I really like The Raid, a cool Indonesian action movie about cops ascending floors of an apartment complex. It was kind of like Dredd, but with even more action and with a different vibe.
Anyway, Raid 2 was made(where is Dredd 2?) and I saw it last night with my wife. It’s currently at 79% at Rotten Tomatoes and I’ve seen several reviews hailing it as one of the greatest action movies. It has a great car chase, an amazing final fight between two guys in a kitchen, and an amazing prison riot sequence.
However, it sucked. I’m shocked.
It’s boring, badly edited, confusingly plotted, and all around badly made.
I can’t believe it. Yes, it has about 3 great sequences, but it is more or less a failure. I appear to be in the minority on this view, but both my wife and I thought the whole thing was a disaster. Hugely disappointed.
Anyone else see the movie? Am I and my wife wrong?
I thought all of the action sequences from The Raid 2 were amazing, especially the car chase and fights leading up to the kitchen fight and the kitchen fight. I spent the non-action scenes kinda bored and waiting for the next action sequence.
The first Raid movie didn’t have that problem because it was all action from beginning to end, basically.
Yeah, I saw it and loved it. By far the best action film of this year (or since the first Raid, really, although it wasn’t quite as good) and just a great film in general, filled with amazing scenes and images and subtle touches. I’d give anything in the world if every genre film was half as well-made as this one (Snowpiercer I’d say is about 70% as well-made). Hell, it’d be nice if non-genre films would put out that kind of effort.
I have some complaints about the editing of some specific bits of the action scenes (compared to the first film, the early fights, like much of the prison yard mud fight, border on the incomprehensibility of most American action scenes), although they improve dramatically over the course of the film until the last two are as good as or better than anything in the first film. The plot is dense and difficult when it could have been simple or even nonexistent, but the plot is certainly the least important thing in the movie (or any movie). And anyway I’m told by people who paid rapt attention that they could follow it just fine. Me, I didn’t mind the expository scenes because they were framed and cut in interesting ways. Also, the lead performances are excellent.
It’s certainly one of my favorites released so far this year.
