The Raid 2: Berandal (2014) Review

 The Raid 2: Berandal (2014) 9/10

Hello everyone and welcome to another movie review. Continuing with the final entry of favorite niche martial arts duology, The Raid 2: Berandal was first released at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2014, with the director being Gareth Evans, who did the first movie. The Raid 2 was a box office success, with many people claiming this movie to be another masterpiece like the first film.

I, unfortunately, can not agree with that statement. The Raid 2 is a phenomenal movie that elevates what the first movie did in a lot of ways. But I feel like its overly complicated story makes the movie not as good as it should be. But on all accounts, this is still a great movie that I still love a lot. Let’s begin.

Immediately after the events of the first movie, Rama and the surviving members of the police raid go see Police Lieutenant Bunawar about what had transpired. Bowo is sent away to recover from his injuries and Wahyu is executed. As it turns out, Bunawar is heading a secret investigation into the police force, searching for evidence against the corrupt cops in the city, with his eyes set on Police Commissioner Reza. Bunawar persuades Rama into joining his task force, whom he reluctantly agrees to. To do this, he’ll have to get thrown into the slammer and cozy up with a man named Uco, who is the son of Bangun, head of Jakarta’s biggest crime syndicate. 2 years pass since he got incarcerated and Rama is finally free and now his true mission begins. He takes up Uco’s offer and joins the Bangun syndicate, where Rama’s investigation will begin. As he makes himself known within the organization, rival crime boss Bejo starts making moves to expand his territory. It’s up to Rama to keep Uco and Bangun safe from the unrelenting bloodshed that’s about to transpire.

Going from a simple story about survival in a 30 story apartment building to this is an exceptional risk that helps develop this world of lawlessness. However, I feel like the execution of this story could have been better, well, executed. It’s still a good mob story about territorial skirmishes, but I do think the movie could have explained its plot just a bit better. If you miss even the slightest piece of dialogue, you will be lost. Having watched this movie numerous times, I was finally able to catch everything, but that many viewings shouldn’t be necessary to understand your plot and all the little details. 

With all of that said, this is still a good story. I felt bad for Uco, the despicable son who wants to take the reins, and I also felt for Rama’s new struggle. Bro just wants to protect his family (and take revenge for what happened to his brother Andi). I enjoyed all the characters, with not a single bad plot point or anything like that.

And of course the action scenes were all dope too. Some of the best fights in cinema came from this movie. The car chase, Rama vs the baseball bat and hammer girl, the prison yard brawl, and the best fight: Rama vs the assassin in the kitchen. There’s plenty of action in the film to keep you on your toes.

Production is solid too. The music is decent (although I would have loved to have Mike Shinoda return for this soundtrack too, but it’s whatever). I love all the excellent camera shots with excellent lighting. I especially loved the camera work during the car chase and during the intense fight in the kitchen between Rama and the assassin.

Acting is really good too. Special shout out to Iko Uwais for continuing to bring out his best when playing Rama. Also shout out to Arifin Putra (Uco), Tio Pakusadewo (Bangun), Alex Abbad (Bejo), Cecep Arif Rahman (The Assassin), and Cok Simbara (Bunawar).

The Raid 2 is a movie that I hold in high regard and will sometimes flip flop between a 9 and 10/10 ratings. However, because I’m flip flopping like this makes me believe that maybe it doesn’t belong in the elite masterpiece class. I still love the movie and I recommend the duology to anyone who likes martial arts movies, but I recognize that it’s just a shy away from pure greatness. I will be watching these movies again in the future and I hope you do too. Until my next review, stay frosty.

Thanks for reading.

This is Zorgak, signing off.