mmmmbanemmmm This is the greatest authentic action crime thriller ever made a real martial arts with insane stunts great acting a real step up in the action movie industry the raid redemption and the raid 2 are the best action movies ever made waiting for the raid 3

IkhwanArif After the overwhelming success of Serbuan Maut (The Raid: Redemption) it's not surprising that Gareth Evans got the greenlight to make another one. Berandal (The Raid 2) continues where Serbuan Maut left, with an expectation to be... bigger. And it is big. Bigger budget, bigger ensemble, multiple locations, a car chase scene and clocking in at 150 minutes long, Berandal had the promised of be the sequel that we don't need but certainly the sequel that we deserve but it just fell short of living up to its lofty potential. Firstly the flaws; there were scenes and characters in the film that simply didn't belong and wholly unnecessary. The first is Yayan Ruhian as Prakoso; I don't fault Gareth Evans for wanting to include Yayan Ruhian again; hell, I would to but Yayan Ruhian is wasted as Prakoso, a character that could be played by anyone and certainly didn't need 3 scenes with 2 lackadaisical fight scenes. In one of the scenes, Perkoso ended up outside a club, during winter time, in tropical Jakarta; this is just pretentious nonsense; no one is South East Asia would ever believe that there is snow in the equator. Then there is also Batter and Hammer Girl; who are entirely necessary to the plot and their fight scenes were also lackluster. Julie Estelle as Hammer Girl especially, is really really weak; there was no acting, she can't fight, her choreography is crap. I think Gareth Evans was pressured into adding too much, and so, the film feels like it has a lot of 'bloatware.' All in all, you could at least cut off 30 minutes from the movie, which would've been a better outcome. More doesn't always mean more; less can be more. So, now the good. The movie has an excellent ensemble cast, even Yayan Ruhian shines as his role as Prakoso. Standout performances by Iko Uwais reprising his role as Rama, Ariffin Putra is fantastic as Uco (and he speaks excellent English), Tio Pakusadewo is credible as the mafia boss Bangun (and he speaks great Japanese), Ryuhei Matsuda and Keinichi Endo as the Goto family yakuza. The story had the potential to be really great a la Infernal Affairs or The Departed but due to the aforementioned 'bloatware' the story was reduced to gang rivalry, and a one man commando against the Indonesian Preman. I applaud Gareth Evans for depicting real criminal behavior along and this adds authenticity and believability to the film. Had, Evans cut out all the pretentious scenes out, he would have something really close to greatness. The best fight scene must be between Iko Uwais and Cecep Arif Rahman in the Kitchen fight with Karambit knives. This fight scene is as close to a real Silat fight as you can get and it was very well done. As it is, it's not bad. Berandal is not as good as Serbuan Maut, but it's still an entertaining affair.

Daniel Cronin The Raid 2 is an absolute masterclass of action cinema. It picks up immediately after the events of the first film and our main character, Rama, is almost instantly thrown right back into the world of crime that he only got a taste of in The Raid.This film excels in almost every way but lets first talk about it's main selling point: the action. The Raid 2 contains, as the title suggests, the absolute greatest action sequences that I have ever seen. Everything is brutally realistic to a point where you start to feel bad for the characters involved, but at the same time you never want the fights to stop. The martial arts choreography is something to behold, and the direction is absolutely stunning. There are very few cuts and every time there is one it is absolutely necessary and enhances the scene rather than detracting from it. The main actor, Iko Uwais, clearly did all his own stunts, which is something that you rarely see and is to be applauded.Speaking of direction and cinematography, even outside of the action this film is absolutely gorgeous. The director, Gareth Evans, has a way of making certain settings feel very real. Clean when appropriate, grimy when appropriate.The acting is great all around. Iko Uwais plays extremely well as Rama and he has a lot more to do in this movie than he did in the last. Arifin Putra does a great job as Uco, the unhinged son of a mob boss, and returning as a different character, Yayan Ruhian is incredible as Prakoso despite his minimal screen time.If I have to choose a flaw with this movie it would be that it is a bit overlong at 150 minutes, whereas the first was a comfortable 101 minutes. Despite this one minor issue I cannot stress enough that this is a must-see for any action junkie. The Raid 2 is truly amazing.The End

jamdoodle Well , yes is a good film not a great film, yes it's non-stop and entertaining but I can't state it's the best ever or brilliant fight scenes. There is better out there. When fights are on a one to one basis this movie improves (especially the kitchen fight action near the end of the film). It's the group fights that let it down badly, okay so there loads of people they need to defeat or get past. It seems like the bad guys are all waiting in line for there turn to fight! Numerous times we see them running towards the hero in the background, 3,4,5 at a time only to have one attack and then another with the rest still running in from the background. It just takes the edge off the whole thing. Especially when some (*Sorry spoiler alert*) get hit by empty water cooler bottles which results in them being thrown to the fall in total agony unable to get up and fight anymore!? I'd prefer to have these stupid aspects taken out of the film, as it totally takes away from the rest of the action that unfolds. That and the rubber toilet at the start of the film just takes the shine off a clever and at times well made film.