The thing that hits you in the first twenty minutes of Berandal is how much more 'talky' the film is than its predecessor. Whereas 2012's Redemption was a very linear affair, there's a concerted effort this time at building a bonafide reason for the upcoming carnage. That said, the location settings do often feel like a screenwriter saying "but he needs to be in a prison so that we can have a prolonged fight in a muddy prison yard!", and the plot becomes far more involved (and sometimes contrived) than feels strictly necessary.
The fight-scenes are utterly spectacular, of course, and the skill of the cast is matched only by that of the cinematographers Matt Flannery and Dimas Imam Subhono in making sure that every kick, punch, slap and gunshot is described perfectly on-screen. There is none of the fast-cut chaos of Hollywood on display here, and you can almost feel each blow connecting with its recipient. Naturally there are many shots (both in the cinematic, and firearm sense) in the film which can't be carried out 'for real', and the effects teams work here is flawless. Well, I imagine it's flawless, but I don't have a lot of experience with watching people's heads get blown apart at point blank range. Their work is certainly convincing at any rate.
Of course, the film and its director aren't so much of an unknown quantity this time around, so audience expectation is far higher. In many ways, The Raid 2 is infinitely more nuanced than Evan's previous outing, but I do think that it comes at the expense of the constantly flowing adrenaline. This is a better film, perhaps, but not a better movie. At the risk of sounding like a complete heathen, there's far too much dialogue in Berandal (not to mention subtitles that don't stay on-screen long enough to be read), but to be fair, you won't be going to watch this for the witty banter (although there is a little). While the fight-choreography is amazing, the duration of the 'setup' scenes seems far too lengthy, and while it's admirable that this sequel is trying (and succeeding) to operate on a higher level, the film feels distinctly episodic (as it covers around two and a half years, as opposed to the one day of The Raid), and left me feeling like I'd watched four episodes of a TV series back to back. The film's director Evans has already proved he can tell a compelling story and keep the momentum sustained, but I don't think he quite manages it this time.
Iko Uwais brings the wide-eyed, yet resigned, determination to the game once again, and is similarly fantastic, as is Yayan Ruhian ("Mad Dog" from the first film, who I could have could have sworn died in that one, but it has been a while since I watched it, and the IMDB page suggests he plays a different character), even though he seems to have been given his brief role out of courtesy, rather than plot necessity. Also very much 'on the radar' in this film is Julie Estelle, listed only as "hammer girl". There are few things more simultaneously foreboding yet amusing than watching a hot chick retrieve two claw hammers from her bag on a crowded tube-train and stare menacingly down the other end of the carriage. The only thing better than this is watching her use them. Other gleefully violent scenes in the film utilise a baseball bat, a restaurant hotplate and a motorcycle helmet. I'm sure you get the idea.
But as I said, there's a lot to cover in this film, and considering the story is still centered around Rama and his quest to cleanse the city of corruption, we don't seem to spent a great deal of time in his company. Rama is one of the seemingly incorruptible characters in the story, and amongst all the human filth we encounter, it's great to see a protagonist focused on his righteous goal without seeming patronising at all.
The Raid 2 is far too long, and although it's filled with amazing martial arts skills, doesn't top its predecessor for sheer adrenaline. That said, it's still the best action film you'll see this year. A little bird tells me there's a limited number of prints in the UK (although I don't know why, in this digital age), so if it's on at your cinema, go and see it.
Best line: "Suck it up… don't fuck it up."
For the action, yes, for the plot, no.
I winced a lot. Although not as much as the chap in the row behind who pretty much sucked his teeth and whispered "Shi-i-i-i-t" for the duration.
It does, but I'm not sure that's what's needed.
Big. Loud. Noisy. Cinema.
Nah.
I will.
I didn't hear one, but there's a lot of screaming in this, so it wouldn't surprise me if I missed it.
How long's The Raid 3 going to be? They'll have to put an intermission in it at this rate…
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Watching The Raid a second time, after reading reviews and hearing an interview with the director, it's a much more paced film than I'd thought. A second-pass doesn't lessen the impact of the on-screen violence at all, but it does allow you to concentrate on the performances of the central characters. I know how that sounds, but bear with me…
Shooty-Shooty-Bang-Bang, we love you… I was pretty much overloaded last Friday, as was my brother-in-law tonight when he saw it for the first time, but there are levels of subtlety in The Raid that aren't immediately apparent when you're still trying to keep count of how many people have been killed. The face-off between Jaka and Mad Dog is somehow more poignant when you know how it's going to end. As lengthy as the fight is, you see that Mad Dog takes next-to-no actual hits. He's toying with Jaka like a cat with a half-dead bird. The Zen-like state he goes into at the end of the fight carries a lot more weight when you watch it back again. The same can also be said of Mad Dog's fight with Rama and Andi a little later. He's quite comfortably holding his own against the pair of them when you watch where the blows are landing. Which is another great thing about The Raid: for all the handheld camerawork and rapid cutting between shots, you never once lose track of what's happening in a fight. The film has been made by people who understand the art of Pencak Silat intimately.
