Jeri Jacquin, Movie Maven
Coming to DVD from writer/director Gareth Evans and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the next installment of THE RAID 2.
This film catches us up with Rama (Iko Uwais), who after taking on a building filled with gangsters tries returning to a normal life. All too quickly Rama realizes he is not finished looking for corrupt cops and criminals.
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Rama will have to once again leave his family behind and go under cover in prison. He needs to infiltrate the powerful family led by Bangun (Tio Pakusodewo) who is part of the police corruption. The only way to do this is for him to befriend the son Uco (Arifin Putra).
Saving his life repeatedly in prison, Rama now called Yuda, is given a position with Bangun in appreciation. Protecting Uco is almost a full time job for Rama/Yuda. That is when Bejo (Alex Abbad) comes into play.
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Bejo knows that Uco wants to get out from under his father and takes advantage of that. Yuda gets in deeper and deeper and must once again fight his way out and take the crime syndicate down!
FINAL WORD: Uwais as Rama/Yuda has once again brought his intensity to this character. It is a thrill to see him once again but this time the role is less action and very intense. I can’t even imagine anyone else playing the role of Rama (I hope your listening Evans!). There is something quiet and yet amazing about this actor. All eyes and ears makes him the best part of the film.
Putra as Uco is just a spoiled rotten son of a gangster. Wanting to control everything and everyone without his father, Putra has no problem doing what ever he wants no matter the cost. His charm and good looks don’t do much when he’s killing with no conscience. Putra does a fantastic job allowing his character to be despised by the good guy as well as the bad.
Abbad as Bejo is just ridiculously evil! Knowing the best way to get what he wants is to get Uco on his side; he works on a weak mind. Pakusodewo as Bangun needs to repeatedly smack his kid around, okay that’s what I kept thinking about it.
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Other cast includes: Yayan Ruhian as Prakoso, Julie Estelle as Alicia, Oka Antara as Eka, Donny Alamsyah as Andi, Roy Marten as Reza and Cecep Arif Rahman as The Assassin.
TUBS OF POPCORN: I give THE RAID 2 three tubs of popcorn out of five. This film is a tad different than the original in that there is less action and more acting. There is character development with a storyline but don’t get me wrong because even in the storyline there is some serious scenes.
The fight sequences are completely awesome and Uwais makes it look incredibly easy. If you don’t have both films already, add them to your library immediately. If martial arts films with a good storyline are what you love, then add THE RAID 2 to your collection.
Writer Evans is not only responsible for two of THE RAID films but also the segment of “Safe Haven” from V/H/S/2. In pre-production is Evans next work THE NIGHT COMES FOR US and THE RAID 3.
The DVD includes bonus features of English Dub in addition to the original language version of the film, Director Commentary with Gareth Huw Evans, and featurettes of “The Next Chapter: Shooting a Sequel” and “Cinefamily Foundation Q&A with Gareth Huw Evans, Iko Uwais and Joe Trapanese”.
In the end – it’s not over yet!
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