the raid 2
THE RAID COLLECTION: The Two-Film Action Package To Release In February
This month’s leaked X-Spatial Media footage from CineAsia of action star Iko Uwais’s performance in Liam O’Donnell’s upcoming sci-fi thriller, Beyond Skyline is nothing short of a riproaring tease for what could be a delightful thrillride considering the technology on hand. This, accompanied by his upcoming appearance in the 2017 wide release of his current Indonesian theatrical run, Headshot, certainly lends even more appeal to the fans, especially amid the long and winded expectations for a third outing in the electric crime saga, The Raid.
The craze began in 2011 with releases in 2012 for the first film, and a sequel that followed two years later, further bolstering Uwais’s stardom and the local talent on hand representing the newest face of the resurgence of Indonesian action cinema. It also earned director Gareth Huw Evans a promising reign as one of the most spolighted filmmakers to date, while his current advancement with the new thriller, Apostle, among other projects, has albeit tentatively driven the conversation away from barely a mention of the Raid trilogy itself.
Still, it’s a conversation worth having given the prominence earned by Evans, the producers and the cast at large, along with the prospects of a remake still currently shelved until further notice; I still would love to see a remake in tow as the concept of The Raid itself will surely grant audiences the deserved opportunity of seeing action acting community echo the demands of the numerous stunts and fight sequences iterated by Uwais and his team under Evans in their films. Yes, the talent is there. All that’s needed is the will to act, and that’s an update I would love to see in the not-too-distant future.
Until then, however, and on the off-chance that you or someone you know hasn’t heard of either The Raid or The Raid 2 and you love sheer, brutal, violent, escapist martial arts action mixed with compelling crime and family drama, you’ve clicked to the right page. The Raid Collection is now available for pre-order at Amazon, following Sony’s announcement via Blu-Ray.com. Read on:
Raid 2, the / Raid, The: Redemption – Set [Blu-ray]
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release on Blu-ray The Raid Collection. The two-disc Blu-ray set will be available for purchase on February 28, 2017.
The Raid Redemption (2011)
Synopsis: Deep in the heart of Jakarta’s slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world’s most dangerous killers and gangsters. Until now, the rundown apartment block has been considered untouchable. Cloaked under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and silence, an elite swat team is tasked with raiding the safe house in order to take down the notorious drug lord that runs it. But when a chance encounter with a spotter blows their cover and news of their assault reaches the drug lord, they find themselves stranded on the 6th floor with no way out. The unit must fight their way through the city’s worst [criminals] to survive their mission.
Special Features:
●Audio Commentary with writer/director Gareth Evans
●Video blogs:
~Bootcamp
~Set Location, Camera & Lighting, Make-up & Special Effects
~Courtyard, Hole Drop
~Drugs Lab, Tama’s Office
~Machete Gang & Corridor, Jaka vs. Mad Dog
Post Production
●Behind-the-scenes featurettes:
~Behind the Music
~Anatomy of a Scene
~Stunts
~Themes
~Inside the Score
●An Evening with Gareth Evans, Mike Shinoda, and Joe Trapanese conversation
●In Conversation with Gareth Evans and Mike Shinoda feature
~Claycat’s The Raid
~The Raid TV show ad (circa 1994)
The Raid 2 (2014)
Official synopsis: Immediately following the events of The Raid: Redemption, Rama (Iko Uwais) is forced to reinvent himself as an undercover cop in order to provide protection for his wife and child. Working for the anti-corruption taskforce led by the one person he can trust, Bunawar (Cok Simbara), he is given a mission to engage himself as an enforcer for a local mob boss, Bangun (Tio Pakusodewo). Finding a way in through Bangun’s son Uco (Arifin Putra), Rama must hunt for information linking Bangun with police force corruption. All the while, he harbors a dangerous and personal vendetta for revenge and justice that threatens to consume him- and bring both this mission and the organized crime syndicates crashing down.
The film is written and directed by Gareth Evans and produced by Nate Bolotin, Ario Sagantoro and Aram Tertzakian. Executive producers include Rangga Maya Barack-Evans, Todd Brown, Irwan D. Mussry and Nick Spicer.
