Patrick Ogle
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"The Raid 2: Berandal," A Solid Action, Martial Arts Movie That Has A High Bar Set For It

4/9/2014

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The Raid: Berandal has a pretty high bar set being the sequel to 2011's The Raid: Redemption. While it doesn't quite measure up to the original  that isn't a knock on the new film. Anyone who says it does measure up or is better? They wanted "more plot" in the first  film which pretty much indicates they didn't get the point of the earlier film.

The point was ass whupping. Lots and lots of ass whupping.  There was a building full of bad guys and cops were going in to get them. That was pretty much it. It has about ten minutes of set up and an hour and a half of action.

This second effort starts on the day after the original ends. It has a great deal more set up before a punch is thrown. That isn't a bad thing in an adaptation of an Emily Bronte novel but in this movie? It is a slow start. The film also does a bit of jumping around in time and introduces a slew of characters, tries to develop them yet never really manages to make them, in any way, real. Again? In what is basically a martial arts movie? Not a terrible knock and the movie still does better than most in the genre in this regard (again that high bar set for this sequel).

Here, as in the first movie, what matters most is action and style. The jumbled story and the slew of characters doesn't ruin the movie or make it less enjoyable.  The fights are a little less spectacular but the film never tries to "top itself" or the fantastically over the top "Mad Dog" fight in the first movie. There is a fight in a moving car, in a muddy prison compound, in stylishly decorated hallways,  nightclubs, moving subway cars and more.  Where this movie may top the first is in the style. It has a great visual flair with its multiple locations. In this regard it calls to mind films by Korean director, Park Chan-wook.

Iko Uwais again shows he is an action movie star. He should have Hollywood beating down his door. He isn't going to win an Oscar anytime soon but his action movie chops are down. He has a presence beyond his obvious skill. It isn't just acrobatics.

The film manages--in a different role--to bring back one of the shining villains of the first film, Yayan Ruhian, another Indonesian actor, martial artist and stuntman. His fight in The Raid: Redemption, with Uwais and Donny Alamsyah, may well be the best fight in any martial arts movie, ever. His main fight in this film is also a little less impressive but, again, it can be pretty damned impressive and be less than his main fight scene in the first film. It would have been nice to see more of him in the film (and it would be nice to see him get some lead roles of his own).

One way the film solidly succeeds is in the acting. Many action films--wherever they are made--don't bother with requiring even the most minimal acting skills. This film isn't like that. No one is going to mistake the script for Shakespeare (and it doesn't have to be) so the actors have to be the ones selling it--often with looks and body language as much as words. You have to wonder if the martial artists in the cast are uniquely qualified to "speak" to an audience with body language.

Nothing here is ever cheap or overdone. Even some of the mini side plot points here have an actual purpose. The film is long--it runs just shy of two and a half hours but it never bores even when it sometimes confuses with its plethora of characters. There is a "video game" feel in the movie sometimes. Uwais battles scads of men one after another then there is a "boss battle" with a tougher opponent with unique armament. This is clever--there is a reason why these games appeal.

Fans should also be curious about where the already announced Raid 3 will take this international "franchise."
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The Raid: Redemption, Creative Use Of The Machete And A Star, Iko Uwais, Is Born

4/4/2012

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The Raid: Redemption has a message, an important message, for today’s youth. If you come upon a guy, standing in a pile of corpses that he has just killed with his bare hands (or with the corpses’ own weapons) do not, under any circumstances, attack him.  Even if your drug lord boss has ordered you to do so; do not attack him. And if you MUST attack him and you do so from behind? Do not run at him hollering “YAAAAAAAAAAAAA.”

I think everyone can admit these are valuable things to know. Also, in real life, do not pick a fight with Iko Uwais or anyone who looks like him.

The Raid: Redemption is an action film that is so focused on the action that it doesn’t even have opening credits. Opening credits take away time from machete fights and this film does not want any time taken from machete fights.

The plot is simple; there is a building controlled by a crime boss and a team of cops are going in to take him down. There are a few twists and turns in this but nothing that veers outside the standard martial arts film formula. But that is a good thing. When you watch a Terrence Malick film you want to be inspired to think. When you watch a romance you want to be dewy eyed. When you watch a martial arts movie you want to see butt-kicking. Machetes must swing, bullets must fly and spectacular acrobatics must ensue.


A martial arts film also a) not be too talky b) not be so stupid you are rolling your eyes between fights c) not use stand-ins in fight scene.

When martial arts movies feel the need to explain the history and details of what is going on? They inevitably fall apart. This is because the details usually range from silly to incomprehensible to dull. Sometimes they manage to be all three. Good martial arts movies paint with a broad brush and let the audience fill in the gaps. I do not need to know more about the cop’s family in The Raid. This is true in much the same way we didn't need to know the minor villain "O'Hara" from Enter the Dragon had a rough childhood.

As to stupidity, most of these movies are full of plot holes and flaws. The trick is to make it so the audience doesn’t notice them. Limiting the talking is one way to do this. Writing a script that moves briskly along is another.  Two movies with great fight sequences? The Big Brawl and Rumble in the Bronx are made close to unwatchable by everything that occurs in between the fight sequences.  Melodrama and comedy are not usually strong points of martial arts movies. The Raid briefly shows the main character with his wife at the start of the film and he has a brief exchange with an older man. We get he has a pregnant wife. We see him working out so we know he is a bad ass. We do not need his wife put in danger to be rescued when it has nothing to do with the plot (many movies cannot resist this).

Among the other positives of The Raid; Redemption is that it will inspire you to watch great martial arts films of the distant and not so distant past.  I, for instance, re-watched Ong Bak last night.  Some of the fight scenes are ruined at the end by the obvious use of a double. They likely had to reshoot parts of the scene because the actor was obviously a martial artist. In other cases the actors cannot fight. It is the rough equivalent of a surf movie where the actors cannot surf. Hire different actors. No one cares if there is a “name” Western actor in a movie.

This film’s star, Uwais, is also pretty certainly destined for stardom. He has the intensity of Tony Jaa but also carries himself in a way that indicates he can probably act too. It is hard to tell in The Raid and it doesn’t matter in martial arts movies but if he gets offered the Indonesian equivalent of Hero, he should be able to cut it (and this is meant literally).

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    I don't think of these as "reviews." they may seem like it sometime but they are more just...impressions.

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