The Raid 2

The violence is so stylized, so energetic, and so magnificently choreographed that it abstracts into something beyond mere brawling; it's about the joy of performance and the thrill of capturing that performance.

Stylishly shot, edited with a lot of confidence in the audience's ability to follow parallel action, and ... faster and more brutal than anything else on the market.

It is adolescent male wish- fulfillment fantasy of the most retrograde kind but, as action cinema, the Jakarta-set thriller The Raid 2 is riveting fare.

Men snap, crackle and pop before our eyes, their broken bones part of the gloriously kitsch, balletic fun.

If The Raid 2: Berandal doesn't end up as the most violent movie to hit screens in 2014, it won't be for lack of trying.

Two and-a-half hours may seem like a lot for an Indonesian crime saga, but "The Raid 2" has a sweeping scope that justifies its running time. And it will knock you out.

Takes every element that works about the first movie and takes them to shocking and impactful new heights, pivoting from a condensed and gritty experience into a sprawling story with breakneck, relentless action.

It remembers what made its predecessor successful and it builds upon it.

When every fight scene is heaped in gruesome dismemberments and gratuitous splatter, a general desensitization occurs that suppresses any particular moment from standing out.

Evans much-anticipated sequel packs a punch - not to mention bullets, lots of sharp items, a metal baseball bat and two hammers...