“The Raid 2: Berendal” is the most violent movie ever made. The exploding heads, slit, gurgling throats and claw-hammer crunches and tears are so excessive as to make the works of Pekinpah, Tarantino and torture-porn king Eli Roth seem almost quaint in retrospect.

Excessively complicated and excessive in length, it stands in stark contrast to writer-director Gareth Evans' original film, a tight, visceral martial-arts thrill ride that had one good cop (Iko Uwais) battling his way out of a mob-controlled apartment complex filled with villains. Rama (Uwais) was the last man standing, as corrupt police officials refused to send back-up and mobsters sent wave upon wave of cutthroats, kickboxers and gunmen to finish him off.

“Raid 2”″ is more about the blood and injuries sustained by hammers, machetes, box-cutters and shotguns than about Rama or his latest quest. And that's a serious shortcoming.

Our hero is sent deep undercover, into prison, where he does two years' time, cozying up to and protecting Uco, the pretty-boy son of a mob boss (Arifin Putra). Once out, he's accepted into Uco's dad's gang.

“Raid 2”″ is best regarded as a series of epic set pieces, fights that could be labeled and promoted the way prize fights often are. There's the Slaughter in the Snow. Then, the Punchout in the Prison Yard, where convicts kick, chop and stab as they're writhing in the mud of a torrential rain.

The Butchery in the Bar introduces the skills of an older shaggy and unkempt hitman (Yayan Ruhian) who must take on all comers once he's outlived his usefulness. Murder on the Metro involves the petite, hammer-wielding “Hammer Girl” (Julie Estelle), a ballerina when it comes to hammer-blows.

The brawls are always crowded, but always broken down to individual combat.

Evans cuts the fights into visually striking blurs of sound and fury. But there are too many. This is eye-averting stuff for all but the most hardened and emotionally disconnected. It is explicit video-game-style violence.

“The Raid” was a great action film in which the violence, excessive though it was, served as obstacles in the hero's simple quest. In “Raid 2”″ the violence is the movie. Cut this by 45 minutes and it would be no less confusing, but at least it would be a movie with all “cool scenes,” gory as they are.

Roger Moore is a staff writer for McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---