Man Movie Encyclopedia: The Raid 2

Greetings, beautiful people!

With all the sissification going on these days, we need the Hall of Burly to be open more than ever! No masks, no social distancing, because viruses aren’t burly, and thus are not allowed to enter!

Now, before we get to the main event, I wanted to slang my latest project to ya’ll, a podcast! Yes, I know what you’re thinking, podcasts are so rare these days, thank God you’ve started one, and I agree with you. Doomed In The Dungeon is myself and fellow writer and lover of professional-wrestling, Henry Schultz, covering it all, baby. We’ve started off taking a look at the fateful and deranged year that was 1999 in WCW, with a sweet bonus episode where we do a watch-a-long of some choice encounters from WrestleMania 9. I hope ya’ll funky cats dig it. And if you don’t, blame Henry. Now click here!

We open up with a criminal big-wig taking someone out to a field and saying “ay, you had a choice, you chose your boss over me, time to die”, and is promptly killed. He was the brother of the lead cat from the original, Rama, who at this moment is in a shed with the two other guys who survived the original. Along with them are a small, secret group that works like IA. They need a cop who can go deep, they need Rama. They say they’ll make it look like he didn’t survive the first film, wipe him from the record books, get him a sweet new identity [He’ll be Mr. Thompson, from Terror Lake] However, at first, Rama turns down their offer, upset that they straight up just shot the corrupt cop from the first one right in front of him. Rama is a bit of a bitch in that department. It’s not until he learns his brother was murdered by one of the men they’re chasing that he agrees.

Flash forward to him sitting in a bathroom stall in a prison, with about 50 motherfuckers outside of it, all desperate to take a shit, or to whoop his ass. It’s honestly never clarified. He got himself in this jail by attacking the asshole son of an asshole who’s a corrupt, high-ranking politician. So, he’s seeing to it that Rama doesn’t make it out alive. Dude puts up a hell of a fight, banging it out in the stall so he can try and manage them one, or two at a time. He eventually runs out of luck and gets stomped. This brings about a dude who’s also in the pokey, the thug jug, the sin bin, and says he wants Rama’s help, his support. Rama tells him thanks, but no thanks. This guy turns out to be Ocho, the son of one of the biggest gangsters around.

Soon after, there’s a big ol’ brew-ha-ha in the yard, as prisoners attempt to kill Ocho as well as Rama, for attacking the politician’s kid. It’s a wild-ass fight scene, just brutal at times, and never lets up. It’s fucking fantastic. Rama is like a lawn-mower, but instead of grass, it’s whooping major ass. Rama saves Ocho, and upon release, he’s taken to meet his father. He says you’re one of the crew, but you get no special treatment just cause he saved his son. So, he’s taken to his new crib, and the second he’s alone, he acts like the dumbest undercover cop ever. He turns up the stereo super loud, then takes a sim card out of his mouth and pops it in his phone to call one of his supervisors. Sure, THAT’S not super weird. Because Lord knows anyone listening in would think “Yeah, that’s perfectly normal for someone who the second they’re alone they turn the stereo up to 11 and then make a phone call”. What an idiot. I’m waiting for the next scene where he shows up in a shirt that says “NOT A COP”.

We cut to Rama’s first day out with the crew, where they head to a warehouse in some God-forsaken place where underground porn is being produced. Apparently these guys started slanging drugs, and now Ocho and his father want a bigger cut. Well, that doesn’t work for them, and a big shoot-out ensues, where Rama again proves he’s about that life by promptly fucking any and everything up. Speaking of which, the father of the dude, Ocho, hires a super-sleek assassin to kill some dude. Played by the super-ass-kicker from The Raid who was known as Mad-Dog, and took on Rama and his brother. He takes out and disables this dude’s squad, with one arm, no less, before impaling the guy with a machete. Brutal. Seriously, do they make machetes clean? Or is there some type of mandate that they have to come off the assembly line looking like they were forged at the bottom of a porta-potty?

Meanwhile, Ocho is having dinner with Bojo, and Bo has a present for him, revenge. He’s got the men who tried to kill him while in prison. They’re laid out in front of Ocho, and he’s given a razor blade. In return, Bo needs some muscle. He wants to start a war, basically, because he just wants to carve out a little piece of his own, while Ocho will become the big man in charge.

Osa, the super-ass-kicker from earlier who killed the dude with the machete, is having dinner with his ex-wife, handing over to her a big envelope of cash for her, and their son. Naturally, she brow-beats him about how he earns his money, but she has no problem taking it. He then goes to a local club to meet Ocho, and while there, he realizes he’s being set up. Because this death will cause the war to break out in a big way. A damn army comes after him, and he makes them regret it, putting them all down in brutal, awesome, incredible fashion. However, he’s damn near dead when he faces the big wig’s top henceman, known only as “The Assassin” who just cuts him to ribbons.

The plan doesn’t go as, well, planned. The father refuses to retaliate, so Ocho tells Bojo, fuck it, do it anyway. So, he let’s loose two of his best assassins: Batman & Hammer Girl. One of which disposes of people with an aluminum bat, and the other, with twin claw-hammers. Bummer. Total bummer either way. The Hammer Girl takes apart a train full of dudes, while Bats does away with a warehouse.

Some other thugs attempt to get Rama, but, c’mon now, he’s Rama. Dude had to fight for his life just to take a shit. However, he discovers one of the dudes he fucked up was a cop. Again, however, things aren’t going the way Ocho wants. As his father and the head of the other gang meet to squash shit, and his father is a total G. Saying he accepts total responsibility for the foolish actions of his men.

