The Raid 2 (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #56

Even though I love this film, it's difficult for me to write about it. Maybe it's because I love it so much. It's probably the best action film ever made. The fight scenes are breath-taking, and they come fast on the heels of one another, especially in the last hour. It's worth watching the film for the six-minute car chase alone.

The fights involve a lot of martial arts, but they're dirty fights. If you watch a film like "Enter the Dragon", or even "Ip Man 2", the fights are stylishly choreographed to display the intricacies of the fighting styles. That's not the case in "The Raid 2". The punches are short and indistinct, and nearby artefacts are often picked up to be used as weapons. That doesn't make the fights any less enjoyable. They're still thrilling. If anything, the dirty style makes the fights more realistic. When you're fighting to the death in a nightclub your first priority isn't to make beautifully executed martial arts moves; if you see a bottle on the table you pick it up and hit your opponent over the head with it.

I've been waiting for years for a sequel. At first the director Gareth Evans suggested it would be made soon. Then he was delayed. Now he's left Indonesia, and he's lost interest in continuing with the series. He hasn't said that it's certain that there won't be a sequel, he's just said that it won't be made any time soon. I hope he doesn't wait too long. Delayed sequels are usually poor. After a masterpiece like "The Raid 2" it would be tragic if the third part doesn't live up to the quality.

There are still a few small points in the plot that confuse me. I need to listen to the director's commentary some time soon.

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I've received a complaint from a friend about the presentation of my top 100 films list. He said that if I'm not doing the list continuously, which I don't intend to do, I should make a list so that my readers can find all the films in my list so far. That's a valid request. I've already added links to the other films in two of my posts so far, but I don't want to do it every time, because it would look like spam. I'll definitely add a list in my sidebar when I've finished, but should I start with a partial list now? Another possibility is to put a link to the previous film in every post, daisy-chaining my posts. What do you think?