[Sundance Interview] Arifin Putra and Julie Estelle (The Raid 2: Berandal)
[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.]
Header photo via Getty Images
Following my roundtable interview with The Raid 2: Berandal director Gareth Evans, Berandal stars Arifin Putra (Ico) and Julie Estelle (Hammer Girl) sat down to chat with my group about the film. Despite the light-hearted conversation, we probed the actors about their experience on the film, specifically asking about their training regimens, comfortability working with Gareth, the long wait for Berandal to begin production, and much more. Of course, we threw some fun questions in there, like their favorite action films (spoiler: Kill Bill 2 isn't one of them).
As always, major spoilers for The Raid 2: Berandal are sprinkled throughout the interview, so read at your own expense. Enjoy!
[Sundance Interview] Gareth Evans (Director of The Raid 2: Berandal)
[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!
[Review] The Raid 2: Berandal
[To commemorate the limited theatrical release of The Raid 2: Berandal, we are re-posting this review of the film from this year's Sundance Film Festival]
[iframe id="http://movies.yahoo.com/video/39-raid-2-39-trailer-174145921.html?format=embed&player_autoplay=false"]
The Raid 2: Berandal
Director: Gareth Evans
Rating: N/A
Release Date: January 21, 2014 (Sundance)
The Raid: Redemption practically came out of nowhere and introduced me to a new form of action films. From the completely visceral cinematography capturing every bone break and ounce of gushing blood to the introduction to pencak silat, a form of Indonesian martial art that is as brutal as it is beautiful to watch. Where The Raid: Redemption lacked in story and narrative, it more than made up for in immensely entertaining and awe-inspiring fight sequences. What made the film so successful is not the aforementioned fight scenes, but because of writer/director Gareth Evans' tight focus, with the film taking place almost exclusively inside one apartment building complex.
Following on the heels of Redemption, The Raid 2: Berandal expands on the narrative, introducing audiences to the world outside of the Jakartan slums. Redemption's protagonist, Rama (Iko Uwais), turns to a senior officer to report on the events of Redemption and to take down the city's corruption once and for awhile. In order to do that, he's ordered to go undercover and infiltrate the ranks of one of the largest mob syndicates run by Bangun (Tio Pakusadewo) by befriending Bangun's son, Uco (Arifin Putra), in jail. Before long, tensions escalate into a gang war in which nobody is safe.
The plot of Berandal can be a bit confusing and overwhelming, especially for those who haven't seen Redemption yet. Where Redemption thrived in its small scale, Berandal grows the universe and storyline exponentially, introducing a myriad cast of characters. Once past the early confusion, however, the film finds its narrative stride as Rama navigates the criminal underworld. The themes are endless in Berandal, with father/son dynamics, revenge, and redemption being the most noticeable themes purveying the film. Evans' writing in Berandal is sound; whereas I had my concerns that such a large expansion would muddle the overall film, those thoughts were quickly erased in the film's first act. While Rama is the center of the action, Uco is the center of the drama, and Putra's performance is enough to sustain the plot in between fights. Most action films leave audiences just wishing for the story-driven scenes to hurry up; Berandal never lets the tension go, whether it's in the form of a fight or a plot-driven sequence; needless to say, the pacing is spot-on and near perfection. However, in saying that, the film's true bread and butter is in the action scenes.
Simply put: WOW. I don't know how Evans and his team of choreographers did it, but literally every action sequence has at least one moment where you can't help but drop your jaw in awe, surprise, excitement, entertainment, disbelief, fright, happiness, etc. I don't want to spoil anything too specific, but Berandal features one of the greatest car sequences you'll ever see in a film. If you thought you saw it all in Redemption, wait until you see Berandal; much like how the plot is expanded upon in the sequel, so too are the fight sequences. They're visceral, desperate, entertaining, and above all else, as brutal as you can imagine. With a shaky cam, each attack is accentuated with a camera shift, each throw is met with a tumble, etc., proving just how well the cinematography complemented the fights. It can be dizzying at first, but it just adds to the entire experience. The fight sequences become more nuanced and elaborate as the film goes on; there's also an evocation of classic video games (Mega Man comes to mind) where Rama will rush through grunts, meet somebody with a sense of a challenge, then finally ends with a pseudo-boss fight.
If you loved The Raid: Redemption, you're going to find yourself enamored with The Raid 2: Berandal. It's bigger, better, and more badass in every way possible, just like every successful sequel should be. Words simply won't do this film justice. Watch Berandal the first chance you get - you can thank me later. While it may be too early to tell, the The Raid franchise just might be the next greatest action film franchise... so long as Evans and his team stay on board.
