The Raid 2


The Raid 2 is a 2014 Indonesian action crime film written, directed and edited by the Welsh filmmaker Gareth Evans. It is the sequel to the 2011 film The Raid and stars Iko Uwais, Arifin Putra, Oka Antara, Tio Pakusadewo, Alex Abbad, Julie Estelle, Ryuhei Matsuda, Kenichi Endō, and Kazuki Kitamura. The film was released in the United States and Canada by Sony Pictures Classics on 28 March 2014.
In the story, special forces officer Rama is sent undercover to expose the corrupt police officials colluding with the crime families of Jakarta's criminal underworld. Like Evans' previous films Merantau and The Raid, the fight scenes showcase the Indonesian fighting style of pencak silat.

Plot

Two hours after the events of the first film, the surviving officers of the Jakarta apartment raid: Rama, Bowo and an arrested Lt. Wahyu—on the advice of Rama's brother Andi—rendezvous with Lt. Bunawar, the head of an internal investigation unit. He sends Bowo for treatment but has Wahyu executed. Bunawar assures Rama it was to protect him from crooked cops like Wahyu, saying courts cannot fix the problem and testifying would only endanger him and his family. He asks him to go undercover to expose Reza's and other police officials' dealings with the Bangun and Goto crime syndicates; Rama refuses.
After Rama's son is born, rising crime boss Bejo executes Andi who had taken over after the death of his former gang boss Tama. Following Andi's funeral, Rama agrees to go undercover. He is tasked with infiltrating the underworld by going to prison for "a few months" to befriend Bangun's son Uco. Using the alias "Yuda", Rama is told to assault the son of the politician responsible for putting Uco in prison. In a prison riot a year into Uco's term, several inmates attempt to kill him led by Benny who betrays Uco's trust before Yuda saves him. When Yuda is released another two years later, Uco takes him to meet his father who hires him out of gratitude. He proves his value to the family through his work under Uco and his father's consigliere Eka.
Uco is frustrated with his limited role in the organization and is furious when a bar girl calls him a "debt collector". When he leaves the room, Rama plants a bug in his wallet. Bangun meets the hitman Prakoso, who assassinates another of Bangun's targets.
Bejo invites Uco to dinner and tells him he has his eye on some Goto land and shares rumors of a plot to turn Reza and others against his father. Bejo brings the assailants from the prison riot. Uco kills them. He notices a gang tattoo on Benny's wrist. They hatch a plot to start a gang war to disrupt the truce between the two families. Uco can prove himself to Bangun; Bejo can profit from carving up Hideaki Goto's territory. Uco lures Prakoso into an ambush. Prakoso is killed by The Assassin. Uco lies to his father saying the Japanese were responsible. Bangun will not counterattack. Frustrated, Uco phones Bejo saying "Just do it." Bejo's hitmen—Hammer Girl, Baseball Bat Man and The Assassin—kill several of Goto's men, sparking a gang war between the families.
Rama is attacked during the conflict. He defeats the assailants and discovers a police ID on one of the attackers. When the families meet to reconcile, Uco lashes out in anger, embarrassing Bangun into conceding territory. Rama learns from Lt. Bunawar the attackers were Reza's corrupt cops sent after him. He receives a call from Eka to save Uco. Bangun beats Uco when they return to his office. While Rama is on the way, Bejo and The Assassin barge in with a mob of henchmen. Revealing his betrayal, Uco kills his father and shoots Eka. Before Bejo can finish him off, Rama arrives and Eka flees. The Assassin subdues Rama. Bejo commands his men to get rid of him. Eka follows. In a car chase, several vehicles are destroyed before Rama is rescued and driven to safety.
Ryuichi informs Goto and his son Keichi that Reza was seen entering Bejo's restaurant. Goto tells Ryuichi to "take care of him." Ryuichi tells him Bejo is not alone and informs him of Uco's betrayal of his father. Goto declares war against Bejo, Uco and Reza. When Keichi interjects, Goto responds, "They're not cops anymore. They're in my world now." A bleeding and exhausted Eka tells Rama he was also undercover. Rama calls Lt. Bunawar, who informs him the gang war escalated; the police commissioner was shot dead. Bunawar claims Eka "went rogue" and ten honest cops died. He informs him that Reza, the true objective, is meeting Bejo and Uco at the restaurant. Rama breaches its warehouse and fights through Bejo's men before overcoming Hammer Girl, Baseball Bat Man and The Assassin.
Bejo and Uco meet Reza to discuss terms against Goto. Still shaken from his act of patricide, Uco discovers the bug in his wallet. Uncertain who planted it, he notices Bejo has the same tattoo as Benny, suggesting the prison attack may have been another attempt to spark a gang war. Uco sits in shock upon realizing he has been used. Rama defeats Bejo's three hitmen and disrupts the meeting carrying The Assassin's pair of karambit. Bejo attempts to shoot him. Uco grabs another gun and shoots Reza dead. He shoots Bejo, before turning his gun towards Rama who throws the karambit at Uco then stabs him. Uco dies in his arms. Rama limps from the premises and encounters Keichi, Ryuichi and their men sent to attack the meeting. While Lt. Bunawar drives to the site, Keichi smirks as he shares a silent dialogue with Rama. Rama is heard saying, "No. I'm done."

