THE RAID 2 Will Get Your Adrenaline Pumping [REVIEW]
02 Apr, 2014
THE RAID 2 is director Gareth Evan’s sequel to 2011’s THE RAID: REDEMPTION, which was released with international acclaim. Welsh born wrter/directer, Evans, had always been an action movie enthusiast. However, martial arts films were not common in Indonesia. In 2007, he directed a documentary about the cultural heritage of Indonesia titled THE MYSTIC ART OF INDONESIA. He then went on to write and direct his feature film MERANTAU two years later, which introduced the world to Indonesian action stars Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian to audiences.
Watch Dig In Magazine’s 2014 Sundance Film Festival interview with actor/martial arts star Iko Uwais (Rama):
He attempted to make another action film, BERANDAL in late 2009, but had to abandon the project due to inadequate funding as a result of elaborate action scenes. However, Gareth was writing another script at the same time with a lower budget in mind, which was called INSIDE. INSIDE was released simultaneously in the U.S. and Indonesia in March 2011 as THE RAID: REDEMPTION. He began adapting BERNADAL as a sequel to THE RAID: REDEMPTION. Following the success of THE RAID: REDEMPTION, Evans was convinced that there was a potential for a RAID franchise.
Watch Dig In Magazine’s 2014 Sundance Film Festival interview with director Gareth Evans:
Preproduction of THE RAID 2 began in Jakarta in the fall of 2012. Evans, Uwais and Ruhian worked on making changes to the choreography that had previously been developed by Uwais and Ruhian in 2010. Julie Estelle was cast as Hammer Girl with a small fight scene. Although Estelle did not have a martial arts background, Evans was impressed by her performance.
Watch Dig In Magazine’s 2014 Sundance Film Festival interview with actress Julie Estelle (Hammer Girl):
THE RAID’s (original cut) score for the film was done by Aria Prayogi and Fajar Yuskemal while THE RAID: REDEMPTION (U.S. and International release) was done by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park and Joe Trapanese. When Trapanese expressed an interest in working on the film, Evans decided to bring a fusion of western and Asian influences into the score. So, Aria and Fajar collaborated with Trapanese in Los Angeles to come up with the score.
Watch Dig In Magazine’s 2014 Sundance Film Festival interview with music composer Joe Trapanese:
THE RAID 2 is a very complex story. It involves rookie Jakarta cop Rama, played by Iko Uwais. Rama must do whatever it takes to protect his wife and infant son. When his life and that of his family’s is threatened, he is forced at gun point to enter into a dangerous plan. He is asked, in exchange for protection, to commit a crime so that he is thrown in prison just long enough to align himself with the wealthy son of a gang kingpin played by Arifin Putra (Uco).
Rama gets deeply involved in the criminal underworld in Jakarta. He thinks that once he completes the task at hand, he will be a free man once again. However that is not the case. He learns that he will never get out and learns that he can trust no one. The underground is filled with corruption.
This story is so complex that the viewer gets deeply immersed into every scene. The film’s action scenes are amazing to watch as each movement is highly choreographed. One scene in which the prisoners are fighting one another in the mud was highly memorable. In my Sundance Film Festival red carpet interview with Arifin Putra, he explains the challenges of performing a choreographed fight scene with a hundred men in the mud.
Watch Dig In Magazine’s 2014 Sundance Film Festival interview with actor Arifin Putra (Uco):
Overall, I thought THE RAID 2 was exceptional and kept audiences at the edge of their seats. It was unpredictable. Each scene, whether it was a car chase or a martial arts fighting scene was well choreographed and executed. The characters in the film were unique, interesting and entertaining. Even those will smaller roles, such as Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Man left a lasting impression with their style of fighting represented by their names. Hammer Girl fights and kills with 2 hammers and Baseball Bat Man does so with a ball and bat. If you are interested in films with action, martial arts, car chases and the criminal underground, THE RAID 2 will get your adrenaline pumping.
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