The Raid 2: Berandal

*Spoilers*

This Indonesian explosive sequel to an already amazing movie surpassed my expectations, made me and my buddies watch with shock and awe, and honestly, The Raid 2: Berandal is the best martial arts movie I have ever seen.

And it is also about damn time that this subgenre gets more praise and treatment from the audience and filmmakers, as both titles have easily taken away the breath of audiences too many times to count in so much memorable scenes.

Rama's story continues only mere moments away, as his brother is liquidated in a revenge sequence, and he gets approached by an undercover division in order to strike down the higher ups who control the crime, corruption and destruction of the city.

As he himself goes undercover as well in exchange for safety for his family and identity, Rama becomes a partner of Uco, who is the son of a crime lord who amongst other higher ups take care of business including what happened in the previous film.

The story is consistently written and the buildup towards the many fight scenes are remarkable filmed. I couldn't believe some of the camera shots that were happening such as in the incredible car scene, and I haven't even started about the amount of the color red to be found in here yet.

You see, the gore level has gone MUCH higher than in the original The Raid, as countless victims get sliced up, while others leave behind bloody spots as their heads get banged, and others get unspeakable death scenes that once again made me and my buddies go crazy and wild.

In an act of surprise, even Mad Dog returns in part 2, somehow reviving after his throat was cut previously as well! But after knowing more about his background and motivation for the scenes happening, he gets defeated and surpassed for good by his superior well... let's say, "final boss" of Berandal.

Alongside the final boss, who gets equipped with 2 daggers, Rama must face off against a blind girl with 2 hammers and another guy with a baseball bat and balls. It might sound goofy on paper, but just wait until you see these three fight in action, especially the first one mentioned, who rivals Mad Dog easily as depicted by another literal fight to the death scene.

Iko Uwais can now easily be considered and ranked along the greatest martial arts movie stars, such as Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa, Jackie Chan and even Bruce Lee. Top his choreography and stamina of with great variety, and he might arguably be the most important and recognizable actor of this sub genre, right now.

The Raid 2: Berandal is not only the best martial arts movie ever for me, but also the longest one yet, with 150 minutes clocking in. It has a great buildup, excellent pacing, unbelievable fight scenes, an above average story, satisfying finishing moves and a lot of creativity.

Rating: 9.0

EDIT: I just found out that Mad Dog does not return for The Raid 2: Berandal, rather, the same fan favorite actor plays a different character this time! I just thought he was using a different identity like Rama, but I was wrong.