[Rob Babcock]

I saw The Raid 2: Berandal last night and was really blown away by it!    It's a sequel to The Raid: Redemption which I actually haven't seen (although after I got back from seeing R2 I ordered the first one from Amazon on Bluray).  I can't comment much on the first one yet but by the reviews it was a nearly plot free action fest.  The Raid 2: Berandal does have a bit more of a plot.  It stars Indonesian National Silat Champion Iko Uwais as a rookie cop forced to go undercover in a prison to infiltrate a notorious criminal gang.  The cast is stellar through and through.  Iko Uwais has the makings of a major international star.  He's an unbelievable martial artist but he also has a wonderful presence; he's a bit like John Wayne in that he can anchor a scene just with a look or a movement, and he has a wonderful brooding expressive demeanor about him.  The camera loves him, and his performance here is terrific IMOHO.

The film is virtuosic, from the intricate fight scenes to the wonderfully composed and original cinematography.  Director Gareth Evans is a wonderfully gifted visual storyteller, and the movie is visually spellbinding.

For connoisseurs of action films the fight scenes are utterly amazing.  The fights are elaborate; the second big fight scene of the film features 150 (!) fighters brawling in a muddy prison yard.  Yet the scenes are well composed and hang together well.  Of course, there's the standard martial arts tropes that go back at least to Chuck Norris- for example, in 95% of the fights the bad guys greatly outnumber the hero, yet they mostly politely attack him one at a time just like in Chuck's films.   Still, the characters are memorable, with way more depth than your typical throwaway 'BBEGs' (ie Big Bad End Guy).  Some of the villains actually merit spin off movies!  Julie Estelle, Arifin Putra and Yayan Ruhian are all especially good, and Iko's fight with Cecep Arif Rahman is literally mind bogglin!  I don't think I breathed once during their entire battle.

Highly recommended!  For those that care this film is in (Indonesian?  What language do they speak there) with English subtitles.  Better than overdubbing IMO.  It's the kind of film though that you can easily follow, and the visuals tell the story in a rich and satisfying way.

[wushuliu]

I don't know. The scenes I've watched from the first Raid as well as this one just leave me numb. The violence just becomes an end in itself and to me the moves are very repetitive which only makes the experience more numbing. At least the Ong Bak movies had a kind of spiritual center around Tony Jaa and I think his choreography is more interesting and inventive. Films like Raid take the brutal 'realistic' fighting intensity of old school Bruce Lee but instead of using those heightened moments of exploding physical prowess as a form of tension-release they just go on and on and on.

Just makes me appreciate more the really brilliant performers like Jackie, Jet, Donnie, etc. Tony Jaa I think has the potential too if he could get a decent production behind him.

[ajzepp]

I loved the first one...can't wait to see this one. 

I agree about the subtitles vs dubbing thing, too...I won't watch a film that is dubbed over...takes away much of the authenticity of the performances, IMO.

[Rob Babcock]

I'm sure that fight scenes out of context from a wide variety of films would prove somewhat empty.  The movie exists to showcase action, surely- but the action propels a story forward in Raid 2.  Still, opinions will obviously vary.  Just wanted to mention the film as I found it very engrossing.

[Rob Babcock]

I got the BRD of The Raid: Redemption today and watched it this evening.  As I expected from the reviews it wasn't as good as R2, much lighter on plot, but overall an entertaining flick.