Review LXXXV - The Raid 2

Review LXXXV
The Raid 2 (2014)

"Hey, do you know The Raid 2?" my boyfriend asked.
I replied, "What, you don't ask me about The Raid, but you ask me about The Raid 2? I don't even know the first one, how would I know the second one? ... Is it American?"
"No, it's Indonesian."
"Are you kidding me..."

And so began my introduction in the apparently well-known Indonesian film The Raid 2: Berandal, directed by Gareth Evans and starring Iko Uwais as a continuing protagonist in the series. The first film, according to my boyfriend, is not all that special and was just bad, but the sequel, aha, the action is well choreographed. The plot is still bad, but the action was optimal. I was all ready to sit down and watch a depressing war film, something like Come and See, for example. But no, I had to go and watch The Raid 2. Sigh.

The film begins with a man named Bejo killing our protagonist's brother. This causes Rama (Uwais) - the protagonist - to join an undercover cop force that seeks undercover, corrupted officials in order to catch Bejo. Rama ends up joining an Indonesian gang, the Bangun gang, after protecting the leader's son in prison. With this new connection, Rama may be able to avenge his brother's life and protect his family.

The Raid 2 has an amazing score on IMDb, and honestly, the martial arts sequences are great. My boyfriend explained it best: you never get lost while watching the action scenes. In many action films, the sequences are not handled well and, consequently, you don't really know what the hell is going on. Here, every action scene is handled superbly. You catch every move, every punch, every hit. You follow everything, and trust me when I say you want to. The action scenes are great. They're grand fun, that's for sure. You can really see the effort Gareth Evans and the development team went through to make sure the scenes looked genuine and accurate. All I can is silat, Indonesian martial arts, is pretty brilliant.

Now, the movie is great fun, and part of the reason is because the characters are a mixture of Korean and Bollywood; basically, they're just over-the-top and freakin' ridiculous. Bejo is just so stock evil, it's hilarious. My boyfriend and I had great fun making fun of him throughout the film. Then Rama disappears for so long that even people in the film are asking what happened to him. I'm glad I watched the movie with someone because it made it all the more fun to make fun of everything. Not to mention you might start raging when you know that everything would go a lot smoother if only people actually used their weapons, especially their guns. While the director made sure the fighting scenes were creative and fun, he paid the script writers minimum wage. But really, what did I expect from this movie?

I'd recommend The Raid 2 if you're looking for a ridiculously crazy, yet very entertaining martial arts movie. Watch it with friends. Have a great laugh. Now let me go watch something depressing, please.

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Review LXXXIV - Get Carter

Review LXXXIV
Get Carter (1971)

To be honest, and rather embarrassingly, I wasn't fully aware of Michael Caine's roles until rather recently. I mean, I had heard that, when he was younger, he'd played gangster kind of characters, but I never looked into it. When my boyfriend started praising the hell out of Mike Hodges' Get Carter, I was opened to the world of Michael Caine, and British cinema in fact. Get Carter is considered to be high up there on British movie lists from what I read. Here I was left stupefied, feeling like quite a dolt for having cast aside this actor for so long... We watched Alfie together first (worth a watch - I wasn't super crazy about it, but the opening shot was brilliant, and the subject matter was comedic but quite dark. The breaking of the fourth wall was also really well done!), and, finally, I got around to watching Get Carter.

John Carter (Caine), a notorious gangster, finds out his brother has died in a car accident in his hometown. However, Carter is sure foul play is involved and decides to return to Newcastle to seek out his brother's killer.

I'll start with cinematography. It was nothing short of absolute brilliance at times. The opening shot is enough to capture anyone. The zoom in to a room where Carter stands, centered, smoking. It only gets better. The film was very good at close-ups, zoom-outs, using mirrors. It also made the viewer strain at times to view the characters with stuff getting in the way. This is not a bad thing - instead, it made you try to look past the unfocused objects and pay attention to the speaker. This is something a film should never be afraid to do - that is, put stuff close up! It also used unfocused objects to pinpoint characters... Guys, really, it was just great.

The characters were interesting. I mean, I'm not really into gangster films, but again, I consider this one another exception to the rule. Michael Caine chose this film because he wanted to realistically portray gangsters. Thus, we don't get this over-the-top, gore everywhere, crazy film. No, John Carter kills when he knows it to be right, being quick and efficient. Plus it's a justice film of sorts, so I'm not just watching Carter go around and be a gangster. No, it's Carter the gangster trying to piece together why his brother was murdered and getting justice. Thus we get a revenge flick involving a gangster who, frankly, doesn't give a damn about killing. And Michael Caine definitely delivers. He took that role and made it his own. I felt him as the gangster, as the womanizer. When he has phone sex with one of the women, I totally believed it. I wouldn't call Michael Caine the most attractive man if you just look at him, but in the film - and Alfie for that matter - he takes such an assertive position, you fall for him just because he is so manly. As a woman, I feel the right to freely admit this, but I'm sure my boyfriend would agree. I love that! So often we just see the ideal sex symbol of the time stuck into the role and you just accept women go with him because he's handsome. Here we witness the power of acting, guys. Here we see ourselves really believing that Michael Caine is the role he plays. I'll definitely be looking into his older films like The Italian Job and The Ipcress File. I'm sure they're worth all the praise they get.

Now, the plot itself. As I said, I'm not super into gangster films usually, and I think if this film wouldn't have had the superb acting and shots, I'd probably dismiss it. But because of that, I totally support it. Still, I liked the ending - it was nothing over-the-top, just simple and frank, which was this film overall. It was also more creative than just "kill 'em 'cause he's a bad guy". No, we really learn with Carter what happened, and, given the conclusion, we can see why Carter is so angry. However, I shan't speak of the end any longer with fear that I spoil it. The plot is well put together, enough to keep your interest, and not too complicated to follow. I watched it while I was knitting and I was able to follow along just fine. This is an added bonus if you're just looking for something simple to watch. You get something unique and full of emotion, yet it isn't too intense!

All I can say is that, given its more creative plot, its great characters (or even just protagonist) and accompanying acting, and, last but not least, superb shots, the film is a worthwhile flick. It's not the most action packed, but it is not slow. However, if you don't like gangster films at all, I can't say this one will change your mind. But with the wonderfully strong John Carter, can you really say no?

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... What? You want to know about the remake? All you need to know is that you should never bring it up in good company. We'll just pretend it never happened...