Too much of everything

Powerful

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Excellent but underrated film

These films are brutally and disturbingly violent, but at the same time they are immensely watchable. The violence is portrayed in a lyrical way, almost artful, like a ballet. Not unlike the early films of John Woo, such as FACE OFF. The violence doesn't distract from the story telling, but enhances it, like Shakespeare did with his tragedies MACBETH, or HAMLET. The films are extremely well shot and very entertaining.

In-flipping-sane. Ohhhhh myyyyyy lorddddd I couldn't keep me eyes off those fight scenes. Every kick, every punch and every head smash was filmed to absolute perfection. Martial arts have never looked this thrilling since...ever. Massive props to Gareth Evans, I tip my SnapBack off to you sir! So in this sequel we follow our sole survivor, Rama, who must go undercover in order to protect his family from his new hardcore reputation that is making him popular in the criminal underworld. I'll start with the negatives, the first half was an absolute drag. This did not need to be 150 minutes long, at all. Could've easily established the power hungry Uco, who has major daddy issues, in a solid 20 minutes as opposed to an hour. So the long runtime and slow paced first half are my only complaints. This, as an action film, is absolutely insane. The Indonesian Terminator from the predecessor has now been substituted by a hammer wielding deaf girl, a well aimed baseball bat wielding guy (who can kill by hitting baseballs with insane precision...) and the ultimate blade wielding badass since Blade himself. That kitchen fight sequence was savage. The choreography was perfection, I've never shouted "YEAH! STAB HIM!!" so much. Evidently, watching this is releasing my inner murderous personality. The action set pieces were creative, from decimating prisoners in mud to a frantic car chase in downtown Jakarta...majestic. Some technical excellence from Evans, who performed such a great tracking shot that consists of going through 3 different cars in a chase scene. The use of blood and gore is ridiculously insane, great makeup effects. Even the no nonsense dialogue was insanely savage. Did I mention this film was both savage and insane? Remove the first half, and it's perfection...but we can't so it shall get a decent rating instead. So much more juicier than the first!

Following The Raid,[4] the film opens with Bejo, a self-made Jakarta gang lord, executing Rama's brother Andi for siding with a figure named Bangun.After the disastrous raid on crime boss Tama's apartment building, Rama meets with Bunawar, a police officer deemed honest by Andi. After executing Wahyu and sending Rama's fellow survivor Bowo to receive medical attention, Bunawar invites Rama to join a clandestine anti-corruption task force. This undercover unit seeks to expose the backroom dealings of Reza, a corrupt police commissioner, and other police leaders who are affiliated with the Bangun and Goto crime families. Rama initially declines, but later agrees to join after learning of his brother's murder and the threat Bejo poses to his family. Bunawar fakes Rama's death to protect his family from Reza and the corrupt cops, assigning Rama to infiltrate the crime world by befriending Uco, son of Bangun and heir to his criminal empire.

"The Raid" was excellent! "The Raid 2" goes above & beyond excellent.After surviving the tower block Rama has to survive a far more dangerous environment. Espionage, double cross & double double cross.This sequel has so much of everything, action, story & awesome martial arts!This movie has so many elements, the story has so many twists and turns! The fight scenes are superbly choreographed, Gareth Evans has done this movie proud. I just hope that "The Raid 3" if it ever happens has more of the same.On a personal note I am disappointed that an American version of "The Raid" has been approved as more often than not these rethinks spoil the originals......