Back at the office, the dad thumps on Ocho, who keeps telling him he’ll fix it. He then fixes it by shooting his dad in the face. It’s at this time that his back up arrives, the crew he’s been working with behind his dad’s back. Rama shows up, and he has a short bout with that fierce-ass dude that bodyguards Bojo, and actually gets his ass whooped. They load him into a car to dispose of him, however he wakes up once they’re on the freeway, and all hell breaks loose. Rama starts whooping ass inside of an SUV. I mean, goddamn, toilets, SUVs, when’s the 10-on-1 in a phone booth happen? Seems like this guy’s biggest enemy would be a fight in an open field. So, while he’s doing that, one of his homies that he got close with working, Eka, is following, and doing his best to fuck up any other cars coming along trying to get at Rama. It’s some RIDICULOUSLY gangster shit.

We find out that Eka was also undercover, and that the police commissioner has been shot dead. It’s a full-scale war now. Rama doesn’t care about any of that. His family is safe, and now he’s looking to finish what he started. What happens next….I can’t do justice in text. It can only be seen to be believed. To be marveled at. The last 20 minutes or so of this film is without a doubt, the greatest hand-to-hand action cinema of ALL. FUCKING. TIME.

Rama crashes into the bad guy HQ and starts fighting dudes with his car. After that, he hops out and starts pummeling on the henchmen before having a fight to the death with Batman and Hammer Girl. It’s fucking amazing. Just….I mean, it’s literally beautiful. The action is so fast, and so brutal. Hammer Girl gets her throat ripped out with her own claw hammer, which sends Batman into a rage, but all it ends up earning him is said bat crashed into his face. After that….man…I literally am going to include it here in the review, and not even review it. It is, without a doubt, the greatest fight scene I’ve ever seen.

Once he defeats him, he’s just about dead. Thankfully, in the room containing all the bad guys, Ocho realizes the dude he’s been working with, Bojo, has been behind the attacks in the prison, and has been playing him. So, he racks a shotgun and blows everyone away, until Rama cuts him up good and proper. Once the cavalry arrives, Rama lets them know that they can suck it, he’s done…

MAN MOVIE TALLY:
1-Liners:
Guys Beat Up: 85
Guys Killed: 56
Swear Words: 37
Boobies: 0
Explosions: 0
Chase: 3
Broken Bones: 5
Fight/Shoot-Out At Motel?: No
Guy Get Girl? Yes
Guy/Girl Smoke?: No

MAN FACTS:
The martial art used in the Raid films are known as Silat, an Indonesian martial art.

The final fight scene took 6 weeks to design and choreograph, and 8 days to film.

Bat Girl, Julie Estelle, had zero martial arts training, and trained for 6 months in Silat before filming.

The time line for the movie is it begins 2 hours after the first, and at the end of it, it’s been 2 years. Yeah, they really didn’t do a very good job of explaining it in the film. I didn’t know if it’d been a week or years.

IMDB lists the body-count at 327. I have absolutely no idea where they get this, unless they’re counting each landed punch, kick, elbow, knee, and head-butt as a dead body or something.

C’MON BENNETT, LET’S PARTY!:
Man, what can be said about this one that hasn’t already been said. The Raid 2 is fucking incredible. It does exactly what a sequel should do; expand what you liked about the original. In this case, what everyone loved about the original was all the brutal action, and by-Jove do they deliver in that aspect. This film is littered with absolutely perfect, greatest-of-all-time action scenes that leave your jaw on the damn floor. Now, my only complaint about the film is that it’s extremely plot heavy, and can get a bit confusing at times if you aren’t constantly paying very strict attention. It’s because of that, that I can’t say Raid 2 trumps the first one. But in terms of action, hand-to-hand, this is a sequel that’s truly second to none.
****3/4 Head-Butts out of 5

Any questions, comments, drunk-ramblings, feel free to send them my way, I always dig hearing from you, the beautiful people.
Instagram: @Caliber_Winfield
[email protected]
If you just can’t wait until next week, you can also find me at these fine places:
Only A Ninja Can Review A Ninja: The Man Movie Encyclopedia
The deadly arts contained inside these movies can only be viewed and reviewed by one man, Caliber Winfield. For only a ninja, can review a ninja. I cover all the classics, from Enter The Ninja, American Ninja, to the modern films such as Ninja Assassin and Ninja. I don’t want to say this book has both saved and changed lives, but this book has both saved and changed lives.
The Man Movie Encyclopedia: The Hall of Burly – Vol. 1 – A collection of the first 19 MME articles written for 411. You get all the classics like Commando, Robocop, and Die Hard, not to mention bad-assery such as Point Break and They Live. Beyond that, you also get two new articles. My Top 5 favorite action movies, and what I believe to be the Top 5 most over-the-top scenes in action movie history. I won’t lie, it’s the greatest self=help/martial arts instruction book of all time.
My Summer Vacation At Camp Crystal Lake – My brand new ebook that’s become so popular it’s charting on the album sales charts. I cover the Friday The 13th franchise in Man Movie Encyclopedia fashion, followed up by a few list-based articles, chronicling my favorite kills, moments from the franchise, and a few other subjects. $3 via amazon, or simply email me and get it for $2, either way, it’ll probably change your life.
Caliber Winfield On The Facebook –
Anything new that I do you guys can find here. How are we not at 100 likes? I mean, c’mon.
All Things Caliber –
I merged my wrestling website into my long standing website that’s been up for over 10 years. Anything under the sun, I’ve written about it.