The Raid 2: Berandal

[QualityChimp]

Tomorrow! *squeal*

[bash]

I'm meant to be watching this Saturday with mates, we re-watched part 1 last week. I'll post re-impressions in the other relavent thread. I just wonder how busy the cinemas will be for this movie as opposed to Capt Am etc. Tempted to buy the tickets tomorrow so we dont have to queue.

[QualityChimp]

Violent.

This film is violent.

The 18 classification certificate said:
"STRONG, BLOODY VIOLENCE AND GORE"
Crowd: "Waaaaaay!"

I can't remember a more violent action film!

The first film had the back-break throw and the door frame take-down, but every fight scene in this had a visceral move like that to make the crowd wince.

I loved it!

[bash]

I've been reading about the violence in every review but I've found most mainstream reviewers tend to be pussies anyway.

The fact you've pointed it out so much suggests that this time they mean it.

[QualityChimp]

Yeah, I thought the same thing about the wimpy journos, but it's as grisly as any horror film I've seen!

[bash]

OK, saw it. Initial thoughts were its good, probably better than the first but didnt need to be a 2.5hr godfather'esque epic tale. The acting (even though its an action/martial arts film) was average at best so nothing really hit with any emotional impact as much as the bone crunching, knife gouging action scenes. The stand out moments for me were probably all at the end.

Also there was a bit when the son of the indo gang leader shoots someone on the escalators but that was clearly cut out.

Its good but not have to go to the cinema good. And its definetly not the best action film of all time, dont believe the hype but check out the blu ray.

Also the whole cinema was cracking up and gasping when

->Open Spoiler<-

the baseball bat kid still has the bat hanging from his face when Rama lets go of it

[H-Man]

Great action movie and gory as hell

[cutmymilk]

Yeah I agree with bash. Not the best action film ever in any sense. The story sections (which were loooong) were often complicated for complication sake. The premise was really simple but probably just badly told.

The fight scenes themselves were fantastic though.I didn't find it that violent - Dredd was worse. The 3 'boss fights' were superb. Highlight is definitely the climax, as it should be.

[PeteJ]

I thought it was excellent. The plot was good but nothing particularly original, I think they could have done a better job with the setup in the first half hour but I think they pulled off an ambitious tale.
The action was of course unbelievable, the guy that plays Rama is insane good! I thought he acted rather well too.

Not sure any death matched the door-frame kill from the original, but many came close. I was amazed at how many huge set-pieces there were, especially in the second half. As cutmymilk says above, the climax is the best part of the film and it outdid anything from the original.

Best I've seen at the cinema for some time. I had very high hopes and it didn't disappoint!

[Guts]

It's not overly gory hopefully? I mean in the sense that it's effective in the use of the gore and not just gory for gore's sake (that's a lot of gore in one sentence!). If there's too much blood it tends to lose it's effect for me.

[PeteJ]

It's not excessive gore, not like say...Spartacus, where blood, limbs and heads are flying all over the place, but make no mistake - this is one brutal film and it doesn't hold back on the violence. You'll see things you probably wish you hadn't.

[cutmymilk]

Nah I wanted MOAAAAR

[QualityChimp]

The Total Film review sums it up nicely by saying

The Raid 2 may not be the best action, gangster, or even martial-arts movie ever made. But as a combination of all three, it?s unparalleled in recent memory and offers a tantalising glimpse into a post-Bayhem action-movie world. Brutal, beautiful and brilliant.

Sumptuously shot, perfectly paced and flat-out exhilarating, The Raid 2 cements Evans as the best action director working today. Fight aficionados should brace themselves for a bruising, blistering ride.

I thought the film suffered a little at the start as it's pretty obvious how they retrofitted the unrelated story that was written before the first film to be a sequel instead. It even nearly gets the Alien3 award for undoing all the achievements of the predecessor within the first few minutes.

I also have to say I'm a little disappointed at how much Evans relies on Shakycam to make the action seem more dynamic when the actors are walking special effects and he was raised on Eastern action cinema that never relied on the gimmick. Watch any Sammo Hung directed action sequence for a comparison (such as the end fights of Eastern Condors or Lucky Stars). Claims that Evans is the greatest living action director are presumably unaware of Sammo's work or that he's still alive!

He's definitely in the top 5 though and I don't want to sound negative about the film, which is immense!
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the brilliant car chase. There's an astonishing shot that goes from one car into another with non of your fancy Gravity CGI tricks going on!

The end section

->Open Spoiler<-

felt like Game of Death or Kung-Fu Master as Rama worked his way through faceless henchmen and end of level bosses.

If you enjoyed The Raid 2, then can I point you in the direction of a Korean action film, City of Violence, which is about a group of childhood friends who get back together at a funeral when one of them is killed in an alley figĥt, which his widow thinks is not an accident. There are some great fight scenes and a terrific finale, which The Raid 2 reminded me of a bit.

I was going to paste the trailer in, but it's a bit spoilerific, so just take Ol' Chimpy's word for it and watch the whole film fresh. I really appreciated going into The Raid 2 having avoided all reviews and trailers!

[prinnysquad]

Shakycam bollox is the lazy man's way to cover up deficiencies in choreography and martial ability. The first film proved that the director and the star are deficient in neither. A lamentable decision.

Moxon is probably creaming his jock at the thought of poorly focused, erratic camerawork obscuring the action.

[bash]

I was trying to explain this to my mates after we watched it. The shakeycam was so bad that I regretted watching it at the cinema. I had the same issues with part 1. Too much blurriness, I guess I've been spoilt with amazing **** like Fist of Legend, Tom Yung Gon etc where you can see every ting nice n criss like.