I have been waiting, ever so patiently for my copy of The Raid 2 to arrive on Blu-ray, and finally it came!
I almost peed myself with excitement when I started it up.
I read the back cover – 2 and half hours! Holy shit, that’s a long martial arts movie.
With the first being little over and hour and half, I knew this film was going to be different than the first, not just longer. Boy was I right!
These films, although very similar in the most important aspects – action, intensity and and general grittiness, they are quite different and stand together quite well. I can’t wait to see what the third movie has to offer (especially since I heard the rumor that Scott Adkins was possibly going to make an appearance). But now I thought I’d ask the question….
…which film is better?
Let’s look at the first Raid film.
The movie kick starts with a single storyline, a group of SWAT guys (including the main character Rama – Iko Uwais) storming a dangerous building to take down the crime boss.
Once in, things go wrong and we spend the entire film inside this building, with a sense of entrapment and constant danger. Any second you can expect a machete wielding maniac to fly around the corner and see some intense action.
You’re glued to the screen because of this suspense which is backed up with severe violence and an intense level of action that has never before been matched in a martial arts film.
It’s a single setting with constant threat and crazy action. No escape, no outside world, just condensed environment for intense fighting and death.
( You can read my review of the first Raid here or grab a copy online to watch. )
Now the second film….
Sure the action is frequent, intense and to some degree there is a constant sense of danger – but it’s vastly different from the first. As a sequel should be!
Rama goes undercover after the events of the first film to bring down the bigger dogs who have had their attention turned to the tower after it being shut down by him and his team.
So what we get is a story line as we watch Rama penetrate into the organization in befriend it’s most powerful members. We watch things unfold as he gains their trust but also watch as the son of this criminal empire slowly plans his takeover. So things get pretty interesting.
The biggest differences between this film and the first start with the overall concept – the constant threat around every corner and high sense of danger is diminished and exchanged for an intriguing plot. So we end up losing a lot of pace in order to be told the story behind The Raid 2. This is due to the claustrohobic setting being exchanged for the larger outside world and we get to explore the universe of ‘The Raid’ a little more deeply.
So that’s the first comparison in the question – pace & suspense vs a more in depth story.
How about the action itself?
This film has as much, if not more, action than the first. But I will put forward some personal opinion here…
The action is just as good technically, but it seemed to pop up almost randomly at times and I found I wasn’t as invested in the characters as in the first film. In the first film you were with them everystep of the way and knew they were surrounded by constant threat.
In this film it was kind of like “here’s some bad guys, let’s fight ’em” on many occasions. It didn’t seem as urgent or necessary as the fighting the first film – I prefer the first Raid in that aspect.
As I watched the film I grew more convinced that I liked the original much more, but I hadn’t made up my mind yet. Afterall, I just knew there’d be a finale to die for – and there was!
This film had a finale that overshadows the first film’s due to the line up of characters and the level of fighting they bring to the screen. The fights themselves are more inventive, make use of more interesting weapons (touch on that later) and bring a new level of speed and complexity to the movement. It’s a martial artist’s dream to see this kind of action that is both extremely hard hitting and shows a mastery of body mechanics and fight science whilst still delivering that adrenaline rush.
With the storyline and ‘lack of action’ (so to speak! this film is still packed) you get this finale – it coudn’t have been built up in such a successful way without it. That’s a big strength that this film has over the first.
The Second Comparison – constant, evenly spread action from the first film vs sprinkled action that builds up to an epic finale
The characters?
The first film had a small group of characters – Rama, his brother and Mad Dog are the 3 that you’ll remember.
The second film has a story and therefore many more memorable characters – the head of the gang, his son and many other smaller parts of the gang that Rama interacts with. But I’m interested in the heavy hitters – the people you remember!
The good guys are the same really – Rama.
The villains? The first film had Mad Dog, one hell of a crazy character who delivered some insane empty handed violence. The Raid 2 has 3 very memorable villains that Rama must face. This time they have weapons.
There’s Hammer girl, who fights with two hammers, is deaf and is, um, a girl! She’s vicious and fights along side another baddy – Batman!
Ok, not that Batman
Well, Baseball Bat man, not Bruce Wayne. He fights using a series of precise movements and body manipulation techniques utilizing, you guesses it – a baseball bat!
Yeah, that ‘bat man’
Finally, The Assassin, is a guy with incredible Silat skills that match Rama’s – the fight between Rama and the Assassin is without a doubt the very best of the film and should go down as an all time classic fight scene. It’s one of the best ever!
The bad guys make these films. The Raid 2 wins on bad guys but Mad Dog is still an unforgettable character.
So… which is better?
The fresh new feeling of the second makes me want to watch it more, but my personal opinion leans toward the constant suspense and action of the first. The first film just doesn’t stop, whilst the second can get a little boring between fights.
But I’m not convinced my opinion is enough! After all, these are very different films when you consider the general unfolding and story telling style. So I asked my Facebook fanbase.
One fan states that: “Second one wins as far as story line and screen play. First one wins with fighting. Although the final fight from the second one is fantastically violent and flat out superb. That shit was incredibly beautiful.”
I couldn’t agree more! This comment sums up everything I just said!
Another comment: “ I like “The Raid” better. It felt more streamlined. Part 2 was great as well but really too long for a martial arts movie. Both have amazing fight scenes though. I just found myself bored a few times with part 2 whereas I never was with the first one.”
Which is then followed up with another comment: “The second. A lot more fight scenes, more story. And better fighting in general. The look and feel of the movie also felt a bit more comfortable“
( The conversation can be found on Facebook. )
But the final verdict is pretty much right down the middle – half of the people like both movies and the other half were again evenly divided between the two – some like the first film, others the second.
So the conclusion you can take from this is that both movies are quite even and the filmmakers managed to do the first film justice. If you haven’t seen it yet, set aside two and half hours, get a copy of the film
and enjoy! It’s worth the time.
You can then let me know which one you preferred!
Anything you think I missed or simply want to say? Leave a comment below! Thanks for reading.
