Berandal (The Raid 2)

[AndyD]

Saw it last night and enjoyed it however, the first is still better IMO

[Rodrig20car]

Originally Posted by nagysaudio

Saw it. Was bored. Much better than the first outing, but that's not saying much. I know ya'll thirsting for a real action movie, but this isn't it. Real action movies are dead and I believe it's time to move on. If this was released back in the 80's, it would have been forgotten in minutes.

My biggest problem is CG and length. Dull scenes (idiotic tantrum family drama of some spoiled kid) go on and on without end. While interesting characters like the hammer girl are only on screen for mere minutes. No interesting central villain.

The CG looked horrendous. Hokey and dumb throughout. All of those gun shot blasts to the face looked worse than SyFy material.

Trim the fat. Get rid of all CG. Focus more on one villain. And this could have been an OK action movie.

I want to touch upon creativity. The choreography here was bland and repetitive. Can any of you imagine what the ending fight could have been if Jackie Chan was involved?

We have an awesome setting of a kitchen. A wine cellar. All of those knives one can take. Drawers to open. Meat slicers. So many wine bottles to break. Fryers. Mixers. Hatchets for some meat chopping. Ice cubes.

Does any of that get used? Of course not! Creativity does not exists in 2014. Instead we have the same punching over and over again. It's fun for the first 30 seconds, but after that it gets boring.

4/10

Yeah, that CG was such a rampant problem in this film, always front and center and on screen for way too long, its constant use killed it LOL. And the irony of preaching for originality, then advocating for this movie to be like a slapstick Jackie Chan movie. Don't get me wrong, Chan is a legend and some of his stuff inspired the fights in Raid 1 and 2 but I don't want Rama running around the room chucking bottles and ice cubes and stuff at guys. Fists and feet>>>props.

[newginafets]

Originally Posted by Rodrig20car

Yeah, that CG was such a rampant problem in this film, always front and center and on screen for way too long, its constant use killed it LOL. And the irony of preaching for originality, then advocating for this movie to be like a slapstick Jackie Chan movie. Don't get me wrong, Chan is a legend and some of his stuff inspired the fights in Raid 1 and 2 but I don't want Rama running around the room chucking bottles and ice cubes and stuff at guys. Fists and feet>>>props.

[nagysaudio]

Originally Posted by Rodrig20car

Yeah, that CG was such a rampant problem in this film, always front and center and on screen for way too long, its constant use killed it LOL. And the irony of preaching for originality, then advocating for this movie to be like a slapstick Jackie Chan movie. Don't get me wrong, Chan is a legend and some of his stuff inspired the fights in Raid 1 and 2 but I don't want Rama running around the room chucking bottles and ice cubes and stuff at guys. Fists and feet>>>props.

Lol. No.

[LateReg]

Originally Posted by nagysaudio

Saw it. Was bored. Much better than the first outing, but that's not saying much. I know ya'll thirsting for a real action movie, but this isn't it. Real action movies are dead and I believe it's time to move on. If this was released back in the 80's, it would have been forgotten in minutes.

My biggest problem is CG and length. Dull scenes (idiotic tantrum family drama of some spoiled kid) go on and on without end. While interesting characters like the hammer girl are only on screen for mere minutes. No interesting central villain.

The CG looked horrendous. Hokey and dumb throughout. All of those gun shot blasts to the face looked worse than SyFy material.

Trim the fat. Get rid of all CG. Focus more on one villain. And this could have been an OK action movie.

I want to touch upon creativity. The choreography here was bland and repetitive. Can any of you imagine what the ending fight could have been if Jackie Chan was involved?

We have an awesome setting of a kitchen. A wine cellar. All of those knives one can take. Drawers to open. Meat slicers. So many wine bottles to break. Fryers. Mixers. Hatchets for some meat chopping. Ice cubes.

Does any of that get used? Of course not! Creativity does not exists in 2014. Instead we have the same punching over and over again. It's fun for the first 30 seconds, but after that it gets boring.