Special Features:
●Featurettes:
~Ready for a Fight: On Location (Blu-ray exclusive)
~Violent Ballet: Behind the Choreography (Blu-ray exclusive)
●Deleted Scene: Gang War (Blu-ray Exclusive)
●English Dub in addition to the original language version of the film
●Director Commentary with Gareth Huw Evans
●Featurettes:
~The Next Chapter: Shooting a Sequel
~Cinefamily Foundation Q&A with Gareth Huw Evans, Iko Uwais & Joe Trapanese
Prince Charles Cinema Is Hosting A Double Feature For THE RAID & THE RAID 2 Next Month!
There isn’t much we can do except wait as patiently as possible for the next two years while acclaimed filmmaker Gareth Huw Evans slow-boils his way toward the production of the third installment of his much-heralded crime saga, The Raid. Until then, both film are now available wherever movies are sold for home viewing, and lucky movie goers will be able to attend fan screenings wherever and whenever available.
Keep this in mind while the kind folks over in London’s Prince Charles Cinema are gearing up for a double header on August 8 at 7:20pm for the 2011 movie and its 2014 follow up collectively produced by XYZ Films, Merantau Films and Celluloid Dreams, and starring Iko Uwais, Donny Alamsyah, Joe Taslim, Yayan Ruhian, Ray Sahetapy, Pierre Gruno, Tio Pakusawedo, Arifin Putra, Oka Antara, Very Tri Yulisman and Julie Estelle, with Cecep Arif Rahman, Endo Kenichi, Matsuda Ryuhei and Kitamura Kazuki.
Bolstered by stunning and explosive martial arts action and brimming with drama and suspense, The Raid and The Raid 2 focus on Rama, a rookie tactical officer resigned to his natural survival instincts and fighting prowess between a compromised police raid that leaves most of his team dead, and an undercover mission into Jakarta’s criminal underworld that exposes multi-level police corruption and a brewing gangwar between crime families whilst testing the limits of his family’s safety, as well as his own.
Anything else beyond this point regarding what will happen in part three is entirely up to the producers on hand. For though though, at least the movies we love now are worth celebrating, and if you live in or near London and wish to purchase tickets, head to the official website for more info!
A CASE FOR BETTER ACTION MOVIES – Character Study: Rama From THE RAID/THE RAID 2 (2011-2014)
Moreover, the first two films most notably convey Rama through the underlying central theme of his life as a family man: a practicing Muslim, which undoubtedly sets the stage for confliction and inner-turmoil for a man whose career has been nothing short of a rip-roaring trial-by-fire, with no choice but adhere to his natural, most violent instincts in order to live. By no means is Rama a violent man, although knows where he stands in the career he’s chosen.
TO THE HASHI: The Problem With Invulnerable Heroes
I have a problem with invulnerable heroes. And I prefer Batman to Superman. Let’s go ahead and get that out of the way.
My reason, on the surface, is a simple one. But when we lay it out on the table, it’s much more existentially complex. The knowledge that a character can be harmed bears a direct relationship to how compelling their battles are. And even though we know, like in the case of Batman, that the hero likely will not die during the proceedings of the story, the foundation of their heroics can be measured by the quality of their risks. Put another way, we know they won’t die but we never question whether they can die, or whether they can be harmed in the process of not dying.
On the other hand, a hero that does not risk much, let alone his or her mortality, to do what she does will fall short in the departments of dramatic heft and empathy.
Let’s look at some of the film offerings of recent years and at what they have to say on the topic. On what they have to say about heroic archetypes in general. We’ll allow the definition of “hero” to extend to protagonist, or, in some, the human foil to the stories’ central characters. Take Transformers: Age of Extinction on the latter distinction, wherein we’re given a new set of human characters through which to experience the battle between the honorable Autobots and the duplicitous Decepticons. Where the Transformers themselves are concerned (since most of them, anyway, are treated as little more than busy sentient props), we’ve become intimately accustomed to their physical limitations and vulnerabilities. We see them die left and right in ways that would make even the most carnage-weary of human war veterans blush. But what about their human counterparts? Tour Lebouf in the first three films made a culture of ridiculous survivals, but while the soft reboot might have indeed kept its promise to up the robot drama, it evolved its handling of the human characters in stark contrast. Make no mistake; a guy gets incinerated in the film. But for the most part, the world of Transformers 4 can’t decide whether the human body is made of flesh and bone or Nerf foam and rubber.
