Punch lines are like those moments in the prison riot when the guy has his head kicked into the tile. If it’s a three-minute fight scene, we want to put four or five punch lines in there. Between the two, it's hard to tell who has the greater hurdle to overcome, but it's similarly easy to respect the way Uwais has to adapt from fighting for real to fighting for show, and the thought Evans puts into even the briefest bursts of choreography. Uwais spoke to the challenges inherent in transitioning from participating in martial arts competitions to acting, while Evans touched on his meticulously planned philosophy to staging fight sequences on-camera. Uwais, like several other members of The Raid: Redemption's and The Raid 2: Berandal's ensembles (notably Yayan "Mad Dog" Ruhian, who serves as a fight coordinator on both), happens to bring real-life martial arts credentials to production: born from two Indonesian martial arts instructors, he's been practicing Pencak Silat since boyhood, so when you see him throw a punch on-screen, you know he's not screwing around. He was joined by his go-to leading man, Iko Uwais, who reprises his role from the original film together, they discussed what goes into executing fight scenes like The Raid 2: Berandal's. So the best advice Evans can give to viewers is simple: "Enjoy the violence." Variety was in the house at the Harmony Gold Theatre as The Raid 2: Berandal debuted in the City of Angels this week, soaking in his words of wisdom on the role of the brutality on display in his new film, as well as hints and details about the potential third entry in his slowly-burgeoning franchise (something that's already come up a few times in the past).
It's hard to make a movie about a hero cop taking on the totality of Jakarta's criminal underworld - which includes, but isn't limited to, local area gangs, interloping Yakuza clans, corrupt cops, and assassins-for-hire - without breaking a few bones, for one, but besides that, fans tune in to the genre almost explicitly to watch finely choreographed mayhem for two hours. It's so violent, in fact, that some of the critics lucky enough to attend its world premiere screening at this year's Sundance Film Festival were actually appalled by the gruesome, bloody lengths Evan's movie goes to in the name of high-concept martial arts entertainment.īut naturally, the violence is a huge part of the point, something that Evans actively emphasized in front of a packed house at The Raid 2 : Berandal's LA opening. If the handful of trailers released to promote The Raid 2: Berandal(most of all the international clip) haven't already driven the point home, then let it be said that Gareth Evans' sequel to 2012's The Raid: Redemption is a very, very violent film.