Friday, December 05, 2014

Brief Thoughts - THE RAID 2 (2014)


I cannot believe how good THE RAID 2 (2014) turned out to be! I had looked at the two hour and thirty minute running time and rolled my eyes thinking that surely something had gone wrong. I loved the first film but it clocked in at a smart one hundred minutes so I could not imagine what would cause the sequel to be nearly a full hour longer. Well, now I know- it is that much longer because it's stuffed with pure awesome! Holy Crap-a-moly does THE RAID 2 rock! It is almost too much action movie genius for a single film to contain. I have no idea how many fight or action sequences there are - maybe next time I'll count- but it is staggering how kinetic, frenzied and yet perfectly visual this film manages to be. This is the rare case where the sequel has outdone the original and the entire production crew starting with return director/writer/editor Gareth Edwards should be commended for crafting one of the best action films of the past twenty years.


The first one was good and is a great companion piece to the similar, brilliant DREDD (2011) but the second film is astonishing. More like this, please. 

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