Just take a gander at the scene where Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg)’s daughter, Tessa (Nicola Peltz), is fleeing from Galvatron with Optimus Prime. Not only does she go flying from a semi moving at breakneck speed, she also goes on a roll race with Prime on concrete as a wrestling match between two giant robots unfolds directly on top of her. Cade himself moments later drops onto his ass from a fall no less than 60 feet without even pulling a hamstring. (Full disclosure: I might have forgiven the scene if he’d at least pulled a goddamn hamstring.)
So at this point we have the problem of credibility in risk. We’re confused over whether we can really fear for the lives of the human protagonist set. When we see the autobots Globetrotting the humans around like basketballs during the fight scenes, the element of risk becomes….problematic. The same problem was presented, albeit to a lesser extent, in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action reboot. At one point the intrepid reporter April O’Neal magically becomes Spider-Man when the script needs her to survive a fall off of a skyscraper, and in another she and her colleague survive their own bout with a semi that, if he saw it, would presumably make Optimus Prime spill his energon. These scenes didn’t ruin the film, but they did dilute the impact of the characters’ survival. And the empathy felt for them.
Even though the robot physics are off, the human characters in 2013’s Pacific Rim are presented in believable danger. Also, none of them inexplicably float during hand to hand fights –so that’s a plus. (More on that later.)
Riddle me this. What’s the difference between the heroics on display in a great superhero film and an excellent martial arts actioner? In terms of the risk factor, not much. The Raid 2, sequel to Gareth Evans’ 2011 martial arts extravaganza, The Raid: Redemption, gave us a display of martial arts fighters skilled with abilities that, while essentially grounded in realism, pushed the boundaries of fighting prowess to near superhuman dimensions. However, the characters all experienced worlds of hurt that set the audience dancing in cringes. We felt every cut, punch, kick, body slam, and fall. We felt the characters’ mortality. And even though we were quite sure that the main protagonist would survive the movie, the experience of watching him get there was wrought with the adrenaline rush of vicarious risk.
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we take the journey with Steve Rodgers, a super soldier that is armed with abilities that make his fight prowess strong in comic book proportions and his body freakishly durable, and yet the heroics remain tempered by compatible augments in the risk factors he is surrounded by. We know he can still die, can get stabbed, shot –killed. And more importantly, he knows this as well and shows it.
John Wick, another action film from 2014, starred Keanu Reeves as the titular character, a retired elite assassin brought out of hibernation to exact righteous revenge on a crew of thugs. He is just a man, to be sure. But as the protagonist in an action film, his fight prowess and handgun marksmanship make him a character that could believably exist in the same universe as Captain America, and yet what he does in the film, or the world in which he does it, never traipses over into comic book movie conventions. We know that he can die (if he does, he will stay dead!), and at the beginning of the film it is even hinted that he just might. He gets stabbed, shot, beaten to a pulp. All credible and compelling, never sacrificing the empathy quotient.
Compare that to Tom Cruise in John Woo’s Mission: Impossible 2, where we’re essentially back on Cybertron: Land of Pliable Humans. The fights are cartoonish, the physics would piss off Thanos in the Marvel Universe, and Tom Cruise barely even messes his hair.
In Lucy (2014), the humans only use 10% of their brains trope is exploited as Scarlett Johansson grows into what can adequately be described as a living deity. Her powers include the awkward need of a gun toting human companion despite being able to freeze her enemies in time and make them float with her thoughts.
There’s that mention of floating again. Who remembers Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li? A show of hands. Well, that film is not unlike its ugly cousin, Dragonball: Evolution, in that it seemed to have been actively engaged in a grudge war with the martial arts genre. Neither of these count as wushu films, so there’s no excuse for the ridiculous floating. But both films give us cartoonish martial arts so silly looking that they bleed the scenes of their dramatic punch. The only danger the fighters are in is embarrassing themselves, so there is nothing to be gained from watching them survive and ultimately win. The further the element of realism is stretched, I think, the more important it is that a foundation of danger for the characters be stressed. If your villain can shoot energy blasts, you’d better have a hero that can be hurt by them.
