Best in Movies 2014: 5. The Raid 2

Directed by: Gareth Evans

Written by: Gareth Evans

Cinematography by: Matt Flannery

& Dimas Imam Subhono

Choreography by:

Music by: Fagar Yuskemal Aria Prayogi & Joseph Trapanese

Distributed by: Sony Pictures Classics & Stage 6 Films

     American films will have a hard time replicating the sheer brilliance of The Raid 2, if they even consider remaking it for a domestic audience. To any filmmaker in the US attempting to do the same thing, good luck nailing the choreography, simple storytelling & direction. Consider me a late-bloomer to the brand with the fact that I only saw the original three years after I saw the sequel sometime during the summer of 2014. What impressed me about the original, was that it didn't allow itself to be defined by its basic story, allowing its amazing choreography to take center stage.  A SWAT team heads to this apartment complex with a shitload of drug dealers and crime lords just waiting for them in order to ambush them into defeat. Raid 2 is slightly more complex due to its 2 1/2 length and expanded variety with narrative and settings. Rather than approach the concept with a similar setup, the movie then adds a wrinkle to the story by making the protagonist, Rama (Iko Uwais), an undercover agent to look into a crime syndicate that can't rival the events of the first. It is a trite concept, but this is a movie that stand on its own without the need of a deep story.

Choreography/Fights 

    

       Smooth, focused choreography is a major contribution for why The Raid 2 works so well without the usual American bells & whistles. Regular moviegoers, like myself, rarely payed attention to intricacies of cinema. Not only did I feel like it was too much work to pay attention to the "making of" fights, but it requires too much over-thinking to parse over every kick, punch, block or push. American critics tend to do sort of nit-picking just a bit too much, in my opinion. Other than its characters, this is a paramount thing to this franchise. It's a rare thing in cinema for something, other than narrative, to move a scene along, since the easiest thing to do to compensate that, is more plot. Lucky for us, we don't need a varied story or a love story to move things along. Speaking of varied, the range of fights spread out from the apartment setting from the original, giving this film a load of depth. They fight in prisons, warehouses, streets, car chases, etc. There are a total of 19 fight scenes throughout the film, adding that balance of story and action. It also adds more intrigue because you aren't dealing with just interior settings only meant to move the story along. The actors use a style called silat, a technique that comes from the geo-cultural area of Southeast Asia, mostly from the Indonesian Archipelago of the land. Compared to other martial art stances, it's a discipline that does a lot of adaptability on certain conditions. As illustrated in the film, these people are very skilled. And, as many of these fights demonstrate, the generic fighter can keep up with Rama; doesn't matter how, they just can.  A favorite scene of mine, takes place near the end of the movie with Rama & The Assassin (Cecep Rahman) fighting in a kitchen. Before the scene breaks into a frenzy, the two combatants size up one another with their stances. Basically, both guys play a game of who can psyche out who first before the hardcore madness begins. For what it's worth, that scene felt like it would've been the end of Rama. The Assassin was a worthy adversary to Rama, since, they're style are similar in grace & balance. Despite the best efforts of Hammer Girl & Baseball Bat Man, they're advantages were that, they were skilled in weaponry & insanity. Sure, they shook Rama, to a degree, yet, once he was able to exploit their flaws, fate determined they're ironic outcomes. The penultimate fight had a different anticipation. Other than the sheer brutality of the outcome, it seemed that Rama & Assassin respected one another's skill set. It didn't matter who won or lost, all that mattered was survival. I believe that was the overall allegory between the two: Who's survival instinct was bigger, not who was the better fighter. Other fights were like all the others, but that one, was for a worthy purpose. 

Story/Characters

     As I pointed out before, the story is the least important component to this movie, but I think writing it off due to its basic structure is condescending to the action genre, as a whole. What I enjoyed about the narrative here, is how it doesn't allow itself to be a thought provoking action film. Hanna was that film, a good movie, but one that didn't have to be the one that attempts to be unlike the others. The Raid 2 is, at best, an action movie with crime drama elements. One man has to infiltrate a crime family just to fit in long enough, so that the authorities nab the perpetrators, Another wants to take over. These elements are familar, yes; but, it adds to the variability. Evans could've done Raid 1.5 and I still would've enjoyed it, though, I wouldn't have been praising it as much as I am now. Characters have stakes to their situation. Rama's purpose is extended from just keeping his family safe, but his survival and the success of his clandestine mission meeting its proper end. Other characters have bigger roles compared to the "point A, point B" direction of the first film. Not only was I engrossed with the motivations of Uco, Bangun, Rama and Bunawar, but their situations met a decisive purpose that had significant meaning. Sure, it's not the greatest story, but the added dimension within the story, gives the movie a different personality from its predecessor.

Closing

    This is the Extreme Championship Wrestling of movies, as far as I'm concerned. No American action movie can touch its style, choreography, or subtlety. 2014 displayed a lot of strength within that genre with John Wick, The Equalizer & Captain America 2. As much as I enjoyed those films, they just aren't comparable. And doing that, I feel, would be unwise of me. I'm interested in seeing what'll happen with Raid 3 in the near future. If its anywhere like this, just bigger? We can only imagine how far the makers can take this series from here.