Ass Whoopin Wednesdays: The Raid 2 (2014)

The Raid: Redemption was one of the best martial arts/action films I had seen in a very long time and I had planned to use that film for Ass Whoopin Wednesdays, but I couldn’t resist reviewing the sequel. The Raid 2 leaves off where the last one left off with Rama (Iko Uwais) in a meeting with a special division in the police department. He finds out that there are other cops that are corrupt in the police force and in order to keep his family safe, he has to accept a mission. He is to infiltrate one of the biggest crime families in the city in order to track down the dirty cops, but he discovers something completely different. Bangun (Tio Pakusodewo) is the crime boss and Rama is given orders to protect his son Uco (Arifin Putra), but what Bangun doesn’t realize is that his own son is plotting a coup of sorts. All Rama wants is to get back to his normal life, but that may come with a cost. The film also stars Oka Antara (V/H/S 2) as Eka, Alex Abbad (Merantau) as Bejo, Cecep Arif Rahman as the assassin, Julie Estelle (Macabre) as Hammer Girl, Very Tri Yulisman (The Raid: Redemption) as Bat Boy, Yayan Ruhian (The Raid: Redemption) as Prakoso, and the film was written and directed once again by Gareth Evans (V/H/S 2). Let’s check out some stats before we get to the review of the film:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is definitely one of the best action movies that I have seen in a very long time. Hollywood could learn a thing or two from Asian Cinema by checking out these kick ass martial arts films that absolutely deliver on everything from violence, ass whoopins, etc. Iko Uwais should be a star after pulling a performance like this one. One of my favorite fight scenes comes when Rama has to face the assassin in the kitchen, Rama opens up the can of whoop ass. It was hard to keep track of the kills or knockouts that Rama had, but if my counting is correct then he had 86 knockouts/kills in this film which I think right now is the current record on Ass Whoopin Wednesdays. I wish Iko was returning to The Raid 3, but as of right now it looks like Tony Jaa will be in that film. Anyways, if you’re looking a for a great action film that has it all, then look no further this one is for you. I am going to give the film 4.5 fists out of five for a final grade.

Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween 2014: Day 3: V/H/S 2 (2013)

For today’s entry to Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween, I chose what I believed to be the best found footage horror films out there in the V/H/S series which we covered the first film before. So, I decided to watch the sequel which has us following a couple of private investigators as they look for a woman’s missing son. When they go to his apartment to find some clues, they stumble upon a pile of old VHS cassettes and they decide to watch these tapes. Some of the different sequences on here feature a guy who because of an eye camera implant starts seeing spirits, a zombie with a go-pro camera on his head, the weirdest ever trip to a suicidal cult pact you’ll ever see, and an alien abduction caught on camera. The film stars Lawrence Michael Levine (Gabi On the Roof In July) as Larry, Kelsy Abbott (Arrow) as Ayesha, L.C. Holt (You’re Next) as Kyle, Adam Wingard (V/H/S) as Herman, Hannah Hughes (Pop Skull) as Clarissa, Jay Saunders (Ninjas Vs Monsters) as Biker, Hannah Al Rashid (Ritual) as Lena, Samantha Gracie (Seed) as Jen, and the segments and film were directed by Gareth Evans (The Raid 2), Simon Barrett (You’re Next), Gregg Hale (The Blair Witch Project), Eduardo Sánchez (The Blair Witch Project), Timo Tjahjanto (The ABC’s Of Death), and Adam Wingard also directs.

Anytime, you get one of these films with multiple short films in one, there is always one that is your favorite. This was definitely a hard one to choose because so many of them could make a case for itself as to which one was better. The only thing that I ask is that some of them make no sense in a certain aspect and I will explain this to you. The only segment that made a little sense was the suicide pact one that I described above and that is because they used actual cameras to film whatever it was they were filming. You have to remember one thing is that all of the different footage are caught on VHS tape. So, two of the shorts were recorded with a Go Pro camera which is way past the time of VHS and every thing is on a flash memory. One of the other segments, the dude has a camera in his eye, so the way his footage would outputted would be digitally. Nevertheless, my favorite overall would have to be the zombie go pro with the craziest segment award going to the suicide pact. They definitely upped the stakes for this film from the last one and I definitely cannot wait for the next installment of V/H/S. I am giving this film a B+ for a final grade.