4/10

I didn't notice any CGI. And I thought the movie's action - the staging, the editing and the frequent longer takes - was extremely creative. The cinematography was beautiful as well. The plot itself was murky yet familiar at the same time. Definitely not original and it could have been trimmed, but it was complex enough to hold my interest.

And if this film came out in the 1980s it would most certainly be remembered, and given its extreme nature, we'd probably only be going to the theater to watch snuff films at this point!

[nagysaudio]

Originally Posted by LateReg

I didn't notice any CGI. And I thought the movie's action - the staging, the editing and the frequent longer takes - was extremely creative. The cinematography was beautiful as well. The plot itself was murky yet familiar at the same time. Definitely not original and it could have been trimmed, but it was complex enough to hold my interest.

And if this film came out in the 1980s it would most certainly be remembered, and given its extreme nature, we'd probably only be going to the theater to watch snuff films at this point!

There was CG throughout and some of the worst CG of all time throughout. And if you're blatantly telling me that you didn't notice any, then what is there to even discuss?

[Sinthetic]

Originally Posted by nagysaudio

[Show spoiler]Saw it.

Was bored.

[Show spoiler]Much better than the first outing, but that's not saying much. I know ya'll thirsting for a real action movie, but this isn't it. Real action movies are dead and I believe it's time to move on. If this was released back in the 80's, it would have been forgotten in minutes.

My biggest problem is CG and length. Dull scenes (idiotic tantrum family drama of some spoiled kid) go on and on without end. While interesting characters like the hammer girl are only on screen for mere minutes. No interesting central villain.

The CG looked horrendous. Hokey and dumb throughout. All of those gun shot blasts to the face looked worse than SyFy material.

Trim the fat. Get rid of all CG. Focus more on one villain. And this could have been an OK action movie.

I want to touch upon creativity. The choreography here was bland and repetitive. Can any of you imagine what the ending fight could have been if Jackie Chan was involved?

We have an awesome setting of a kitchen. A wine cellar. All of those knives one can take. Drawers to open. Meat slicers. So many wine bottles to break. Fryers. Mixers. Hatchets for some meat chopping. Ice cubes.

Does any of that get used? Of course not! Creativity does not exists in 2014. Instead we have the same punching over and over again. It's fun for the first 30 seconds, but after that it gets boring.

No one cares/10

Let's face it, everyone saw you bashing the first one constantly in the US thread to the point of it being weird. I doubt anyone really gives a shit what you think about the sequel.

[Astro Zombie]

Holy. F***ing. Shit.

5/5

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by Astro Zombie

Holy. F***ing. Shit.

5/5

Here is my full review!

[newginafets]

Saw it loved it. I didnt get bored at all 150 mins seemed so short. Theres a guy in front of me lining up to buy a ticket and he seemed clueless on what to watch he kept asking the lady which movie to see the lady told him The Raid 2. And I told him too from behind to see The Raid 2. So he went for it. After the movie he thanked me

The Raid 2 hands down the best action film in the last 20 years imo. I care for all the characters, esp the Hammer girl n Baseball man, they appeared short, but so memorable. And Iko has improved acting wise, being an Indonesian myself I can tell.

Story wise is easy to follow, maybe foreigners will get confused with the names cos they are not used to plus reading the subtitles. Believe me I hv friends when we watch movies together they can barely follow the sub they're just to slow.lol

And the ending fight was probably the best finale ever! And I dont see any problem with the CGI for me it looked real as it can be. No exaggerating like in Japanese horror splatter movies. Also remember they didnt hv millions of budget they rely the most on the awesomeness of the fighting as close as possible to the reality.

So many elements that makes me to keep my interest intact. For some maybe its unnecessary for example the character Prakoso, its 1 small role but it adds the spice for a delicious meal.

Some would also be baffled with the snow scene. As far as I can remember the setting was not in Indonesia or Jakarta particularly, its a fictional world created by Gareth's own fantasy although some places mentioned (Tanah Abang, etc) are clearly in Jakarta. The snow scene was beautiful yet tragical. Red (blood) on white is bold color, just adding the pain more.

