martial arts star Iko Uwais return as Jakarta cop Rama, sent on a mission to put a stop to the organized crime that has penetrated the city’s police force. Like its predecessor, The Raid 2, released in 2014, stands as one of the best modern action films, and a key factor in shining the spotlight on Indonesia’s martial art Pencak Silat around the world.
The final showdown of The Raid 2 pits Rama against a nameless assassin (Cecep Arif Rahman) in an extended kitchen fight, which starts out unarmed, but turns into a knife war when Rahman pulls out a pair of Indonesian blades known as kerambit. On The Raid 2’s home media audio commentary, director Gareth Evans commented on the side benefit of this, stating that despite the open space of the kitchen for the martial arts movie showdown, that “because of the nature of that weapon, because it’s such a short blade, it forces the fighters to be close together in order for that weapon to become an impactful weapon.” Watching the fight unfold, the paradoxical parameters of it do indeed jump out.
At the beginning of the fight, Rama and the assassin are able to keep the fight at a relatively mid-range. Once Rahman’s assassin pulls out his two kerambit, the dynamic of the fight completely changes with Rama having to keep his distance from his opponent. After Rama succeeds in disarming one blade from his enemy, the fight shifts once again to a short-range battle with both fighters trying to land a killing slash on the other.
Ironically, The Raid 2’s first big set piece shows Rama in a truly tight fighting situation akin to the Donnie Yen-starring Ip Man movies, holding rioting prison inmates at bay as he battles them a pair at a time inside of a narrow bathroom stall. Despite the shift to a much more open setting in the finale, The Raid 2’s end fight has, as Evans describes it “a feeling of claustrophobia”, and one surprisingly similar to how The Raid 2 began. The impressive part of that shift is the trade-off going on in the range of the fight.
The kermabit had previously been featured in Evans’ and Uwais’ debut film Merantau, but only in a training sequence with Uwais’ character Yuda. Evans also reveals in the film's commentary that it was always his intention to incorporate it into The Raid 2. Rehearsed over a period of six weeks, The Raid 2’s climactic fight would come to be seen by many as perhaps the best martial arts movie knife fight there’s ever been.
Martial arts movie legends like Iko Uwais and action movie filmmakers alike are known for getting creative with their settings and surrounding environments in their approach to fight choreography. Sometimes, this leads to impressive fight scenes in tight, confined spaces, as seen in The Raid 2’s first. Other times, martial arts fights may unfold in more open environments. The Raid 2 got particularly crafty in doing exactly that with its final battle, giving Rama and the assassin plenty of room to move, but forcing them to fight up close and personal due to the kerambit being in play.
