[Review] The Raid 2: Berandal - Part I: Acting & Characters
Speechless... WHAT WAS THAT!? What did I just see??
The Raid 2: Berandal is a 10 out of 10, for me. Yes, there are some tiny teeny flaws, but that'd be nitpicking and they don't even worth mentioning, considering the other amazing elements in this movie! Damn... now, every time I watch another action movie, I'll be looking back at Berandal and use it as a standard. How can I ever enjoy any other action movie again?
I was lucky enough to be able to join the advanced screening plus a Q&A with the director, Gareth Evans at the end of it. And I really can't wait for the opening night, I need to watch this awesomeness once again!!!
Where should I start?
The story. Undercover cop trying to infiltrate a crime organization, a gangster family/group and the mayhem started due to the ambitious son of the kingpin, trying to initiate a war with the yakuza gang. Some people don't like it. But I do. I love it. For me, the best way to make a story works is to create well-written characters, and all the 12-13 principal characters in this movie were all awesome. I really care about the characters, even the cold-blooded assassins. I also think the script is very well-written. The Indonesian dialogues here makes much more sense than the first film which dialogues sounded like straight English translation. And Berandal's dialogues doesn't only make sense, but it has many memorable lines with depth, that makes us thinks. I also like the choice of words. I have to give credits to whomever helped Gareth in translating his script to Indonesian. One of the memorable lines, was when Bangun apologized to the Japanese in Japanese, and later his son, Uco yelled at Bangun, "I can't believe you apologized to them in their language! In our homeland!!" I love most of Bangun and Uco's words exchanges.
Besides that, some of the dark comedic moments works wonderfully too.
The cast & characters. This is definitely one of the strong element in the movie, I love them all. I have to say the acting and characters, are much better than the first film, The Raid. I was pleasantly surprised. I have this mindset that young Indonesian actors cannot act. But these guys proved me wrong.
First of all, Iko Uwais made such an amazing improvement, acting-wise. I love his troubled expressions throughout the whole time, you can really see he's in mental stress. There were these moments where his lack of acting skill was noticeable when he had to be emotional while reciting his lines, but really just one or two scenes, I think he did a great job for the rest. Definitely better than Jet Li's acting in his third film XD (I love Jet Li a lot, but I know he couldn't act really well in his first few films, though he's definitely a genuine actor now) Iko Uwais definitely have a very strong on-screen presence and charisma. I agree with Gareth Evans, Iko is a rare talent, it's not easy to find a martial artist whose moves would look good on screen. Comparing him to Tiger Chen in the Man of Taichi, I can see Tiger is an awesome martial artist but he lacks onscreen presence (and not to mention lacking acting skill as well.) I'm sorry to say, but I think Tiger should stay behind the scenes.
Arifin Putra as Uco, the successor of Bangun's empire, was amazing! He's my least favorite character, cause he's too ambitious, impatient and annoying, and such a brat too, but I think his acting portrayal stood out the most. His emotion stays constant throughout, it's not easy to keep that emotion with the long period of shooting, but he managed it, so I think he did an amazing job. He's really a versatile actor, cause I saw him before in Macabre (Rumah Dara), and his role there was this creepy cannibal guy, his expression stays cold, mysterious and creepy for the whole time. So different than Uco's character who always looks so emotional. He deserves an award for his role in Berandal. No flaw at all.
I love Tio Pakusadewo's portrayal as Bangun. Bangun is one of my fav. He portrayed him so realistic. Funny thing, he speaks Japanese with Goto, some lines with pretty good pronunciation in Indonesian accent (though I couldn't understand some of his Japanese lines but I think he did a pretty good job), which reminds me so, so much of my office CEO (abt same age as Bangun) when he speaks to his Japanese clients and tries to please them. That's why I see Bangun as a realistic character.
