Ready to have your mind blown?
One of the most surprising films out of Sundance in 2012 was a martial arts thriller out of Indonesia called The Raid. Later retitled The Raid: Redemption this film not only won over critics but also movie-lovers with stunts and fight scenes that raised the bar of action films. Now writer-director Gareth Evans is back with his second act, The Raid 2: Berandal.
Vulture tipped the trailer above, which gives us a pretty solid explanation of the plot of this much-anticipated sequel. Iko Uwais returns as Rama, a good cop with unparalleled ass-kicking skills. As early reports suggested, The Raid 2 will pick up shortly after the last left off. However, rumors that claimed the film would have battered Rama fighting his way to the police station while keeping his captive alive seem to be false.
Picking up just two hours after the first film ended, The Raid 2: Berandal has Rama taking on even bigger fish in a crime-ridden Jakarta. In league with a friend of his brother's, Rama chooses to go undercover so that he can take down the two crime families that rule the city. But to convince them he's one of them, first he must go to prison, leaving behind his lovely wife and child. Prison is where we found Rama in the first teaser for The Raid 2 (viewable below) but from the looks of this trailer, that is just the jumping off point. As this trailer warns: It's Not Over Yet.
While this trailer offers plenty that has us drooling in anticipation, Evans has admitted on Twitter this is just the edge of the iceberg:
Like its predecessor, The Raid 2: Berandal will screen at Sundance. In fact, it will make its world premiere there later this month. But the good news is the reputation of the first film has already secured this sequel a US theatrical release courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. The Raid 2: Berandal will open on March 28, 2014. In the meantime, you can ogle the poster below to anticipate the new slate of wildly violent villains set to join the fray this time around. Or you can check out a sort of appetizer of Evans in V/H/S/2 called "Safe Haven," which is now streaming on Netflix.
