The Raid 2

It's obvious from the get-go that this genre sequel to Gareth Evans' 2011 The Raid: Redemption is going to be an intense, über-violent action adventure. Set in Indonesia, the story revolves around a Jakarta cop who is infiltrating an underworld cartel in order to weed out the rampant corruption within the city's police force. When Rama (Iko Uwais) joins a covert undercover team, he's given a new identity and sent to prison where he befriends Uco (Arifin Putra), the hot-tempered scion of a crime family. Two years later, when Rama is released, Uco's grateful father, Bangun (Tio Pakusadewo), gives Rama a job as an enforcer. Problem is: impatient Uco wants to take over the business and is tempted by seductive offers from leather-gloved Bejo (Alex Abbad), a rival boss who previously bumped off Rama's bad-seed brother in a sugarcane field. That places Rama right in the middle of a father/son turf war, fighting off psychopathic assassins such as Baseball Bat Man (Very Tri Yulisman) and Hammer Girl (Julie Estelle), while his long-suffering wife and infant son wait on the sidelines. Welsh-born writer-director Evans surrounds himself with martial arts specialists who pride themselves on inventive methods of annihilation (such as pushing a man's face onto a steaming griddle). The relentless mayhem is adroitly photographed and carefully choreographed with a bizarrely artistic flair (particularly the careening, multi-vehicle car chases) and punctuated by a primarily percussive soundtrack. The fact that the film is subtitled doesn't much matter since the bloody, brutal brawling transcends the language barrier. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Gareth Evans, a Q&A with Evans, star Iko Uwais, and composer Joe Trapanese (44 min.), “The Next Chapter: Shooting a Sequel” making-of featurette (11 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are the production featurettes “Violent Ballet” on the choreography (19 min.) and “Ready for a Fight: On Location” (13 min.), a deleted scene (5 min.), and a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a violence-heavy action film.] (S. Granger)