Oka Antara's Eka is my #1 favorite I think. He's so cool and handsome here!!*v* Not to mention, mysterious too. The minute he start talking about Rama/Yuda's background, I knew there's gonna be a twist on his character. So I can't help but to shift my attention to Eka whenever he's on the screen, even if he's only in the background. I knew something's fishy about this guy. Funny, I didn't think he's "cool and handsome" in KILLERS, but most probably because Kitamura Kazuki's presence overshadowed him in that movie. But in Berandal, I totally felt his presence and charisma. Very charming as Bangun's right hand man.
Baseball Bat Guy & Hammer Girl! Gosh how I love these assassin siblings! Hammer Girl is deaf, Baseball bat guy talks to his little sister in sign language, omg, I dunno why, but I find that very touching. Even though they only had little screen time, but I really love their chemistry as siblings. You can see baseball bat guy is really taking care of his little sister even just with little gestures. I'm not sure of how old Very Tri Yulisman (BBG) and Julie Estelle (HG) are, but I can totally see their childish manner, so I feel like they're just little kids. And omg, their climax scene really broke my heart T_T
Acting-wise, they don't have much lines (not to mention they use sign language when they talk to each other), so I can't say much, but they did an amazing job in the action/martial arts department. Very is a true Silat practitioner just like Iko and Yayan, so there's no doubt in his fight scenes, it was amazing... not to mention he uses a baseball bat and balls to kill people, lol, fantastic invention. Julie Estelle is an actress and she didn't have any Silat background, so she had to learn from zero for six months, and I think she did an awesome job, stabbing those "Japanese" guys in the subway train. However the fact that she moves slower than Iko/Yayan/Very/Cecep were quite noticeable, but that's just nitpicking, and maybe just shows how awesome the true Silat practitioners' superspeed was.
Yayan Ruhian (Mad Dog in The Raid) portrayed another assassin, Prakoso. I think it was really the right thing to do for Gareth to dedicate this tragic character to Yayan, he deserves this kind of character. Little screen time but I think he was a very important character, the catalyst to the mayhem that happens later. He did a great job in acting terms too. I just love this guy!
The Assassin portrayed by Cecep Arif Rahman, a Silat master, was less memorable as a character, cause he didn't have any lines at all and had no significant moments. Really too bad, cause I was expecting him to be the next "Mad Dog." But the final fight with Iko in the kitchen, was definitely amazing!
The Japanese trio had the least screen time among the other principal characters which makes them less significant as characters. Tbh, I felt disappointed with their little screen time. Endo Ken'ichi as Goto, had the most lines, he was probably the most memorable one among the three as a character. I love his Indonesian line "Semuanya bisa diatuurr..." during his conversation with Matsuda and Kitamura, reminds me of my Japanese boss, whom also sometimes blurt out Indonesian phrases when he talk to a fellow Japanese who also live here.
Matsuda Ryuhei had probably just several lines, including in English. However, I think there was this key moment, where Keiichi (Matsuda) and Rama (Iko Uwais) were looking at each other first time they met. I realized then, it's not a coincidence, that the very last scene was a muted conversation between Keiichi and Rama, as well.
The problem is, the whole thing was really mostly internal conflict in the Bangun's empire, the story didn't involve the yakuza gang much. And when it seems like the Japanese characters started to get important and seems like their screen time was going to increase from now on... the movie ended. WTF!?? >_< But I have to say, I like Keiichi's expression when he talked to Rama at the end. Keiichi was smirking. Keiichi spent most of his screen time putting on a poker face, that was really the first time we get to see him smirking a bit. No one knows what they were talking about. The director decided to mute the conversation, I have no idea why. One thing I can think of, Matsuda Ryuhei's Indonesian pronunciation sounded so bad... haha, jus kidding! Nah, maybe they just want the audience to interpret the conversation ourselves. Yeah... it's not really that difficult to guess what they were talking about if you pay attention to the story, there are probably two or three possibilities. Gareth hinted that The Raid 3 will focus to the yakuza gang... so that makes sense.
Gosh... this is too long >_< Yeah, believe me, it's that good!
Since I got tired writing, I'll save my review on the fighting/action scenes, camera works, make-up, sound effect, music scores later after second viewing next week! Stay tune!
