The Raid 2

I was lucky enough to attend a special screening of 'The Raid 2' in Sydney last night, it was a big crowd for a small event with everyone excited for the film to begin. I can honestly say that myself, my friend who tagged along and the audience were very very entertained!

The plot continues 2 hours after the events of the first film, it places our hero into another intense mission to stop the baddies by going undercover for a special unit and blending in with the mob who's on the verge of war with their rivals. All I can say that follows is a orgy of brutal, bloody and intense arm-breaking, leg-snapping, hammer stomping, bat swinging, blade slashing, head blowing, bullet-loaded and arse kicking violence in a dash of Tarantino and Scorsese story-telling in its plot. The choreographed fights are all intense and realistic with the climatic showdown towards the last half hour of the film being the best sequences filmed on camera.

Overall, its a bloody amazing film to be released in 2014 and its a definite return for the genre too! I'm definitely keen to see this again when its out officially later this week!

Okay so where do I begin I saw the first one and It blew me away. I watch so many movies no matter the genre. So while I was watching this sequel my heart was beating very fast and the adrenaline was pumping. It takes place 2 hours after where the first one ended. Swear to god every time there was a fight on I felt it and I kept shaking. The scene that had me pumped was the train scene and the prison fight. There is a lot of martial artist involved in this film which makes me love it even more because they use real stunt men and this movie just requires skill. This is by far the best action movie sequel ever produced and I hope it gets noticed by everyone around the world. Best one on one showdown in the end. If you love action movies and would love to turn your brain off for a moment then this is your candy. My favorite action movie ever, sorry Bruce Lee. 10/10 MUST SEE!

I was lucky enough to catch a limited release screening of this film here in Australia as I was in high anticipation to see it after more than enjoying the first Raid film and in no way was I disappointed with this film. This is honestly, by far, one of the best sequels in existence today. The isolated first film is completely removed of all boundaries and expanded it to this ultra-violent masterpiece. First the possible negatives for some people; this movie is very long and structured differently to the first (Beginning Story - Action Centre - Ending Story) this film follows a back and forth style of (Story - Action - Story - Action) so the accumulation of story is quite large meaning a lot of reading for English viewers. Another possible negative is the fact this film feels almost nothing like the first film, the first being like an action survival story while this film is an action, espionage, martial arts film filled with gangs and all different personalities though in my opinion this gives the film a fresh style for viewers. If you were expecting same old style you may be disappointed but there is an American remake of the first film in production. The final possible negative is the vast amount of brutal and graphic violence throughout the film, this is one of the most violent action films I have ever seen but I enjoy the extreme violence side of cinema but those with a light stomach may find this film difficult for the sheer amount of blood there is in this movie in comparison to the first. These negatives in my eyes are strong points for the film in my eyes but to others might not be. To the positives which there are plenty of, firstly and most important; the action. As you probably would've expected the action in this film is the greatest bone crunching action you will most likely see in your whole life, its gritty and incredibly well planned style makes it like a form of bloody art. Gareth Evans knows exactly what he is doing here. One of my favorite aspects of the films was the direction. The slow pans and zooms Evans uses to build suspense as well as a perfect use of slow motion, not over the top in any way, just give the film an added visual style which boosts it even further. Evans also knows exactly how to build up an action scene, one of my absolute favorite fight scenes in the film in the prison yard fight which is so incredibly well choreographed whilst having this dark and suspenseful build up to the fight. This film try's a lot of new things and all of which work for example are car chase scene which is one of the best I've seen in any movie. The story in this film delivers what the first film was lacking, putting characters in the flesh and making you care a lot more, even for the villains. And with good story and characters of course comes excellent acting which is often rare in action films, these actors are absolutely teeming with talent, all of which can act and can fight. As I read the credits I could only see two stunt doubles for the whole film which is saying something. This is an absolute must see for any action film fan, it is nothing short of a masterpiece and needs to receive the credit it absolutely deserves

When I first saw the raid, (redemption) I was blown away. exhilarating action, leaving me breathless at times. I've since watched it multiple times with other friends. And each time, left feeling the same. Now, with such high regard for the first one, naturally I went into this movie, with extremely high expectations. I was NOT disappointed. Not even remotely. It was twice as breathtaking, twice as exhilarating, and endlessly more brutal. A stunning movie. Evans, is unbelievable. His eye for what people want in an action movie is impeccable.The car chase scene (my favorite scene) was one of the best I've seen in recent history. Which is made more impressive by the fact the it was gareths first attempt at directing such a scene. I can't recommend this movie enough. Believe the hype. Absolute 10/10.

((From: http://thinmanmoviereviews.wordpress.com/)) In 2011, Welsh director Gareth Evans gave us "The Raid: Redemption" – one of the best pure action films of the last decade – and hinted at his potential to be a new and exciting presence in the writer/director realm. The action was hard-hitting, lightning fast, supporting a simple, contained story of one man fighting against an entire tower of enemies in a way that was reminiscent of classics like "Die Hard". Well, if "The Raid" was one of the best action films of the last ten years, Evans' follow-up film "The Raid 2″ has now set the standard for the next twenty. In fact, I'm going to make a bold statement that you can feel free to quote me on:

"The Raid 2″ is the best action movie ever made.

Where sequels are concerned, this film does absolutely everything right. It takes the frenetic energy of the original, contained within the twenty-story drug den in which it took place, and lets it loose across the urban sprawl of an entire city teeming with warring crime syndicates, corrupt police officers, and the civilians often caught in the crossfire. No longer contained to just one address, the fight scenes in "Raid 2″ cover car chases, cramped subway trains, muddy prison yards, night clubs, and city streets, and every action set piece hits all the right notes. Every punch thrown and bullet fired is made even more effective by the fact that all of the action is done practically. In an era where so much of the action that we see on screen is dominated by the CGI-centric explosion extravaganzas of Michael Bay and the like it's incredibly refreshing to see highly trained stunt professionals being pushed to their limits to deliver a collection of the best action scenes in modern memory. Much of this work is shouldered by the film's lead, Indonesian-born Iko Uwais, the returning star of the first "Raid". Uwais is reminiscent of a younger Jet Li or – dare I say it – Bruce Lee; moving with such self-assured speed and practiced precision that every move deserves multiple looks to take in all the details. The comparison to Lee is bolstered by "The Raid 2″'s finale, which plays out like the final gatecrashing act of "Game of Death", in which our hero has to slug his way through opponents of increasing lethality. Unlike "Game of Death", "The Raid 2″ lets us see our villains in action almost as often as our hero, and it's a credit to Evans as writer/director that each of these characters is absolutely dripping with charisma and cool. There are no wasted characters here; we love every hero and love to hate every villain.

The script is, with few exceptions, always on-point. What could have simply been a straight-forward action flick with minimal plot to carry us from one action set-piece to another is instead a mad whirlwind of conspiracy, murder, and double and triple-crosses, steadily ratcheting up the tension to the film's explosive conclusion. From a technical standpoint, the impressive cinematography matches the action stride-for- stride and, looking back, there are a dizzying number of wildly choreographed long-takes that put every nuance of the environment, characters, and action on display. Combine this with a pulse-pounding soundtrack and some absolutely superb practical makeup effects accompanying every injury, no matter how small, and "The Raid 2″ is the complete package. With a third film already in the works, making this a trilogy, Hollywood has been put on notice: Gareth Evans has arrived; he's just dramatically changed the landscape of action films and shows no signs of pulling any punches. [10/10]