My only concern is how they will top this for the 3rd installment, better fight? Or better story? All aside, I cant wait for the 3rd one

A- (no, im not biased)

[Booker Dewitt]

Saw it, really enjoyed it. Immediately impressed by the improvement in cinematography, and just how ambitious the film was compared to the first one. The first one, as awesome as it is, barely felt like a full movie, instead more so a hundred minute collection of bad ass action scenes with light plot elements as a breather. This film doesn't suffer from that, if anything having a bit too much plot in the first half, with a lot of fight scenes seeming just a bit too short and the plotting a little heavy. This lessens greatly as the film goes on. Also hard to complain when seemingly every, of the many, fight scenes felt unique and bought something different to the table. From the use of the bathroom stall door, the chaotic brutality of the prison yard mud brawl (shit was gnarly as ****), and Koso consistently utilizing everything in his surroundings to gain advantage. Even Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Man's gimmicks felt different

[Show spoiler]when Rama fought them just by having them go at the same time.

Looking back at the original makes those fights seem a tad one-note.

Still have some problems with the plot, namely all the time spent on

[Show spoiler]Koso only for him to be a plot device,

and

[Show spoiler]Eka's death scene feeling completely unearned.

Some of the scenes aiming at poignancy fall a bit flat too, as the film is still an action movie, just with a super gritty, dark tone and a heavy dose of crime drama. Really interested to see how this film leads into the third, 'specially with how they handle the dangling threads from the first one.

[Show spoiler]Bam.

I still loved it, even with those reservations, all throughout the film I was reminded of the insane jump in quality that was Pusher II. It's not quite there, but damn.

[newginafets]

Btw wheres the poll?

[bootsy]

I'm not a big review guy but I saw this today and absolutely loved it. Sure there are flaws/problems but Good Lord you can do that with any movie. This will be a first day buy once it goes to Blu.

[theprestige85]

Originally Posted by Booker Dewitt

Saw it, really enjoyed it. Immediately impressed by the improvement in cinematography, and just how ambitious the film was compared to the first one. The first one, as awesome as it is, barely felt like a full movie, instead more so a hundred minute collection of bad ass action scenes with light plot elements as a breather. This film doesn't suffer from that, if anything having a bit too much plot in the first half, with a lot of fight scenes seeming just a bit too short and the plotting a little heavy. This lessens greatly as the film goes on. Also hard to complain when seemingly every, of the many, fight scenes felt unique and bought something different to the table. From the use of the bathroom stall door, the chaotic brutality of the prison yard mud brawl (shit was gnarly as ****), and Koso consistently utilizing everything in his surroundings to gain advantage. Even Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Man's gimmicks felt different

[Show spoiler]when Rama fought them just by having them go at the same time.

Looking back at the original makes those fights seem a tad one-note.

Still have some problems with the plot, namely all the time spent on

[Show spoiler]Koso only for him to be a plot device,

and

[Show spoiler]Eka's death scene feeling completely unearned.

Some of the scenes aiming at poignancy fall a bit flat too, as the film is still an action movie, just with a super gritty, dark tone and a heavy dose of crime drama. Really interested to see how this film leads into the third, 'specially with how they handle the dangling threads from the first one.

[Show spoiler]Bam.

I still loved it, even with those reservations, all throughout the film I was reminded of the insane jump in quality that was Pusher II. It's not quite there, but damn.

Got back from seeing it last night, absolutely agree with your review, specially your reference to the superiority of Pusher 2 in comparison to the original. It's the same deal here. Theres a jump in quality in every single aspect possible. It's also surprisingly well acted which a lot of the reviewers haven't touched upon. Yeah, the story isn't exactly unfamiliar, but sod it, most stories aren't these days. At the end of the day it's the way the story is told rather than what's being told that matters and Evans directs his story as if it's the last film he'll ever make. SUPERB direction at times, the lighting, use slow motion, music/sound cues, sense of dread. Wonderful.

