Introduction
This is primarily going to be a review of the Indonesian action film sequel The Raid 2: Berandal. If you don't want to read my article below, the short version of this text is: it's fucking awesome, go and watch it right NOW.
While I'm going to be talking about this film mainly, I'm going to compare it with another action film of the big budget variety. That is, Transformers: Age of Extinction. In this review/essay I'm going to tell you how one of these two movies turns out to be a refreshing take on the action movie genre; the other is a chore to watch.
Long Runtimes Do Not Make an Epic
Both movies cross the two and a half hour mark, which is pretty long by many standards. But The Raid understands the value of pacing. Gareth Evans seems to have picked up the ability to let tension simmer and bubble before exploding in spurts of violence, and he has spaced all of the action scenes far enough that we get time to catch our breath in between action scenes. In Transformers, we have a long dragging part at the beginning with a few action scenes here and there. Once we really get to the meat of the matter, where robots actually fight, we're either disinterested or too bored to care.
Cinematography that makes a film
If there's one thing (other than the fight choreography) that makes the Raid 2 memorable, it's the cinematography. It is a level above the rest. The film delights in slow pans to build tension then quick motion shots and wide camera movements that eat the violent scenery. There seems to be a trend in recent films where the action is obscured behind a level of hand held camerawork, almost like the cameraman is masturbating to the action taking place before him. Or, wide shots that show the spectacle of a disaster, which isn't really much of a problem. Dynamic camera work and effective set pieces create an effective atmosphere for that action to take place.
Transformers does that too, in a different way. We call it "Bayhem."
It's not necessarily good, as sometimes too many things are going on. It boils down to visual information overload. And not every scene needs to be moving. Static shots are nice too. But some of those Bay shots are really good nevertheless.
Transformers does that too, in a different way. We call it "Bayhem."
It's not necessarily good, as sometimes too many things are going on. It boils down to visual information overload. And not every scene needs to be moving. Static shots are nice too. But some of those Bay shots are really good nevertheless.
'Effects-driven Action' vs. 'Action-driven Effects'
Special effects are the norm in today's Hollywood cinema, to the point where you can tell which scenes were done using CGI versus other kinds of practical effects. Movies these days are dictated by their effects, as in creating a setpiece or some complicated effect and building story around that. The Star Wars prequels are among the most egregious culprits. In the Raid 2, it's the opposite; the action drives the effects. There's one car chase scene in The Raid 2 that probably qualifies as one of the best car chase sequences in recent memory: a fight is raging inside a car; the camera weaves from the front seat to the back seat of that car where the fight is taking place, exits another window, then transitions seamlessly to the inside of another car.
How did they do that? Until now I have absolutely no idea how they pulled that off until now. And that scene was done the way it was done because the film needed it to do so.
Character Invincibility
You know what? For a movie like Transformers that has a ton of explosions, not a lot of actual people are dying. There are alien robots trying to kill each other but barely any of the main characters are in any actual harm, even when they are tightrope walking along wires suspended hundreds of feet in the air. There's no tension, and thus there's no excitement.
In the Raid 2, it's pretty clear in this movie that anyone can die. ANYONE. People are dying left and right. There is now the sense that our protagonist can die at any moment, that the movie might end with his death. Unless you are making a fun nonserious action romp, there really isn't any way for the audience to care. And that's the big thing.
So to end this piece I say: spectacle is nice once in a while, but when you're so used to spectacle, the brain can't tell excitement from non-excitement and spectacle ends up boring us. That, my friends, is the real tragedy of this situation.
How did they do that? Until now I have absolutely no idea how they pulled that off until now. And that scene was done the way it was done because the film needed it to do so.
Character Invincibility
You know what? For a movie like Transformers that has a ton of explosions, not a lot of actual people are dying. There are alien robots trying to kill each other but barely any of the main characters are in any actual harm, even when they are tightrope walking along wires suspended hundreds of feet in the air. There's no tension, and thus there's no excitement.
In the Raid 2, it's pretty clear in this movie that anyone can die. ANYONE. People are dying left and right. There is now the sense that our protagonist can die at any moment, that the movie might end with his death. Unless you are making a fun nonserious action romp, there really isn't any way for the audience to care. And that's the big thing.
So to end this piece I say: spectacle is nice once in a while, but when you're so used to spectacle, the brain can't tell excitement from non-excitement and spectacle ends up boring us. That, my friends, is the real tragedy of this situation.
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