Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

elmoslively These films are brutally and disturbingly violent, but at the same time they are immensely watchable. The violence is portrayed in a lyrical way, almost artful, like a ballet. Not unlike the early films of John Woo, such as FACE OFF. The violence doesn't distract from the story telling, but enhances it, like Shakespeare did with his tragedies MACBETH, or HAMLET. The films are extremely well shot and very entertaining.

Prismark10 The Raid was a lean mean action film which put Indonesian based, Welsh director Gareth Evans on the map alongside its star Iko Uwais. Several cast members went on to make cameo appearances in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.In Raid 2, Honest cop Rama (Iko Uwais) reluctantly accepts an assignment by an anti corruption unit to expose a corrupt chief of police Reza who is in league with city mobsters Bangun (Tio Pakusodewo) and Goto (Kenichi Endo.)Rama has to go deep undercover as Yuda, by being imprisoned and get close to Bangun's son Uco (Arifin Putra) which he does by saving his life in prison when a mob attacks.Two years later Yuda after being released from prison he is hired by Bangun to work in their organisation. Yuda discovers that Uco is unhappy with his father's conciliatory behaviour towards his rivals which he sees as a weakness. Goaded by a rival gang lord who is pushing Uco's buttons, Uco plans to take control of his father's gang. Yuda finds himself in great danger.The film's plot is inspired by movies such as The Departed and The Godfather. In contrast to the first film, the sequel concentrates on a story more than the action. I found it flabby and rather dull outside of the action scenes which were still frenetic and frenzied.

Takethispunch Following The Raid,[4] the film opens with Bejo, a self-made Jakarta gang lord, executing Rama's brother Andi for siding with a figure named Bangun.After the disastrous raid on crime boss Tama's apartment building, Rama meets with Bunawar, a police officer deemed honest by Andi. After executing Wahyu and sending Rama's fellow survivor Bowo to receive medical attention, Bunawar invites Rama to join a clandestine anti-corruption task force. This undercover unit seeks to expose the backroom dealings of Reza, a corrupt police commissioner, and other police leaders who are affiliated with the Bangun and Goto crime families. Rama initially declines, but later agrees to join after learning of his brother's murder and the threat Bejo poses to his family. Bunawar fakes Rama's death to protect his family from Reza and the corrupt cops, assigning Rama to infiltrate the crime world by befriending Uco, son of Bangun and heir to his criminal empire.

Rameshwar IN The popular Indonesian frantic gruesome martial arts saga is back with a bang with Rama again in the middle promising more of what made the original so effective. With no expectations whatsoever, The Raid Redemption became a sleeper hit both with the audience as well as the critics with none having a clue of what hit them. The dynamics have changed now and people tend to expect and compare from which very few attempts hit the mark. This story starts from where its predecessor has left off with Rama (Iko Uwais) is getting debriefed at an unconventional location. A police chief coerces Rama into going undercover to both unearth another corrupt cop and also to take heat off from him and protect his family. Rama infiltrates the syndicate run by Bangun (Tio Pakusadewo) a wise patriarch through his hot blooded son Uco (Arifin Putra). He has to struggle to keep his identity a secret, discover the secrets, collect evidence and miss his wife and newly born son. When Uco comes up with his own agenda, can Rama survive?Since this story is out in the open world and not constrained within an apartment building - it is both good and bad. The innovation to excel within its limitations is where the original made its mark but in the open world - it is just as any other movie. The director tries to squeeze everything into it like the prison riots, car chases, modern gadgets along with its famous punches and kicks. He even brought back his Mad Dog Yahan Ruhian in different role with a completely different look. Everything looks like they should from a technical stand point but many things doesn't add up from dramatic and emotional point of view.The original had the relentless pace, even before the previous action set piece is concluded a new one is already midway. The same cannot be said here as it invests in a bigger story, more characters and their development which doesn't seem to be the director's strengths - leading to a bloated runtime. Its plot drivers are riddled with holes like what happens to the injured guy who will be taken away for treatment in the beginning, Rama is seen extremely struggling with an injury and a moment later he is fighting off dozens of bad guys without a sign of the injury and many such continuity issues. Bringing the story to the open world also introduces us to a long list of characters like the 'Hammer Girl' who is similar to Gogo from Kill Bill, the baseball bat guy, Uco and his father, his Japanese friend/rival and his son etc. where most characters get uninteresting in a short-while.With the element of surprise gone, the sequel struggles to compete as a regular action movie.