The Raid 2: Berandal is a 10 out of 10, for me. Yes, there are some tiny teeny flaws, but that'd be nitpicking and they don't even worth mentioning, considering the other amazing elements in this movie! Damn... now, every time I watch another action movie, I'll be looking back at Berandal and use it as a standard. How can I ever enjoy any other action movie again?
Click to viewI was lucky enough to be able to join the advanced screening plus a Q&A with the director, Gareth Evans at the end of it. And I really can't wait for the opening night, I need to watch this awesomeness once again!!!
Where should I start?
The story. Undercover cop trying to infiltrate a crime organization, a gangster family/group and the mayhem started due to the ambitious son of the kingpin, trying to initiate a war with the yakuza gang. Some people don't like it. But I do. I love it. For me, the best way to make a story works is to create well-written characters, and all the 12-13 principal characters in this movie were all awesome. I really care about the characters, even the cold-blooded assassins. I also think the script is very well-written. The Indonesian dialogues here makes much more sense than the first film which dialogues sounded like straight English translation. And Berandal's dialogues doesn't only make sense, but it has many memorable lines with depth, that makes us thinks. I also like the choice of words. I have to give credits to whomever helped Gareth in translating his script to Indonesian. One of the memorable lines, was when Bangun apologized to the Japanese in Japanese, and later his son, Uco yelled at Bangun, "I can't believe you apologized to them in their language! In our homeland!!" I love most of Bangun and Uco's words exchanges.
Besides that, some of the dark comedic moments works wonderfully too.
The cast & characters. This is definitely one of the strong element in the movie, I love them all. I have to say the acting and characters, are much better than the first film, The Raid. I was pleasantly surprised. I have this mindset that young Indonesian actors cannot act. But these guys proved me wrong.
First of all, Iko Uwais made such an amazing improvement, acting-wise. I love his troubled expressions throughout the whole time, you can really see he's in mental stress. There were these moments where his lack of acting skill was noticeable when he had to be emotional while reciting his lines, but really just one or two scenes, I think he did a great job for the rest. Definitely better than Jet Li's acting in his third film XD (I love Jet Li a lot, but I know he couldn't act really well in his first few films, though he's definitely a genuine actor now) Iko Uwais definitely have a very strong on-screen presence and charisma. I agree with Gareth Evans, Iko is a rare talent, it's not easy to find a martial artist whose moves would look good on screen. Comparing him to Tiger Chen in the Man of Taichi, I can see Tiger is an awesome martial artist but he lacks onscreen presence (and not to mention lacking acting skill as well.) I'm sorry to say, but I think Tiger should stay behind the scenes.
Arifin Putra as Uco, the successor of Bangun's empire, was amazing! He's my least favorite character, cause he's too ambitious, impatient and annoying, and such a brat too, but I think his acting portrayal stood out the most. His emotion stays constant throughout, it's not easy to keep that emotion with the long period of shooting, but he managed it, so I think he did an amazing job. He's really a versatile actor, cause I saw him before in Macabre (Rumah Dara), and his role there was this creepy cannibal guy, his expression stays cold, mysterious and creepy for the whole time. So different than Uco's character who always looks so emotional. He deserves an award for his role in Berandal. No flaw at all.
I love Tio Pakusadewo's portrayal as Bangun. Bangun is one of my fav. He portrayed him so realistic. Funny thing, he speaks Japanese with Goto, some lines with pretty good pronunciation in Indonesian accent (though I couldn't understand some of his Japanese lines but I think he did a pretty good job), which reminds me so, so much of my office CEO (abt same age as Bangun) when he speaks to his Japanese clients and tries to please them. That's why I see Bangun as a realistic character.