Cast

Other cast members include :id:Henky Solaiman|Henky Solaiman and :id:Fikha Effendi|Fikha Effendi, who reprise their roles as Rama's father and wife, Isa, respectively. :id:Deddy Sutomo|Deddy Sutomo and :id:Pong Hardjatmo|Pong Hardjatmo make cameos as the mediator and police commissioner, respectively.

Production

Development

Writer-director Gareth Evans decided to make the sequel after The Raid hit at the box office. He saw it as an opportunity to receive funding for a script he wrote in 2009, Berandal, which he had trouble funding for two years. Berandal was originally conceived as a standalone action drama film which incorporates bigger action scenes and according to Evans tells the story of "a young guy who goes into prison, befriends the son of a mob boss, comes out, joins him as an enforcer and then has to survive a gang war". After The Raid, Evans began significantly rewriting the Berandal script to connect its storyline with that of the first film; the process included tweaking the protagonist's character motivation and adding a police procedural subplot.

Casting and filming

In December 2012, Twitch confirmed that Julie Estelle was cast as "Hammer Girl"; Evans also tweeted that internationally renowned silat practitioner Cecep Arif Rahman was also given a major part in the film. Marsha Timothy, Mathias Muchus, Tio Pakusadewo, and Alex Abbad, who worked with Evans in Merantau, were also cast in the film. Japanese actors Matsuda Ryuhei, Kenichi Endō and Kitamura Kazuki .
Evans also revealed on Twitter that Yayan Ruhian, who played Mad Dog in The Raid'', will return for the sequel as a new character called Prakoso, the machete-wielding chief assassin of Bangun. He claimed that he would not do a martial arts film without Ruhian being involved. Ruhian, who is a choreographer of the film, also trained Estelle in pencak silat.
In January 2013, PT Merantau Films and XYZ Films announced the start of production. The filming process took about seven months and ended in July 2013.
The film's lead cinematographer Matt Flannery tweeted that at least three RED cameras were used in a test shoot of a chase scene. Gareth Evans mentioned that they were using RED Scarlet for 95% of the shoot, Epic for slow mo, and Go Pro 3 for quick cuts during the car chase.

Marketing

A teaser trailer was released at Twitch Film on 6 November 2013. The Hollywood Reporter stated that the trailer "unleashes more action than most Hollywood blockbusters." A longer Indonesian trailer was released on 31 December 2013. The American trailer was released on 21 January 2014. On 26 March 2014, a deleted scene was released to promote the film.

