Before the Raid 2 hit theaters in New York and around the US, it had a very
special screening at the Museum of Moving Image, in Astoria, Queens. Director
Gareth Evans, lead actor and coconspirator in action choreography Iko Uwais,
and prolific Indonesian actress/newcomer to martial arts Julie Estelle would
all be on hand, just as with other screenings they were attending. However,
this screening landed at the Museum of Moving Image thanks to the enthusiastic
pursuit of Warrington Hudlin, who has been curating the museum’s long running Fist and
Sword series. Through Fist and Sword, he has been screening a variety of action
and martial arts films up through the ages, including documentaries on dynamic
figures various martial arts scenes. Based on this series’ following and New
York City’s usual reputation for rambunctiousness, you can imagine the sold out
crowd that had gathered was something to behold: a mix of cinephiles, rabid
fans of the first Raid film eager to call “first!” on the follow-up, and actual
martial arts practitioners, plus the odd luminary, such as Ric Myers (author
of Films Of Fury) would all rub elbows with Warrington and the intense trio
behind the movie.
The film, which I wrote about here, was wildly ambitious in scope featuring an international twist with a Yakuza group figuring prominently into the conflict between gangs. The audience made plenty of appreciative noise for its dynamic fight
scenes, again highlighting the rarely documented fighting art pencak silat but also incorporating fantastical uses of weapons and an immense car chase. It was a pleasure to not only see, but be able to hear the film roar to
life in the state of the art acoustics of the museum’s hive-like Sumner
Redstone theater. Raid 2 boasts an excellent pulse pounding original score, as
well as atmospheric sounds from Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails and excellent use
of composer Haendel’s Sarabande.
After the film, Warrington declared the film an
achievement of another level of martial arts cinema, citing the Shaw Brothers studio
and Tsui Hark as previous milestones. Considering the crowd that was gathered,
the words made quite an impression.
A rousing q & a session then followed. Ric Myers asked
a lot of questions, but began by pointing out the film’s Shakespearian
underpinnings. This was not a typical hero vanquishing villain sort of story,
and there was definitely a bit of heaviness in the air mixed in with the
adrenaline from emotional weight of Raid 2’s story.
Highlights of the q & a, which can be watched in its
entirety as documented by Chocko here, included Evans discussing the origin of the
film and how it was actually written before the original Raid, but shelved to
address other projects and wait for a sufficient budget to tell the story.
Evans also gave us details on an origin
story behind two of the more colorful characters, Hammer Girl (played by Julie)
and Bat Boy, which may be told in a comic book form. He discussed parts of the
film, originally planned to be much longer, that were edited out and discussed
the possibility of a 4 minute gang battle scene being put up on Vimeo (sure
enough it is has landed here. And it is quite gruesome).
This being Queens, the most international of New York City’s
boroughs, there was at least one Indonesian fan on hand who had the presence of
mind to cajole Evans about a snow falling scene in Jakarta. Another audience
member would proudly produce his elementary school aged son as an audience
member, which got a lot of blushing from Evans and an earnest attempt to explain
that these were not kind things being depicted on the screen.
Iko Uwais was quite a character himself, lounging in his
seat, making linguistic jokes, and acting nothing like the ultra serious
character he’s portrayed in both movies.
When the buzz around Raid 3 begins, I would want to be a
member of the Museum of Moving Image and get ready to land some tickets for
another preview screening. I can’t imagine a better venue for it.
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| The hordes waiting to enter |
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| Ric Myers and Warrington Hudlin working the crowd |
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| Gareth Evans explaining is vision |
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| Gareth Evans and Iko Uwais round 2 |
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| Julie Estelle "Hammer Girl" |
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| Gareth and Iko soliciting an untainted opinion of their film |
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| The cast of The Raid 3?? |
Raid 2: Berandal is currently playing in select cities.
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