I had a similar problem with 2003’s Daredevil. Admittedly, many of the fight and action scenes were sharp. And yes, the titular character is a superhero, one that exists in a universe with a guy that can kill a man by tossing a toothpick at him from across a room. But at no point are we ever provided evidence that a highly acrobatic blind man can feasibly throw himself into freefall from over a hundred feet and land down softly in a pounce like a cartoon cat without breaking some bones. Can’t we, like, get a cracked fibula?
There is a place for invulnerable heroes, however. Indeed, a story about one can provide for some interesting explorations in emotional conflict. But if we are to truly appreciate the physical dilemma of the archetype or experience explored, we need for there to be more at risk for him or her than a bad hair day and some dirty clothes.
Khalil Barnett is a martial arts practioner living in Florida, and is also a filmmaker, writer, producer and actor starring in the independent action drama series, The Way, still active in production. Visit the official Facebook page for more info.
Lead Photo: Hugh Jackman as Logan (a.k.a. Wolverine) in X2: X-Men United (2003) from 20th Century Fox
Taylor Kitsch Will Lead THE RAID Remake
Pre-production for the upcoming remake of director Gareth Huw Evans’s 2011/2012 cult smash hit, The Raid is well underway before its forthcoming film schedule next Spring. Several popular names made the rumormill in the last few months before it was officially reported that Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Purge: Anarchy co-star Frank Grillo would be the first among the names attached for the new film to be helmed by The Expendables 3 helmer Patrick Hughes.
On Monday, the production finally saw its male lead attached in the form of actor Taylor Kitsch (Savages, Battleship, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Lone Survivor), accroding to forwarded reports from Comingsoon.net. The new film will see Kitsch starring in Hughes‘s Hollywood adaptation centered on an elite DEA fast team who get trapped inside a tenanment building behind enemy lines, fortified by a powerful drug lord and his army of loyal, bloodthirsty killers. It’s no secret either that Kitsch has some pretty big shoes to fill considering the first film from Evans, the kickstarter of its own franchise, is led by actor and genuine martial artist Iko Uwais, whose latest appearance in this year’s The Raid 2 has become an even bigger cult hit around the world.
The film is being written by Out Of The Furnace co-scribe Brad Inglesby for Screen Gems, the studio developing the remake. International sales agent XYZ Films is producing the film as well, with Uwais and the original team reportedly designing the fights.
Stay tuned for more casting news!
PHOTO
Catch 30-Seconds Of NSFW Mayhem For The Home Release Of THE RAID 2!
As if you needed any more motivation to purchase your copy of DVD or Blu-Ray for a homebound release of writer and director Gareth Huw Evans‘s newest film, The Raid 2, just make you’re in a room with no one looking. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has unleashed a 30-second not-safe-for-work montage of bloody hammers, broken legs and fisticuffs in between quick cuts for its Ultimate Action Mashup this week, and you can check it all out just below.
Click here for all the available disc details and specs, and buy your copy wherever films are sold. And yes, do stay tuned for updates on the forthcoming third installment, and the current development of the reboot with newly cast member, Frank Grillo.
THE RAID 2 Gets A New Home Release Trailer
The film is written and directed by Gareth Huw Evans and produced by Nate Bolotin, Ario Sagantoro and Aram Tertzakian. Executive producers include Rangga Maya Barack-Evans, Todd Brown, Irwan D. Mussry and Nick Spicer.
Patrick Hughes Reveals His Concepts For THE RAID Remake
Hughes also went on to discuss the set up for the forthcoming premise of the new film, hinting at a more grounded setting based on real-world events. Hughes states in-full, “Certainly, we’re not there to recreate that film beat for beat, with the set up we’re following a DEA task team, which was implemented by the Bush administration after September 11th when they realized that terrorism and the drug trade were so closely aligned. So they set up a DEA task team that’s six units and they work across borders and sort of act like Navy SEALS. You never read about it, you never hear about it, but they go on these missions. So that’s a really interesting take and a really nice premise and also what’s interesting on this take on it is the clash of cultures and the clash of martial arts, the fighting styles, which is something that’s going to be a lot of fun when we’ve really started pre-vizzing stuff.”.
Rama Gets Down And Dirty In A New Clip From THE RAID 2
While I can assure you that the picture above represents nothing close to the latest clip from director Gareth Evans‘s new film, The Raid 2 (and at best, we can just hope to see those ambitious-looking moves in another film in the not-too-distant future), the following footage is just a taste of the brutal, dirty, scrubby, nasty awesomeness that awaits the film’s nationwide release just hours from now.
