Wednesday 5 November 2014

The Raid 2:Berandal - Phil's Five Words for Films

The Raid 2:Berandal (Indonesian with subtitles) It is said that 'sometimes, less is more'. In the case of 'The Raid2', more is definitely less. For me, the beauty of the first film (review here) was in its rawness. The room by room, floor by floor, single focus of its mission, the pin-point accuracy of the choreography and the up-close snapping of the fight scenes. The second film begins almost exactly where the first ended and is straight back in to that breathless, bloody style that gained director, Gareth Evans many plaudits after the first film. Iko Uwais returns as Rama, the rookie Jakarta cop and he hits the dizzy speeds that were so impressive in his debut outing. The 'more' comes from an expansion of the story, the introduction of extra characters, rival gangs and family feuds, all of which would have to be expected from a follow-up. The single location of the first film becomes a car chase between multiple locations including a prison, a nightclub and a warehouse. There is still lots of beauty to the direction and artful fight scenes but with so much more of everything clouding the picture, it loses focus, resulting in some scenes dragging - something that could never be levelled at its predecessor. It is over 40 minutes longer than the first and, in places, I could tell. Still brutal, still crunching but a little over-inflated, therefore less intense.

6.5 out of 10.
Cert 18 ( UK )
150 mins.  2014

1 comment:

  1. Good review Phil. This movie kicked my rear-end so much. But in a good way.

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