The Raid 2 Review

Posted by Andrew Lewis

Action movies today seem to rely on a very specific formula. While this formula is successful, it is pretty bland in reality. The movie could be Iron Man, Superman, or The Avengers and nothing is different. They are all more or less the same. I’m pleased to say that The Raid 2 is not that type of movie. It is much more than that. In fact, in the last ten years, I don’t think there has been a more perfect action film.

The Raid 2 is the sequel to 2011’s The Raid: Redemption and it doesn’t lose a beat. It helps that The Raid 2 begins two hours after the events of The Raid: Redemption. I would be lying if I wasn’t skeptical because other less inventive writers/directors would have made it a complete mindless action-fest. Thankfully, Gareth Evans shows how to make a phenomenal action film while maintaining the integrity of the plot. With a running time of two hours and thirty minutes it is hard not to be under his spell.

The plot of The Raid 2 is more or less the same as the first film but there is much more dramatics in the sequel. There was more of a sense of purpose for Rama this time around because his family is in danger and more motivation comes from learning about his brother’s death. What further helps the film is the setting of a city rather than a building. This allows the action to have many more possibilities and Gareth Evans really puts on a beautiful show. He knew how to film the fighting choreography very well.

The choreography was done very well, in especially telling a story. Each fight built up to the next one until the credits rolled and this element alone is missing in films today. My personal favorite scenes was the fight in the mud and the baseball bat sequences. However, nothing was better than the second to last scene in the kitchen. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t say more. I personally think it is one of the greatest action scenes ever.


In the end, there really isn’t a flaw with The Raid 2. Evans does a great job at capturing the same essence of the first film while having more of a story. While I don’t think it is a perfect movie, it is very, very close. The only issue I have with the film is some of the action scenes. A few of them seemed almost exact copies of a scene that came before it and while it didn’t matter that much to the story, it seemed like they didn’t know how else to be creative. Other than that small detail, the rest is amazing. The choreography, directing, and cinematography were fantastic. I highly recommend this film.

Final Grade: A-