Expect bruises, broken bones, ans maybe some hurt feelings. That’s all I’ll say about it.
You can learn a little more about that clip in THIS behind-the-scenes featurette about two minutes in. And remember! The cast and crew of The Raid 2 are hosting a Google Hangout VERY soon, and you may want to CLICK HERE to learn more if you wish to join in.
The bloody mayhem ensues in North America and Canada TOMORROW!!!
H/T: Apple Trailers
THE RAID 2 Director's Next Martial Arts Movie To Film Back-To-Back With THE RAID 3
Photo from ClickOnline by Jack McGlynn (2013)
Lately it feels like I cannot go a day or a week without talking about writer and director Gareth Huw Evans and his latest film, The Raid 2. Pure hype and excitement, followed growing impatience and total anxiety would be a good way to state how things have been for fans in the last nine months since the film wrapped principal photography and four months since Evans, joined by lead actor Iko Uwais and other select cast and crew members began touring the world over to promote the film. Fortunately after two weeks of limited releases, loyal fans including in North America, the U.K. and abroad will finally get to see the film starting this Friday, with further dates and locations to follow. And with all the praise the film has thusfar received in light of all the talk there has been about the third film of the franchise, Friday just can’t come fast enough.
One could also argue the anticipation that lingers in light of the long trickle of news updates on the current development of The Raid 3, which Evans has also gone on record declaring he would not touch on right away, while working on other films, including a seprtate martial arts movie that will bring Evans and Uwais back together. “…I don’t have any plans to do The Raid 3 within the next two or three years so I’m going to take a break from that franchise for a bit.” said Evans in a partial statement quoted from an interview with Crave Online late last month. “I want to do some bubthings outside of Indonesia for like two films, then come back to Indonesia and shoot The Raid 3. I have another one I want to shoot with him first. Still in the action genre and it’s something that [Uwais] needs to train for for a fair amount of time. You have to make good with some weaponry, my friend.”
Following up with that report is the latest interview with the actor now available at Screendaily where it is now being reported that after working on a seperate gangster action film titled Blister, he will work on that very same aforementioned martial arts movie, now back-to-back with The Raid 3. This obviously gives genre fans plenty of time to catch up on The Raid franchise while Evans continues to branch out to other ideas as a means of gaining further wisdom as a filmmaker to benefit the industry at home. “The idea is that if I do these projects outside Indonesia, I’m going to learn a lot and I can bring that back to the Indonesian film industry.” says Evans. “Indonesia gave me everything, if I hadn’t gone off to do that documentary [The Mystic Arts of Indonesia: Pencak Silat], I wouldn’t be here today.”
As for the current state of The Raid 3, with no other information except the film will take place two hours before The Raid 2 ends, Evans continued teasing about the film as he has been for quite a while now. “I’ve got an idea and I already know what the storyline is, and it’s such a departure from the previous two, …I already see it being smaller in terms of duration, but the scope and the scale is still big only on a different level, a bit more controlled. It’ll be fun to do.”
Only time will tell before we get to learn more about what that all possibly means by 2017, on top of what we can expect from the heavy duty training Evans mentions for Uwais earlier on in their standalone martial arts film. In the meantime, the two are serving as action director and fight choreographer for director Timo Tjahnanto’s new action thriller, The Night Comes For Us, which just locked its principal cast of new AND familiar faces led by actor Joe Taslim. And of course, the folks over at Merantau Films and XYZ Films are producing these gems, so I’m already dold.
On a seperate note, The Collective, joined by independent filmmaker and festival organizer Jeff Lunzaga have officially set the date for this year’s Herofest 2014 action movie festival to kick off on May 25, 2014 at the Berkeley Community Media in Berkeley, California.
And guess who is endorsing it?…
Better yet, just watch.
Baseball Bat Man Beats The Competition In A New Clip From THE RAID 2
The Raid 2 was one of the best cinematic experiences of my life. And I am seriously not kidding. And with any luck, we will see more of these actors back on the big screen in a much major way, including actor Very Tri Yulisman who steps out to cause his own brand of trouble in the latest new clip from the film.
