The Daily Zombies: The Raid 2: Berandal

The Raid 2: Berandal - Final Preview

Posted by The Daily Zombies Sunday, March 30, 2014

With an onslaught of rave reviews following its world premiere at Sundance, The Raid 2: Berendal has finally arrived in US this weekend and will be hitting UK in two weeks. The Daily Zombies stretches our undead muscle to take a final look at the much-anticipated Indonesian action film.

Action films, as a genre, has frequently been accused as entertainment for the simple-minded thanks to its lack of narratives and depths. Indeed, more often than not, actions films tend to trade plot and characterization to set up series of action sequences for the protagonist to overcome. Look no further than the Bruce Lee films in the 70s, Jackie Chan' slapstick action-comedy in the 80s/90s, and to this day, the films of Donnie Yen, or even Tony Jaa for proof of that. Nevertheless, proving the nature of the plot of action films is in no way taking away any of its mystique and grandeur. After all, a great film in any genres remains just that: A great film. In the case of excellent action films (in the face of overwhelmingly tantamount amount of mediocre-at-best action films), we can certainly appreciate the intricate action sequences, the terrific choreography of the scenes, and most important of all, the ever-elusive sense of great entertainment.

In recent times, there is one action film that truly make that mark. We are talking about none other than The Raid. Instantly catapulting the Indonesian film industry to an international scene, the 2011 Indonesian film directed by Welsh director Gareth Evans shattered everyone's expectation of a straight action film with minimal plot that serves only to facilitate the protagonist's pursuit with its unrelentingly raw action sequences. With the international success of the film, a sequel was announced soon enough.

Picking up two hours right after where the first film left off, The Raid 2: Berandal will thrust Rama, the heroic protagonist played by Iko Uwais, to hell and back in a high-stake undercover operations to wipe out the massive criminal underworld. As a direct consequence of the events of the first film (the titular raid on the crime-ridden high-rise building), Rama has to protect his wife and young infant son by stepping into an even more complicated world of corruption and violence. Undoubtedly one of the most anticipated sequels for an action film in recent memory, we have covered The Raid 2: Berandal with the release of its first teaser trailer as well as the recent explosive trailers.

With rave reviews coming in following the world premiere of the sequel to 2012's The Raid at Sundance, anticipation for the theatrical release has tremendously increased. And with the film now released in US for a limited run, we take a final look at the film with its well-executed marketing campaign.

For example, need more proof that this is the hard-hitting, action-packed that is nothing like what you have seen before? Hit the jump to check out this "internet trailer" recently released by Sony Pictures Classics.

And for those still in doubt over the otherwise little-known Welsh director's capability? Brace yourself for a stunning deleted scene of the sequel that can easily be an awesome short film by its own given its nature (which I will not revealed in order to not spoil your viewing pleasure).

From the words of Gareth Evans himself:

This is one of a few deleted scenes taken from the film. Reasons to cut were entirely down to pacing issues. This was probably the hardest for me to cut due to the fact that the production on this scene lasted around 6 days of shooting, it cost us a fuck load to make and it served to escalate the gang war out onto the streets involving people outside of the closed off inter-gang politics.

At the end of the day though, after discussing its worth it took us away from the central theme for a little too long with characters that would only exist in this scene alone.

Whenever I edit a film - every scene feels like a precious moment. "No fucking way can I cut this" is a regular phrase I utter at Aram (one of the producers at XYZ Films who patiently worked with me to get the film to it's final cut) but his patience was always a virtue and it's when you make a cut and no longer miss it from the bigger picture a few days down the line that you realise it was the right decision to make.

But I still want you guys to see the chaos and the mayhem we had in store, and so with the release of the film coming in a few days time - here's a sample of one of the action scenes that simply didn't make it.

Enjoy.

Nuff said. Hit the jump to check out the clip.

And here's a typically awesome action sequence, courtesy of Yahoo! Movies.

The earlier-released trailer, if you have missed out our coverage.

Official image from the film released by Sony Pictures Classic.

Updated 1st April 2014: Can't get enough of those awesome action-packed GIF depicting the fight scenes? Courtesy of IGN, here are more of them.

Posters for the film.

Here's the official synopsis of the film:

Following immediately after the events of THE RAID, RAMA (Iko Uwais) is forced to reinvent himself as an undercover cop in order to provide protection for his wife and child. Working for the anti-corruption taskforce led by the one person he can trust, BUNAWAR, he is given a mission to engage himself as an enforcer for a local mob boss, BANGUN. Finding a way in through BANGUN's son UCO, RAMA must hunt for information linking BANGUN with police force corruption. All the while, he harbors a dangerous and personal vendetta for revenge and justice that threatens to consume him- and bring both this mission and the organized crime syndicates crashing down.

And the long version:

He thought it was over. After fighting his way out of a building filled with gangsters and madmen – a fight that left the bodies of police and gangsters alike piled in the halls – rookie Jakarta cop Rama thought it was done and he could resume a normal life. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

Formidable though they may have been, Rama’s opponents in that fateful building were nothing more than small fish swimming in a pond much larger than he ever dreamed possible. And his triumph over the small fry has attracted the attention of the predators farther up the food chain. His family at risk, Rama has only one choice to protect his infant son and wife: He must go undercover to enter the criminal underworld himself and climb through the hierarchy of competing forces until it leads him to the corrupt politicians and police pulling the strings at the top of the heap.

And so Rama begins a new odyssey of violence, a journey that will force him to set aside his own life and history and take on a new identity as the violent offender “Yuda.” In prison he must gain the confidence of Uco – the son of a prominent gang kingpin – to join the gang himself, laying his own life on the line in a desperate all-or-nothing gambit to bring the whole rotten enterprise to an end.

The Raid 2: Berandal has been released in Indonesia on 27th March with a limited run in the United States on 28th March. The film is set to be released in UK on 11th April 2014.

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