'The Raid' & 'The Raid 2: Berandal'

This movie looks like it is full of balls-to-the-wall, insane action. And I approve:

Deep in the heart of Jakarta's slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world's most dangerous killers and gangsters. Until now, the rundown apartment block has been considered untouchable to even the bravest of police. Cloaked under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and silence, an elite swat team is tasked with raiding the safe house in order to take down the notorious drug lord that runs it. But when a chance encounter with a spotter blows their cover and news of their assault reaches the drug lord, the building's lights are cut and all the exits blocked. Stranded on the 6th floor with no way out, the unit must fight their way through the city's worst to survive their mission.

Director Gareth Evans (Merantau) and rising martial arts star Iko Uwais reunite in this adrenaline-fueled action film.

They gave it a stupid addendum to the title, because they are ALREADY prepping an American remake. 'The Raid: Redemption'.  

Holy.

Shit.

If you dig crazy, bad-ass martial arts carnage, SEE THIS MOVIE.

That is all.

Don't mind if I do.

Rewatched the red band trailer up there and it does make me wonder how insane some of the outtakes must be. You gotta figure with insane fight sequences like those, there must surely be some major doozies in there...

thecolorsblend wrote:Don't mind if I do.

Rewatched the red band trailer up there and it does make me wonder how insane some of the outtakes must be. You gotta figure with insane fight sequences like those, there must surely be some major doozies in there...

Just wait until you see what happens IN the film....

I hope some of you have gotten around to watching the first. It's insanely bad-ass.

Here's the trailer for the sequel that looks even MORE bad-ass:

New Domestic Trailer:



Can't fucking wait.

I had to watch the trailer twice to be sure but, yes, there's NOTHING about that trailer that isn't awesome.

The buzz on this film is pretty incredible. "Best action movie of the last 10 years" has been said a lot.

March can't come fast enough.

Saw 'The Raid 2: Berendal' earlier in the week. Brutal, brutal movie.

If you haven't seen the first, you really wouldn't be lacking any pertinent info if you saw the sequel. What happened in the first is touched on in the first 10 mins, then not again. This is a MUCH more intricate film, and without a doubt the most BLOODIEST action film of all time. And I don't mean gun-play bloody, even though t. here is a small bit of that. I mean hand-to-hand, hammer-to-body parts, baseball bat-to-every fucking inch of your body bloody. It's insane, but not in a cartoonish way.

Rama, the hero from the first film, is recruited to help bring down corruption and organized crime in Jakarta. At first reluctant, he is given a personal reason to agree to help. He gets sent to prison for beating the man who framed the son of one of Jakartas biggest crime families, thinking it to be only 3 months or so. In actuality, it's 3 years. 3 years away from his wife and newborn son. Inside, he finds it as difficult as you would expect. But being the martial arts cyclone that he is, he builds a reputation and is soon recruited by the same mobsters son mentioned above (Uco). In a particularly messy & brutal sequence, Rama saves Uco's life when he is about to be shanked in the yard. This gets him in with the gangsters, and he does his job of trying to gather as much intel as possible, while never revealing who he is.

There is a particularly sad scene for Rama, as he calls his wife after 3 long years. He originally told her 3 months, so his guilt weighs heavily upon him. There is distance, and great sadness in their brief conversation. He ends it by asking her if she'll just hold the phone up, so he can hear his son. Not talk to him, just listen. I truly, truly hope Iko Uwais can speak, or is learning to speak, English. The guy is an incredible martial artist, but a very gifted actor too. He can  be THE next "big thing" in action films here, of this I have no doubt.

The film suffers from some pacing issues, as the middle of the film is light on action, heavy on dialogue, and begins to drag a bit. But the action scenes? You haven't even SEEN action scenes until you watch this film. The end kitchen fight is incredible.

Gareth Evans is the perfect director for Marvel to allow to make a Punisher film. He would be the one to FINALLY deliver on just what makes the character so cool, and memorable. Would the Mouse allow him to do what he does best? I'm not so sure. But they SHOULD.

'The Raid 2: Berendal' is an incredible film. It's intricate, pulse-pounding, intense and bloody. You will be as exhausted as Rama, and when he speaks his final words in the film, you're right there with him.

'The Raid 2' comes out on Blu Ray on July 8th.

See it.

That is all.