International release

The film was marketed internationally through Celluloid Nightmares, a partnership between US-based XYZ Films and France's Celluloid Dreams.
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired the film's distribution rights for the United States, Latin America and Spain; and Kadokawa Pictures for Japan. Distribution rights to other countries were sold to eOne Entertainment for Canada and the United Kingdom; Koch Media for Germany, Switzerland and Austria; Calinos Films for Turkey; HGC for China; and Madman Entertainment for Australia.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on 21 January 2014. It also screened at South by Southwest on 10 March 2014 and ARTE Indonesia Arts Festival on 14 March 2014. Following a wide release on 11 April 2014, due to low returns the majority of theaters closed the film one week later. This was similar to what occurred during the theatrical run of the first film.

Censorship

The Raid 2 was banned in neighboring Malaysia. The film was scheduled to hit Malaysian screens on 28 March, but had not been shown anywhere in the country due to its excessive violence. Indonesian politician, and former :id:Kepala Staf TNI Angkatan Darat|Army Chief of Staff, Pramono Edhie Wibowo criticized the decision and demanded an explanation. He further asked the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to "actively perform its mediation function with the Malaysian government."
The US release was given an R rating by the MPAA for "strong bloody violence throughout, sexuality and language", cutting a few frames of graphic violence. Director Evans stated the cuts are very minimal and similar to his original cut. The film received an R-15 rating in Japan with 4 minutes cut, and an R-18 uncut version which was screened in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $2,627,209. In Japan, it grossed at the box office. In other territories, the film grossed $3,939,707, for an international total of outside of Indonesia.

Critical response

The Raid 2 has received positive reviews., the film holds an 81% approval rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 170 reviews with an average rating of 7.43 out of 10. The site's consensus states: "Although its high-energy plot and over-the-top violence may play better with genre aficionados, The Raid 2 definitely delivers more of everything audiences loved about its predecessor." The film has a score of 71/100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on 34 critics.
During its world premiere at Sundance, The Raid 2 received an overwhelming reaction. Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times reported that "The screening caused an explosion of excitement and enthusiasm for the film on social media."
In a 3-out-of-5 mixed review, Joey Magidson of the website Awards Circuit wrote that he "appreciate the directing skills on display in The Raid 2, but at a certain point, all of the fighting and killing nearly got to be too much for me. I'm recommending the film, but not in the same way as the last one." He added that while it is "creative enough to be worth a recommendation, it lacks the originality of the first flick" and concluded that "The Raid 2 will delight genre fans, but might not impress to many others."
Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly said, "The Raid 2 will make you feel like Christmas came nine months early. Some action sequels don't know when to say when. But here's one where too much is just the right amount."
Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com praised the film for its "involving plot"; calling the cast, especially Uwais, "charming" and dialogue "winningly precise" while noting that the sequel is "a great step up after the already-impressive The Raid." Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, and wrote "The action stuff in The Raid 2, while likely to alienate the squeamish and summon dark thoughts of cinematic nihilism amongst overthinking highbrows, really IS like nothing else out there."
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, remarking, "Evans gives the audience a knowing wink by having Rama endure repeated batterings that would leave mere mortals in traction, not to mention some nasty blade wounds. Yet he keeps coming back, finding the stamina to snap more limbs and crush more skulls. Taking place inside moving vehicles, a subway car, a noodle bar, warehouses, a porn factory, tight corridors and in the most electrifying mano-a-mano clash, a gleaming nightclub kitchen and wine cellar, the fights are dynamite."
Rolling Stone chief critic Peter Travers wrote, "The Raid 2 lets its warriors rip for two and a half thrilling hours. With the precision of dance and the punch of a K.O. champion, Evans keeps the action coming like nobody's business."
Amber Wilkinson of The Daily Telegraph commented, "Hyper-violent it may be but there is beauty in its brutality," and wrote, "To say a martial arts movie brings something fresh in terms of choreography may sound like fighting talk, but Gareth Evans's sequel to his 2011 film is endlessly inventive."
Matt Risley of Total Film gave the film 5 stars and wrote: "Sumptuously shot, perfectly paced and flat-out exhilarating, The Raid 2 cements Evans as the best action director working today and may not be the best action, gangster, or even martial-arts movie ever made. But as a combination of all three, it's unparalleled in recent memory and offers a tantalising glimpse into a post-Bayhem action-movie world. Brutal, beautiful and brilliant" and also wrote, "The sheer imagination on show, both in the cinematography and choreography, guarantees each brawl is instantly iconic. Immaculately edited, each traumatic, tensely tactile fight would blur into chaos if not for Evans's pinpoint pacing something that refreshes all the more in the face of modern blockbusting's tendency to start big and just keep getting bigger, until burnout."

