Review of The Raid 2 (2014) by Viet Phuong N — 23 Jan 2015
What a film! I valued this film more than its predecessor, despite the fact that it is way sillier and more incoherent in term of plot, less spectacular in term of action choreography, and equally terrible in term of acting.
The most important thing about this film is "fun", the silly plot, which seems like a superficial mixture of "SPL", "Infernal Affairs", any Martin Scorsese's crime film (especially "Casino"), actually gives the film a chance to show off a variety of impressive set-pieces, which are also seemingly ripped off from "Casino" (the corn field scene), "Oldboy" (obviously the subway scene), "Infernal Affairs" (the car accident scene at the end), among others.
The choreography is less creative and spectacular, but more interesting to me (rather than the repetitive fighting style of the first film) due to the stand-out supporting cast, especially the "Hammer Girl".
Still, the film overcomplicated itself by a "sophisticated" plot full of twist-and-turn - way too sophisticated for a pure action film ("SPL" did a much better job with a more focused and intense story).
The film was also over-cast - too many potential characters (Ryuhei Matsuda's "the Japanese", Yayan Ruhian's Prakoso) yet too little time for them to shine (despite the 140-plus-minute length of the film, quite long for a pure action film).
With this style, surely a third "The Raid" will come out in the near future, hopefully with a more concise and focused plot.
This review of The Raid 2 (2014) was written by Viet Phuong N on 23 Jan 2015.
The Raid 2 has generally received very positive reviews.
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