The Raid 2 – Why this Indonesian flick is the epitome of all Action movies
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Which is the greatest action movie in the history of Cinema ? Might be a tough question to answer. But the 2014 Indonesian movie, Raid 2 (which is also the sequel to Raid) could be a top contender. What makes this movie’s great action set pieces apart? Let’s take a look. ( Spoilers ahead)
To start with, Raid 2’s hero, Rama is an underdog. Starting from the prequel, he runs into situations from where you think he cannot come out, but he keeps doing it repeatedly. Raid 2 has importantly a tight screenplay where all its action scenes and conflict between characters are well established. Also there is great tension built up before most of the movie’s stunt scenes. Like in this one, where Rama holds his breath and prepares for when the lock would be broken and the prisoners would barge in the bathroom.In Raid 2, there is action just about everywhere. Like this first one is in the closed space of a bathroomThere is stunt in mudThere is stunt in iceThere is a fight which involves shooting with gunsThere is a fight with a big knifeThere is a guy who uses a baseball bat and ball as his means to attackThere is fight in more places like a restaurant hereThere is fight inside an office roomThere is fight in a moving train, this one an extreme violent one featuring a lady with a hammerThere is fight inside a moving car – at this point which I have to say not only Raid 2’s stunts are brilliantly choreographed, it is superbly captured in camera too like this shot inside the car.Now outside, there is also a thrilling car chase sequence at the same timeLike I noted before, Raid 2’s stunts scenes are also mostly about the tension it builds. In this particular thrilling sequence, Eka pulls out his gun, loads it and then fires – beating the guy in the other car just in the matter of secondsNow there is also fight in the hallway reminiscent of the prequel, where Rama has to fight both the guy with the baseball bat and the lady with the hammersThere is also fight in a kitchen. Is this the greatest hand to hand combat scene in a movie? Could be.Finally there is also great attention given to the movie’s visuals like this one in the climax.At the end Rama says ” No, I am done” also suggesting the movie would not have further sequels, though we wish it had more ! Maybe I didn’t tell it already. Another great aspect of Raid 2 is the terrific BGM that accompanies the stunt sequences. You have one terrific track in the end credits too.
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