Director Gareth Evans took to Twitter over the weekend to release the latest still of actress Julie Estelle who plays the claw-hammer wielding “Hammer Girl” in the tentatively-titled film, The Raid 2: Berandal. The still shot comes from a roughly edited action preview Evans brought to the 14th annual Film4 Frightfest a few days ago where a variety of horror films were showcased to festival goers in the UK as of August 22, 2013. The festival runs through Monday, August 26.
Previous character stills of the actress were released during production, with the first still introduced in April, with a second one released in late-May.
Twitchfilm contributor Shelagh M. Rowan-Legg posted an article on what happened while visiting Film4 Frightfest, illustrating the moment Evans stepped out to introduce the clip, and also detailing the style actress Estelle uses to perform her character in the film, and a bit more on the film’s expansive storyline. Rowan-Legg tells readers, “While The Raid 2 begins two hours after the story of the first film ends, the narrative spans about four years, according to Evans, so is much broader in scope. With that in mind, the clip introduces us to a new character. Her name is Hammer Girl. Evans described her fighting style as ‘hari mau’. Apparently it means ‘tiger style’, and it looks outstanding (It’s the same style Iko Uwais uses in Merantau). In briefly describing the clip, Rowan-Legg also emphasized the “freshness” of the action that was maintained for the sequel, adding, “it was enough to see that not only have Evans and his crew maintained the freshness and brilliance of the first film, finding new and inventive ways to present action and martial arts, but they’ve gone above and beyond by exploring new spaces and (obviously) new characters.”
Production on The Raid 2: Berandal wrapped up in late July after a grueling seven month period that saw actor and Indonesian martial arts action star Iko Uwais reprising his role from the 2011 action smash hit, Seruban Maut, which was then titled The Raid: Redemption for international release in 2012. North American distributor Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions currently has multi-territorial distribution rights to the upcoming sequel with a release date pending.