[SXSW] 10 Films You Should See at SXSW 2014
[Ruby Hornet will be covering SXSW from March 7th to March 16th. Follow along as we bring you exclusive film reviews, photos, daily features, and interviews with filmmakers, actors, and musicians!]
With this year marking my third visit to the famed South by Southwest Festival, I've become a bit of a veteran when it comes to the film side of the festival. While Sundance and CIFF have their perks and vibes, but SXSW has always been consistent with their film selections. With such a large amount of films screening at SXSW this year, I figured I'd help guide you along in which films are sure to be festival favorites. While I'm only suggesting 10 films, any and all of you SXSW Film attendees should try to catch as many films as you can. Some of my best and favorite SXSW films in years past have been the ones I've caught on a whim, which serves as a testament to the amazing programming the SXSW people have shown throughout the years. Nevertheless, read on to find out which 10 films are my most anticipated of South by Southwest 2014.
[Sundance Video] The Raid 2: Berandal Q&A, Iko Uwais pencak silat demonstration
[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.]
In a festival full of film premieres, The Raid 2: Berandal was arguably one of the biggest films to screen at this year's Sundance Film Festival. The first film in the franchise, The Raid: Redemption, was a sleeper hit introducing many to the wonderful martial art, pencak silat, as well as a new style of action film that is actually prioritizes action over narrative. Following the film's premiere last week, the cast and crew of The Raid 2: Berandal gathered together to answer a short fan Q&A, as well as a pencak silat demonstration by the film's star, Iko Uwais. Enjoy the videos, and keep it tuned to Ruby Hornet as we wrap up our Sundance Film Festival 2014 coverage throughout the week!
Gareth Evans shares plans for The Raid 3
[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.]
The Raid 2: Berandal was my most anticipated film of this year's Sundance Film Festival. As you may have realized after reading my review of the film, it was everything a proper film sequel should be, expanding upon the framework that was established in The Raid: Redemption. Following my screening of the film, I had the chance to take part in a roundtable interview with the film's writer/director/editor Gareth Evans.
While many things were discussed (which you'll be able to read when the full interview is released next week), the most noteworthy bit of information involved Evans' plans for the third film in the series. While the script hasn't been written yet, Evans has an idea of what the film will be about. In saying that, do keep in mind that the information might be considered a spoiler for The Raid 2: Berandal, so continue on at your own expense.
When asked about the proposed The Raid 3, Evans had the following to say:
It's set three hours before The Raid 2 finishes, so there's a key moment in The Raid 2 where we go back and revisit that scene, and as a result of that, we branch off. We go into a totally different direction. That's as much as I can say right now. [...] There are people involved in the second [film] that we expand a lot more on in the third... which is probably pretty obvious now because most of the fuckers die in the second.
It's vague information, especially for the majority of you that haven't seen the film. However, within the context of having seen the film, I can't stress enough how excited I am for the third film armed with this knowledge (as if my excitement wasn't already at an all-time high after seeing Berandal). We have much more exclusive content from Sundance 2014, so be sure to follow Ruby Hornet over the next week.
[Trailer 2] The Raid 2: Berandal
[vimeo id="83007310"]
Remember the first teaser trailer for The Raid 2: Berandal that was released in November? If not, I recommend re-watching it right now. This latest trailer (the official Indonesian cut for the film) sets the film's narrative immediately following the previous film. Taking place two hours later, Berandal follows Rama (Iko Uwais) investigating corruption in the police force. To do so, he must go undercover and befriend the son of a purported mob boss. However, his quest to find justice carries large ramifications.
The Raid 2: Berandal will be released in theaters on March 28, 2014 following its world premiere at Sundance.
The Raid 2 raiding theaters on March 28
The Raid 2 will be making its premiere next month during Sundance, and it's safe to say that it's the one film I'm looking forward to the most during the film festival. However, festival premieres are typically met with a months-long wait until general audiences can see the film themselves, usually due to final editing/production or the search for a proper distributor. The Raid 2, however, won't have to go through either of these as a firm release date has been announced.
Our return to the wonderful world of pencak silat will take place on March 28, 2014, with waves of releases across the country to follow. The Raid: Redemption is one of my favorite action films in recent memory, and with the first teaser trailer hitting on all the right notes (figuratively and literally), I have high hopes for The Raid 2: Berandal.
[via Collider]