Year-end lists

The film appeared on several critics' year-end lists.
The Raid 2 garnered a number of domestic and international award wins and nominations.
On 19 December 2014, it won the award for Best Foreign Language Film from the Florida Film Critics Circle over Sweden's Force Majeure and Poland's Ida; a first for an Indonesian film. It also received two nominations at the 2014 Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards, for Best Stunts, and Best Foreign Language Film; losing the former to Edge of Tomorrow and the latter to Polish film, Ida. Another nomination came from the 2014 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards on the Best Foreign Language Film category, which it lost to Ruben Östlund's Force Majeure from Sweden. For the 8th Houston Film Critics Society Awards, it also received a nomination in the foreign film category, again losing to Force Majeure.
The film received 10 nominations at the local 2014 Maya Awards, organized by online film community Piala Maya. On 20 December 2014, it won four of its ten nominations: Best Cinematography for Matt Flanery and Dimas Subono, Best Editing for Evans and Andi Novianto, Best Special Effects, and Best Supporting Actor for Arifin Putra. It was also nominated for Best Film, Best Original Score, Most Memorable Featured Appearance for Julie Estelle as 'The Hammer Girl' ; Best Hair & Make-Up and Best Sound Mixing, as well as another nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for Oka Antara.
YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
2014Golden Trailer AwardsBest Foreign Action TrailerThe Raid 2
2014Florida Film Critics CircleBest Foreign Language FilmThe Raid 2
2014Phoenix Film Critics Society AwardsBest Foreign Language FilmThe Raid 2
2014Phoenix Film Critics Society AwardsBest StuntsThe Raid 2 Stunts Team
2014Chicago Film Critics Association AwardsBest Foreign Language FilmThe Raid 2
2014Maya AwardsBest FilmThe Raid 2
2014Maya AwardsBest Actor in a Supporting RoleArifin Putra
2014Maya AwardsBest Actor in a Supporting RoleOka Antara
2014Maya AwardsMost Memorable Featured AppearanceJulie Estelle
2014Maya AwardsBest CinematographyDimas Subono
Matt Flanery
2014Maya AwardsBest EditingAndi Novianto
Gareth Evans
2014Maya AwardsBest Sound Mixing
2014Maya AwardsBest Original ScoreAria PrayogiFajar YuskemalJoseph Trapanese
2014Maya AwardsBest Special EffectsAndi Noviandi
2014Maya AwardsBest Makeup & Hairstyling
2015Houston Film Critics Society AwardsBest Foreign Language FilmThe Raid 2

Cancelled sequel

On 6 January 2014, media outlets quoted director Gareth Evans stating that The Raid 3 would take place two hours before the end of The Raid 2. On 19 April, during an interview with Metro, director Evans said that he is planning to take a break from martial arts movies for two or three years before filming it. On 21 January 2015, Evans responded on Twitter, "The Raid 3 isn't going to be happening anytime soon. Ideas in my head. Nothing written. No set date. 2018/19 possibly."
In a November 2016 interview with Impact, Evans stated the third film was no longer going forward with the franchise likely having ended, stating "Moving back to UK felt like a closing chapter on that franchise—we ended the story pretty neatly in Part 2. I'm aware there's an interest for it So never say never, but it's unlikely to happen anytime soon."