouble than it's worth.
This film really has it all, suspense, gore, beautiful bone crunching action and plenty of cheer out loud moments. The last fight pretty much got a standing ovation. The RAID 2 is an excellent action film and it may well be the very best action movie ever. I need to see it again without interruptions to really underpin that claim but if one is a fan of action, a good story, brutal fight scenes and isn't afraid of extreme gory violence then this is the movie to watch that should be at the top of one's list. This is another perfect example of how to do a brilliant sequel to an excellent first instalment. Rama has cemented himself as a unique and genuine action icon imo. A truly phenomenal character bit just because if his physical capabilities but because he's a character that's unsuspecting, humble and what's nothing but to bring a real justice to his city and to protect his family but he knows what he has to do in order to make the slightest bit of difference and in his quest to do so, Rama doesn't play about, pain and death is the order of the day and it's being hand delivered and served swiftly and beautifully.
Any questions, I'll be happy to answer.
Slightly on topic, did anyone see Keanu Reeves' Man of Tai Chi? It features a scene with The Raid star Iko Uwais, but he's not really around long enough to impress us with his talents.
Signing off for the night now. Sweet dreams, everybody.
@Qbranch, I haven't seen Meranyau yet, I've inly seen that amazing lift fight from the movie but I'll get around to seeing it in the next couple of days. I just love this sort of kinetic and visceral combat, it's so unforgiving yet poetic. I can't wait for the 3rd film in the Raid series.
I think Hollywood needs to up it's game in the light of this, sequels need to be original and develop the story not be pale retreads, this is going to show The Die Hard series how it should have been done.
I was blown away with The Raid 2, no it's not tight and action wall to wall like it's predecessor. It's a bit convoluted and a tad vague on characters introduced but I feel this might be intentional on director Gareth Evans part. He says he wants the 3rd and final film of the trilogy to start 3 hours before this ends and I feel he might be filling in some of the blanks with this (well at least I hope).
I personally think it's the equal of the first film and applaud Evans ambition. Rather than peddle out a pale re-run like say Die Hard 2, Evans has subscribed to the Christopher Nolan play book of how to make sequels and taken his first film somewhere entirely different with it's follow up. It's more epic, more explosive and yes nearly an hour longer than the first film but for me the running time is not a problem and it flew by. As long as you don't go in expecting more of the same you'll have a blast, as with the first film a strong stomach is recommended as this is incredibly violent and gory somewhat more so than the original.
Iko Uwais as our hero Rama is developing into a real star and shows a level of charisma not seen so much in The Raid, he also again delivers with some of the most incredible fight sequences ever put on screen, a muddy prison brawl, a car chase with a punch up going on at the same time and one of the goriest and visceral fight sequences in a kitchen I've ever seen. Yes at it's length it's spaced out with dialogue sequences and maybe Evans isn't as good a storyteller as an action director but this puts to shame all Hollywood action thrillers of the last 20 years, it's the real deal and worth your attention.
5/5
What? It's anything but tedious. Unimaginative? I guess it's a very bare bones film but that's part of it's appeal.
If it's not your sort of film then fair enough, it's pure action and that's not for everyone but if you honestly prefer the likes of DAD, TMWTGG, MR, AVTAK, DAF, QOS, etc to The Raid then I think you might need some professional help ;)
I like pure action as long as the action scenes are interesting. The action scenes of 'The Raid' are very repetitive and unimpressive and flat. The 'Mad Dog' character saved the movie from a total disaster. He should have been the main protagonist instead of the cliche pretty boy.
If only Hollyoood had so much imagination for sequels, outside TDK I can't think of any film that ups the game for it's second go round as The Raid 2