Written, edited and directed by everyone’s favorite filmmaker, Gareth Evans, Yulisman stars alongside actress Julie Estelle who play two lethal, uniquely gifted killers, brother/sister duo Baseball Bat Man and Hammer Girl, out to enact an agenda driven by a notorious gangster who plays an important role in the challenges lead actor Iko Uwais will face as he sets out take down Indonesia’s intense network of mob activity and police corruption. The question remains however. ..does it end there? Well, with a third film on the way, it probably doesn’t. And seeing this film would be a good way to keep up, provided you saw the first one of course. And if you haven’t done so, then do it. Just do it.
The Raid 2 opens everywhere on April 11. Check your local theater listings!
H/T: Crave Online
Artwork by @jock4twenty
THE RAID: REDEMPTION And THE RAID 2 – A Case For Better Action Movies
I’m pretty sure that director Gareth Evans has earned the respect and admiration by now of every studio, critic and fan alive today who are witnessing the magic happening over in Indonesia with his star, actor Iko Uwais. Following the 2009 action adventure thriller Merantau came the production of their second stint together for Seruban Maut, a.k.a. The Raid. I saw the film on a whim back in 2012 at a last-minute discovery while sifting through movie listings, and lucky enough as I was to have caught it in my local theater, for this, I was also invariably overjoyed and overwhelmed.
Only a small handful of people were in the theater with me where I attended, but it was one of the most unforgettable big screen martial arts action spectacles I had ever witnessed. That same evening, I left the theater completely fulfilled with high hopes that a quality director like Evans was out there making great movies like this, and I didn’t have to wait for them to come on DVD to see it. And two years later on the heels of seeing the already highly heralded sequel, that sentiment remains to this day more than ever.
The Raid: Redemption starred Uwais as Rama, one of a team of unsuspecting rookie tactical officers assigned under their commanding officer, Jaka (Joe Taslim) to take down a Tama (Ray Sahetapy), a ruthless criminal landlord in charge of a 30-floor tenement building. For a few minutes, everything goes as planned until their cover is blown and Tama calls for open season on the entire team, with his men nearly killing all but a surviving handful. As the mission continues to unravel, Rama’s secondary agenda to reunite with his brother, Andi (Donny Alamsyah), is mired by Andi’s employ as one of Tama’s two main enforcers, in addition to his own refusals to come home. Meanwhile, the truth of the mission unravels into a dauting discovery of potential police corruption with their lieutenant now under scruitiny. But time is running out, and the ultimate battle has just begun with Rama and his brother in a final battle with Tama’s remaining forces in a brutal, bloody fight to the finish.
From there, we go into the sequel the mission ends with Rama walking away as one of the only few surviving members of his slain team. Unfortunately, the mission is far from over, as the reality of his actions finally sets in and his family is thrust into potential danger, forcing him to go undercover as a means to isolate the source of the very corruption plaguing the police force while protecting his wife and son. Locked away in prison for longer than he was prepared for, his new mission sees him befriending the son of a crimeboss who takes Rama under his wing upon being released from prison. But with criminal politics and personal ambitions taking over, and the looming threat of gang warfare spilling onto the streets, it’s up to Rama to stay alive long enough to see this dangerous mission through to the end.
Evans places a lot of focus on character development, enhancing the dramatic as much as needed, and there is never an embalance of any kind during this process while delivering the appropriately-timed action. On top of Uwais, The Raid: Redemption introduced a slate of really talented physical actors, including Joe Taslim who has since made a gradual transition to Hollywood co-starring in Fast And Furious 6 last year, with another lead role on the way very soon. For many, watching Taslim act and perform on the set of such a spectacular film was a first, featuring in one of the most brutal cinematic fights in movie history with Merantau Films regular, Yayan Ruhian, whose own acting, choreography and screenfighting capabilities continue to be pivotal in designing the very brand of action Evans presents in his films.
Sahetapy and fellow actor Pierre Gruno do an amazing job as the antagonistic backbone of the first film setting up the very narrative of the franchise as a whole for Uwais, whose transition as an actor since Merantau has granted him a continually evolving skillset as a premier action star who knows how to design fight sequences as well as act. And it certainly shows in both movies, especially in some of the more poignant split-scene moments with actress Fikha Efendi who plays his wife, as well as scenes with Alamsyah who plays Rama’s estranged brother, Andi.
