Violent night
Gory night
All is tense
All is fight
Ah, the genius, the lyricism, the poetry. Yep, you’re welcome. Moving on.
Gareth Evans’ original Raid film was a masterpiece in tension and blood-pumping action. It’s not the first film to do the ‘everyone’s stuck in a tall building and tension’s increasing’ shtick (see: Dredd) and it’s not the last (see: High Rise), but goddamn, the action was relentless and constantly engaging, and very, very bloody, an element that’s distinctly lacking in the majority of contemporary films. Without blood, it’s difficult to get any sense of realism into the plot (as much as realism can be considered in the context of film), and, importantly, any consequences from the acts of violence. Here though, there’s plenty of consequences, and plenty of violence too.
Following quickly on from the events of the first film, Rama is again tasked with going into the belly of the beast, but instead of a gang lord, he has to infiltrate a crime syndicate and expose a corrupt cop. The first stage involves winning the trust of the boss’ son in prison, which leads to some particularly outstanding fight scenes, which the original made its name for. As with the first film and Evans’ previous film Merantau, the Indonesian fighting style pencak silat is employed throughout, proving a bone crunching realism as punches hit skin like bullets and fights play out in intricately choreographed ballets. If you think you’ve seen a great battle fight scene that takes place in pools of mud, then you ain’t seen the spectacle on display here.
The fight scenes are gloriously choreographed throughout, with each individual hit sending a pounding smack through the soundscape. It’s the kind of film I wished I could’ve seen in IMAX to appreciate each individual hit. Also, you’ll never appreciate just how effective a pair of hammers and a baseball bat can be at getting a bloody job done. Particularly if said hammer happens to be made of metal and is accompanied with a well-aimed baseball. The fact that the assassins are referred to only as Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Man in the script tells you all you need to know. An intricately woven plot of betrayals flows through the narrative, but it’s the fight scenes that stand out above and beyond.
It’s also great to see Yayan Ruhian make a triumphant return to the fray, not as Mad Dog in the original, but playing a different assassin entirely. It’s wonderful to see the martial artist’s expertise again in full form; Evans apparently declared that he would refuse to direct another film unless Ruhian was involved. The overall level of violence manages to exceed even the original, a feat in itself, and the film was banned in Malaysia upon release due to this apparent excessive violence. But with its outstanding martial arts and kinetic plot, The Raid 2 is worthy successor to its intense original.