It’s been a long time coming, but the trailer for The Raid 2 finally arrives!
Martial arts fans rejoice – the first teaser trailer for the highly anticipated sequel to Gareth Evans “The Raid: Redemption” has arrived online! Set to be theatrically released in the West in March 2014, the film, titled “The Raid 2: Berandal” (Indonesian for “Thugs”) reunites Evans with much of the cast from the first film, including Silat virtuoso Iko Uwais reprising his role as the first film’s hero, Rama. Dony Alamsyah also returns in the role of Rama’s brother, Andi, while Yayan Ruhian will also be returning, this time in the role of a new character named Prakoso, after portraying the psychopathic Silat master Mad Dog in the original film, and arguably stealing the show!
The film was originally to be Evans and Uwais’ second film together, following their first collaboration, “Merantau”, but when Evans was ultimately unable to secure the necessary funds, he elected to make “The Raid: Redemption”, which carried a smaller scale than what he’d had in mind for “Berandal”. Later, when Evans decided to create a trilogy from the first film, he hit upon the idea of retooling “Berandal” to serve as the second film in the series.
The film is said to pick up a mere two hours after the ending of the first, and will involve Uwais’ character Rama infiltrating Jakarta’s criminal underworld, with the trailer indicating that his mission will land him in prison at some point in the film! In an additional bit of tantalizing news, not only do Uwais and Ruhain re-assume their roles as the film’s fight choreographers, but Evans has also brought in acclaimed fight choreographer Larnell Stovall, whose past work includes “Mortal Kombat: Legacy” “Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown” “Bunraku”, and “Undisputed 3: Redemption”. It’s gonna be a loooong five months!
