Rama is back as he agrees to go undercover in prison to gain the trust of Uco, who is the son of the leader of a major Jakarta crime syndicate.  Uco wants to ignite war between his father Bangun and the Japanese crime family headed by Goto.   Goto and Bangun have maintained a truce for the last 10 years, but a small time thug named Beju has convinced Uco it is time to take over and cause a war.   Rama is undercover to discover the scope of police corruption, but he may be over his head as everyone have their own plans.

 

THE RAID 2 is an intense and bloody action film with a bigger scope than THE RAID: REDEMPTION in what results in many great choreographed action sequences as good as the ones seen in the first film.  The editing is much better and you can easily follow the action sequences unlike the crappy action sequence editing and shooting style of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER,   The first no holds barred action sequence is in a muddy prison yard as two rival prison gangs attack each other and even attack the prison guards who are trying to put a stop to it.  Then you have a silent female assassin with two claw hammers who is awesome and deadly in her few scenes.   The action sequences are incredible thanks to the director being hands on with many aspects of the film from editing to action choreography to writing the script.

 

THE RAID 2 maintains the strength of the action so brilliantly staged in the first film and the bigger budget allows for a few more action sequences like the ones you would see in other Asian crime films made in Hong Kong and South Korea, but this Indonesian action film can stand up against the best crime films from Hong Kong and South Korea.   It is a dynamite film that I think even Quentin Tarantino would appreciate this one.  I read Gareth Evans wants to do this as a trilogy, but I don’t know how he could do it given how the film ended and I said the same thing about how he could do a sequel to THE RAID.  So I will give him the benefit of the doubt and see if he can surprise me again.

 

This review is ©4-12-2014 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

Like Enterline Media on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/enterlinemediaweb and follow on tumblr at http://enterlinemedia.tumblr.com