That chemistry continues further in the sequel with actor Arifin Putra, whose character, Uco, knows no limits with how far he is willing to go to take the place of his crimeboss father, Bangun, played by Tio Pakusadewo. Here, compared to the first film, much of that drama is laid out for us in full epic crime-saga fashion, with Bangun joined by Goto (Kenichi Endo) as the respective leaders of two crime families at even ends of a longstanding truce, which ends up threatened by another power-hungry gangster named Bejo (Alex Abbad).
The story’s expansion in the sequel is layered with so many variables, with interpersonal relationships and friendships on display that invoke a lot of the intricacies that exist in the criminal underworld, particularly with the unique friendship shared by Bangun and Uco with loyal family friend, Prakoso (Ruhian), whose scruffy appearance may lead you to believe him of a lesser civil, more brutish killer than that of his previous achievement as Tama’s insane right hand man, Mad Dog in the first film. Instead, we are offered an extremely flawed-yet-sociable character whose toxic, conditional interpersonal relationships and struggles are the only real thing he has going for himself; It is just this kind of poignancy that helps further drive the root of the film, drama, and not necessarily added as a mere attempt to bring empty drama into an action film. And adding to this is actor Oka Antara‘s portrayal of Eka, whose supporting role as one of Bangun’s men proves influential in its own way toward the sequel’s climax, as well as that of co-star Ryuhei Matsuda who plays Keiichi, one of two of Goto’s lieutenants next to Ryuichi (Kazuki Kitamura).
Through all of the story build-up and the intense moments of hearty drama,are the action sequences–all of which are nothing short of exhilarating, from the contained fiery gun battles in cramped rooms and edge-of-your-seat close quarters fight scenes to some of the most exciting car chase sequences ever shot on film. Evans has a true eye for shooting and directing action, especially when it comes to his hands-on approach while working with Uwais and Ruhian, the two men responsible for the cheerful howls heard all day everyday in a theater playing one of their movies.
While Merantau introduced the world to a pure, solid action drama to fans with a martial arts style in a way that was largely never before seen, it would eventually be the follow-up, The Raid: Redemption that would set a new standard for how to deliver a film of this kind. Evans has a specific formula that allows him ways and means to work around specific challenges on set, while adding a his own brand of glorious, self-sustaining, brutal, bloody and pulsating action magic in the process, and on budgets smaller than most Hollywood blockbusters. It’s what sells movie tickets and DVDs to action fans, puts butts in seats and keeps the fans wanting more, and most action film fans, purveyors and professionals alike wouldn’t disagree. Inarguably it’s quite the opposite, and it was enough to land Hollywood its own American version of the film.
The action in the first film pushes boundaries and techniques to places that have not been exhibited on the big screen in a really, really long time, most notably in age where watered-down PG-13 action seems to dominate the executive decisions of most film studios. As for the sequel, Evans and his team took what they did in the first movie, and they let out all the stops, with more set pieces and bigger locations to suit a much larger scope for the action and story alike, with a level of choreography, violence and action performance that, in my filmgoing history, has not generated such a level of noise within the crowd since Jet Li intimidated an entire police station in the 2001 thriller, Kiss Of The Dragon; While watching The Raid 2, there were even points in some action sequences of the new sequel where I was literally screaming “BUT THAT’S HIS FACE!!!” before I digressed and said to myself, “Well…at leaat that used to be his face! :-/”.
One thing I want to add before I continue is that the selling point for the action wasn’t just Evans, Uwais and Ruhian. Like with all action movies of this nature, you need fresh faces, and that’s where the deadly killers come in with actress Julie Estelle, and actors Very Tri Yulisman and Cecep Arif Rahman distinctively known as Hammer Girl, Baseball Bat Man, and The Assassin, respectively. And I certainly hope to see these three performers in other memorable and iconic roles in future, especally Rahman, who I really feel needs to get back on the big screen with Ruhian once again, and that is all I will say about that without spoiling anything.
Between The Raid: Redemption and The Raid 2, each dialogue scene is adequately written and paced with no fluff or spam, and each moment brings a sense of unique intensity with great music and every moment building to something bigger and larger. Moreover, our lead star, the ever humble Iko Uwais continues to expose himself as one of today’s foremost leading men in action cinema history. And with a movement that continues to grab just a little bit more of the world’s attention every year, Gareth Evans has earned his place as a key player in bringing a much-needed rebirth to a genre that was once thought to be dying, if not dead.
