In an effort to follow up the original film and use an earlier script that was previously considered too expensive, The Raid 2 (sometimes subtitled with it's original name Berandal or 'Thug') is a strange and wonderful thing to see come together. Originally the story of a prisoner befriending a crime boss's son and joining a mob war, this is now an undercover cop film and the nameless thug has been replaced with the hero Rama from the first outing. If this all sounds a bit unwieldy and convoluted, that's only because it is. But whether this all collapses under it's own weight or if they manage to throw in enough eye watering set pieces and imaginative moments for it to work is something for serious consideration. The result is both an improvement and a step down from it's predecessor, but in the end manages to be it's own thing.
The lean and gritty approach on the first movie was a big part of what made it work, but now the film makers have bigger ambitions. The big obstacle here is that by combing two ideas of an original story and a sequel which was never planned the result is an incredibly long running time. They could probably have afforded to lose 30 or maybe 40 minutes here and still have a pretty spectacular film. There large number of characters to introduce; the protagonist, the crime boss, his son, and their rivals on both a Japanese and Indonesian organizations amongst many others. A lot of time is given to the central dynamic in which the hot headed son wants to gain more power, something he considers his father is holding back from him.
It's a fair story line for this kind of genre, but adding to this the plot strands about undercover work, corrupt cops and the other gangsters - things become a bit strained over nearly two and a half hours. But if I sound overly critical here be assured that the results are still impressive. This is a martial arts film after all, and the action is what makes it work. The art direction and production design may be nice to look at during these more talkative scenes, but people are here to see the spectacle of real bone crunching stunt work. The story is book ended by imaginative and often incredible fight sequences that are both lengthy and spectacular. Not content with just the hand to hand fighting, director Gareth Evans throws in a car chase and a fight, simultaneously.
It helps that the tone is more pulpy this time around so that these outlandish set pieces all fit together. Certain comic book elements were restricted to an absurdly grimy tower block in the first film, but again things go further this time around with homeless hit men, Yakuza bosses and a prison so bad that ten or twenty man brawls can take place. Characters credited only as 'Hammer Girl' and 'Baseball Bat Man' are introduced in the third act, and there are no points for guessing what they get up to when things heat up. Its often ramped up to excessively violent levels as the mob conflict comes to a head, but it's all staged beautifully.
It helps that the original drab grey setting and aesthetic has been totally thrown out in favour of bright colours and visually intricate city scenes. Both incredible camera work and talented performers are utilised to great effect during some of the standout moments as Rama finds himself at the centre of a conflict read to explode. The characters are as clichéd as you'd expect but the undercover cop drama works with all the gangster power struggle moments to create some effective drama. During the mid section it feels like it might come apart at the seams with some many separate threads, but by gathering steam at the right moment everything comes together for a satisfying KO.
4/5