Oka Antara's Eka is my #1 favorite I think. He's so cool and handsome here!!*v* Not to mention, mysterious too. The minute he start talking about Rama/Yuda's background, I knew there's gonna be a twist on his character. So I can't help but to shift my attention to Eka whenever he's on the screen, even if he's only in the background. I knew something's fishy about this guy. Funny, I didn't think he's "cool and handsome" in KILLERS, but most probably because Kitamura Kazuki's presence overshadowed him in that movie. But in Berandal, I totally felt his presence and charisma. Very charming as Bangun's right hand man.
Baseball Bat Guy & Hammer Girl! Gosh how I love these assassin siblings! Hammer Girl is deaf, Baseball bat guy talks to his little sister in sign language, omg, I dunno why, but I find that very touching. Even though they only had little screen time, but I really love their chemistry as siblings. You can see baseball bat guy is really taking care of his little sister even just with little gestures. I'm not sure of how old Very Tri Yulisman (BBG) and Julie Estelle (HG) are, but I can totally see their childish manner, so I feel like they're just little kids. And omg, their climax scene really broke my heart T_T
Acting-wise, they don't have much lines (not to mention they use sign language when they talk to each other), so I can't say much, but they did an amazing job in the action/martial arts department. Very is a true Silat practitioner just like Iko and Yayan, so there's no doubt in his fight scenes, it was amazing... not to mention he uses a baseball bat and balls to kill people, lol, fantastic invention. Julie Estelle is an actress and she didn't have any Silat background, so she had to learn from zero for six months, and I think she did an awesome job, stabbing those "Japanese" guys in the subway train. However the fact that she moves slower than Iko/Yayan/Very/Cecep were quite noticeable, but that's just nitpicking, and maybe just shows how awesome the true Silat practitioners' superspeed was.
Yayan Ruhian (Mad Dog in The Raid) portrayed another assassin, Prakoso. I think it was really the right thing to do for Gareth to dedicate this tragic character to Yayan, he deserves this kind of character. Little screen time but I think he was a very important character, the catalyst to the mayhem that happens later. He did a great job in acting terms too. I just love this guy!
The Assassin portrayed by Cecep Arif Rahman, a Silat master, was less memorable as a character, cause he didn't have any lines at all and had no significant moments. Really too bad, cause I was expecting him to be the next "Mad Dog." But the final fight with Iko in the kitchen, was definitely amazing!
The Japanese trio had the least screen time among the other principal characters which makes them less significant as characters. Tbh, I felt disappointed with their little screen time. Endo Ken'ichi as Goto, had the most lines, he was probably the most memorable one among the three as a character. I love his Indonesian line "Semuanya bisa diatuurr..." during his conversation with Matsuda and Kitamura, reminds me of my Japanese boss, whom also sometimes blurt out Indonesian phrases when he talk to a fellow Japanese who also live here.
Matsuda Ryuhei had probably just several lines, including in English. However, I think there was this key moment, where Keiichi (Matsuda) and Rama (Iko Uwais) were looking at each other first time they met. I realized then, it's not a coincidence, that the very last scene was a muted conversation between Keiichi and Rama, as well.
The problem is, the whole thing was really mostly internal conflict in the Bangun's empire, the story didn't involve the yakuza gang much. And when it seems like the Japanese characters started to get important and seems like their screen time was going to increase from now on... the movie ended. WTF!?? >_< But I have to say, I like Keiichi's expression when he talked to Rama at the end. Keiichi was smirking. Keiichi spent most of his screen time putting on a poker face, that was really the first time we get to see him smirking a bit. No one knows what they were talking about. The director decided to mute the conversation, I have no idea why. One thing I can think of, Matsuda Ryuhei's Indonesian pronunciation sounded so bad... haha, jus kidding! Nah, maybe they just want the audience to interpret the conversation ourselves. Yeah... it's not really that difficult to guess what they were talking about if you pay attention to the story, there are probably two or three possibilities. Gareth hinted that The Raid 3 will focus to the yakuza gang... so that makes sense.
Gosh... this is too long >_< Yeah, believe me, it's that good!
Since I got tired writing, I'll save my review on the fighting/action scenes, camera works, make-up, sound effect, music scores later after second viewing next week! Stay tune!