Rama-Tama Ding Dong… But the main thing that struck me (if you'll pardon the expression) when I watched the film a second time, is that this isn't real. Not that you'd know it from what you're seeing, but this is a film, with actors, stunt actors, effects artists and crew members. How proficient do you need to be in an art where you can perform at that level, with that degree of authenticity, and not hospitalise everyone else on-screen? Stunt-falling is one thing, but there are angles-of-limbs shown in The Raid that really shouldn't occur in a safe environment. That said, I bet there were some absolutely corking bruises acquired in the making of the film.
The violence may not be your thing, but you have to appreciate the craft...
Incidentally, I'm saddened at the news of not only a sequel, but also an English-language remake. This from the director himself, on the podcast I linked to up there. You can't equal it, and you certainly can't better it. Leave it alone!
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
CAUTION: Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
The Raid or The Raid: Redemption if you're in the US. 101 mins / Dir. Gareth Evans
I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Mr Evans. I don't really have a frame of reference with The Raid, as I don't watch a lot of martial arts movies. That's not to say I don't enjoy them, but we don't cross paths very often. So y'know… bear with me.
The Plot: A Jakartan SWAT team launches a dawn-raid to capture/incapacitate a drug-baron and gangster. What stands between them? 15 floors of run-down apartment block, populated by Riyadi and his minions, and the poor and desperate civilians who fear and obey him. What could possibly go wrong?
The Good: It's a testament to an excellent screenplay that you could watch The Raid without the subtitles and still grasp exactly what's going on. To a certain degree, that's pretty much what happened (see 'The Ugly'), but it underlines the point. The opening scene sees the central character, Rama, readying himself for the raid his team is about to embark on. He kisses his pregnant wife goodbye, and we get some mission-brief exposition on the way to the tower-block… then the action begins.
The story is simple but solid, and more credit to the writers for not overcomplicating things, as is par for the course with many American productions on this level. There's a certain degree of character 'twisting', but only what you're expecting anyway. It's told more or less from Rama's viewpoint, with the (albeit minor) unfolding events revealed as he learns them. A consequence of this technique is that a lot of the supporting cast are disposed of with a minimum of fuss (although with a lot of firepower), and it reinforces Rama's escalating isolation as his team is whittled down. But hey, let's not get too deep…
I would dearly, dearly like to know how many gunshots are in this film. It's certainly in four figures, and quite possibly in five. No, seriously. The first half of this movie sees a shell-count (and body-count) unlike anything I've witnessed in years. The second half focuses more on hand-to-hand martial arts, with more shouting and grunting than actual dialogue. But all in all, it adds up to a spectacular ride, with genuine tension throughout.
Like I said back there, I don't have a massive comparatory database for this genre, but I enjoyed it immensely, and it seems to be getting the nods which suggest it's a leader in its field.
The Bad: If you don't like extended bouts of gunfire and martial arts displays, you're not going to get a lot out of The Raid. There is an over-arcing plot, and the acting and scripting is incredibly solid, but this is an action film. An interestingly shot, beautifully choreographed action film.
The Ugly: Now, this is no fault of the film-makers, but when are Cineworld going to either a) stop using analogue projection, or b) employ someone who knows how to operate an analogue projection system? The Raid was shown in Screen 2 of my local, and seeing that on the ticket always makes my heart sink a little. Screen 2 is the only one of the available five that always projects in analogue. Y'know, with actual reels of film, as opposed to a digital projector. So the shaky slightly out-of-focus movie you're going to see also, statistically, has a greater chance of other inherent problems, too. Today's first problem was the image being shifted to the top half of the screen in the pre-film Orange promo. Not 'squashed', just a black lower half of the screen, and the bottom half of the picture on the remaining upper section of the screen.
As there were only five people in attendance (hey, that's why I like a Friday afternoon showing, okay?), I popped to the foyer to ask the ticket-checker to have a word with the projectionist. The ticket checker was in the foyer, chatting to the projectionist. He looked embarrassed and went to fix it. The opening title-card of the film quickly adjusted to it's proper position, and the five of us watched the action unfold. Until about twenty minutes in, when we noticed that when the subtitles appeared on two lines, the second one was mostly cut off by the bottom of the screen. The film was either being projected at a size too large for the screen, or was being shown in the wrong aspect-ratio. A woman a couple of rows in front of me left to 'have a word'.
About a minute later, we all enjoyed the rest of the film with full subtitles. Then, after the closing shot of the film, the title-card appears, with THE RAID in massive letters ('Aardvark Bold' or similar). Massive letters not centered in the screen. The projectionist hadn't adjusted the projection size and/or moved the curtains, he'd just shifted the whole thing upwards a notch, cutting off the top of the picture. Y'know, like Matt Flannery, the Director of Photography intended?
Now I'm not going to get all Kermode and dismiss digital projection as skill-less computer operation, but if you don't have a competent operator for your analogue system, don't fucking use it. It's not like I want to see analogue outlawed, but it is redundant technology. Charming? Historically important? 'Earthy'? Yes, all of those, but outdated.
Like playing vinyl on a cheap record-deck, analogue projection is wasted if it's not given the dedication, skill and attention it deserves.
I stress again, that the above is NO reflection on the film, I just needed space to rant.
Worth £8+? Fuck, yes. See this immediately.
Oh, it's GOOD.
DISCLAIMERS: • ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
