Gareth Evans

[Ruby Hornet will be at Sundance Film Festival 2014 providing coverage of the festival’s 30th year. Keep it tuned to Ruby Hornet this week as we share reviews, interviews, photos, and more at one of the country’s largest film festivals.]

It’s no secret that I and the majority of the Ruby Hornet staff are huge fans of Gareth Evans’ The Raid: Redemption. The sleeper hit made major waves across film communities with its unabashed love for martial arts and tight storytelling that complemented the action rather than took away from it. Redemption was the little film that could, making more than 20x its budget, as well as garnering very favorable reviews from critics. When The Raid 2: Berandal was announced, excitement over the expansion of the film ran high, with many salivating at the promise of “more,” in all senses of the term (budget, runtime, characters, fight scenes, etc.). My review highly regarded Evans’ second film of the franchise, Berandal representing everything right when it comes to a film sequel.

During Sundance, I had a chance to sit down the director himself alongside a few other esteemed film journalists as we racked his brain with questions ranging from how fight scenes were planned, the editing process for the film, his influences behind Berandal, and much more. If you were a huge fan of The Raid: Redemption and can’t wait until The Raid 2: Berandal hits theaters next March, I highly recommend reading through the interview for more insight behind one of the year’s most anticipated films. However, a word to the wise: there are Berandal spoilers, so be cautious!