I will even go as far as to say this: If Picasso were a Southeast Asian gangland enforcer before he became an artist and decided to tell his life story on canvas, that is exactly what The Raid and The Raid 2 have accomplished, and that is no exaggeration either. When you read reviews about The Raid and its new follow-up calling it a “masterpiece”, you are talking about a film from a director that has taken the genre world by storm and redefined what it means to direct an action movie. And the results have proven to be more than prudential.
Additionally, despite all of their successes, it is clear that the people at Merantau Films and XYZ Films continue to remain grounded in their efforts. Sure, we can only imagine what goes on once everything is taken behind closed doors to the cutting room floor, and for some films, studios have given action fans their fair share of reasons to worry. But not this crew. They understand their audience and what sells and works for them, and for the most part, you’ll be hard pressed to hear any voices of dissent, if not a mere whisper of a dimly-audible few.
Not to undercut what some PG-13 flicks have been able to achieve in terms of action; sometimes for certain films, after all, what works works. But in other cases, what doesn’t work won’t. And fortunately, Merantau Films and XYZ Films figured this out early on. Hardcore genre fans want gritty, unabashed R-rated action in a film that simply hits all the right notes in all the right places (some harder than others). The ever-increasingly uplifting and positive responses to Evans‘s work in the last five years should serve as a mighty example of that. And to the aspiring director/action aficionado out there who feels she or he can own up to the task of creating something equal in force and delivery, if not better: consider yourself challenged!
The Raid: Redemption is one of the best films I have ever experienced in my life, from the drama and the music to the signature fight choreography and intensity leading into its franchise. On that note, it is still surprising that there are people who have not yet seen this film. In which case, if you fit that category and you are reading this dual review, I certainly hope you will take my advice and go see The Raid: Redemption, because you are definitely going to want to see The Raid 2. It really is everything it has been hyped up to be. And considering that we are expecting a third film in the next three years, you will be thankful you caught up.
The Raid: Redemption is out now on DVD, Blu-Ray and VOD. The Raid 2 is now playing in select theaters in New York and L.A.. Head on over to Sony Classics to learn when and where to catch your showing this month!
EMC Channels Gareth Evans For The New Fan Fight Short, THE RAID: EMC RENDITION
In the final hours on the eve of the official limited premiere of acclaimed producing/writing/directing powerhouse Gareth Evans’s new film, The Raid 2, the team over at EMC Monkeys have put out something very special to mark the occasion in the form of their own special independent fan contribution simply titled The Raid: EMC Rendition. Shot in the course of three days, the new short is just one of several, highly popular contributions to Evans’ vision within the last few years, most recently preceded by the stellar efforts of independent filmmaker Vlad Rimburg for his inspired short, Hammer Girl.
This time, we are re-introduced to the screenfighting presence of fellow stuntman and action actor, Bryan Sloyer, who has been making some exceptional headway in the world of indie action this year. Sloyer joins longtime EMC member, Tony Sre who choreographed and directed the piece. And what we get is not only a fight sequence that bares some very memorable attributes to the signature movements seen in the original film’s principal martial arts system of Silat, but also manages to capture the spirit of the action with some of its camera work in accordance with some of the choreography.
In essence, this is another exceptional, spiritual tribute to both The Raid, and its new sequel, especially since none of the filmmakers involved here have seen the film yet. Moreover, this latest gem is also proof that the EMC Monkeys is one team of professionals that knows what it is doing and knows just how to do it. And in my humble opinion, if angel investor were to come by and give these guys a pat ok the back with one hand and an some substantially extra pocket change to work with in the other, I wouldn’t protest. And I’m hard-ressed to believe most action fans would.
So do take a look in the embed below where you can also subscribe to the channel.
No One Escapes In This NSFW, Explosive, Violent Deleted Scene From THE RAID 2
This is one of a few deleted scenes taken from the film. Reasons to cut were entirely down to pacing issues. This was probably the hardest for me to cut due to the fact that the production on this scene lasted around 6 days of shooting, it cost us a fuck load to make and it served to escalate the gang war out onto the streets involving people outside of the closed off inter-gang politics.