The film was as good as I was hoping it would be. My only compliant may be that it's a bit too violent to the point where I find myself missing half the action scenes as i'm turning away. I could barely watch THAT hammer girl scene, seriously. Just too vicious. I can deal with blunt trauma like Baseball Bat Boy, though, lol. Loved the fact that he was a hoodie youth who moved like some Michael Myeresque supernatural villain yet had the innocence of a child, lol.

Hammer girl was very alluring despite her sickening violent tendencies. Strange ambience during her scenes.You could tell immediately she was going to be a horror.

Great film, glad I didn't bother seeing a trailer before because almost everything was a surprise.

Might even go and watch this again

[jeremycarrier]

Sometimes less is more. The first Raid was a tightly packed construction, that didn't pretend that we ever cared about its plot or its characters or acting like a traditional film. It got in and got out without 100 minutes.

This one, they add about a hour of overbaked paint-by-numbers gangster drama you've seen a hundred times, and its not very compelling material. Uwais, though he is fabulous when it comes to punching, stabbing, and shooting, really isn't the best at reciting dialogue, having facial expressions, or implying his character's range of emotions.

Luckily, when they actually DO start punching stabbing and shooting, particularly in the second half, shit is real.

[theprestige85]

Originally Posted by jeremycarrier

Sometimes less is more. The first Raid was a tightly packed construction, that didn't pretend that we ever cared about its plot or its characters or acting like a traditional film. It got in and got out without 100 minutes.

This one, they add about a hour of overbaked paint-by-numbers gangster drama you've seen a hundred times, and its not very compelling material. Uwais, though he is fabulous when it comes to punching, stabbing, and shooting, really isn't the best at reciting dialogue, having facial expressions, or implying his character's range of emotions.

Luckily, when they actually DO start punching stabbing and shooting, particularly in the second half, shit is real.

I dunno I actually thought that Uwais acting was halfway decent. Definitely an improvement on the 1st. He was surrounded by better actors though, and I thought that the supporting cast did a good job. The story isn't original, true, but it's still well presented through atmosphere and just slick editing.

Second half is when things go to next level shit though, I agree. That was probably the best car chase scene since The Bourne Ultimatum

[NARMAK]

Easy 5/5 for me to give, but in reality on a 10 scale, it's 9.5/10 max, because there are some small niggles.

Action in this movie; it's just dripping with it. The last half hour alone pretty much gets back to back action. You probably have about a 5 minute break between one action scene and then get thrust head long into the brilliant final fights.

You can't tell it's long at all imo. The pacing worked well, and I actually think the scope being widened didn't hurt this movie at all. It got you into looking out to the more wider context of what the reasons are for such rampant corruption in that world, and how hard it is to end it.

I think most people will enjoy it overall. Certainly one of the best damn action films to have released in decades imo.

[newginafets]

Originally Posted by jeremycarrier

Sometimes less is more. The first Raid was a tightly packed construction, that didn't pretend that we ever cared about its plot or its characters or acting like a traditional film. It got in and got out without 100 minutes.

This one, they add about a hour of overbaked paint-by-numbers gangster drama you've seen a hundred times, and its not very compelling material. Uwais, though he is fabulous when it comes to punching, stabbing, and shooting, really isn't the best at reciting dialogue, having facial expressions, or implying his character's range of emotions.

Luckily, when they actually DO start punching stabbing and shooting, particularly in the second half, shit is real.

I personally think his acting has much improved, and im an Indonesian myself. His facial n dialogues for me are spot on n believable.

[Megalith]

I had no issue with any of the acting in the film. The biggest problem with The Raid 2 is that many of fights are utterly inconsistent and jarring in terms of the narrative.

It's like the movie is screaming in your ear, "HERE IS THAT FIGHT SCENE YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR AFTER ALL THAT DRAMA."

[MasterChief3624]

Originally Posted by Megalith

I had no issue with any of the acting in the film. The biggest problem with The Raid 2 is that many of fights are utterly inconsistent and jarring in terms of the narrative.

It's like the movie is screaming in your ear, "HERE IS THAT FIGHT SCENE YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR AFTER ALL THAT DRAMA."

And?