Don’t punch the hell out of that chalk outline on the wall in frustration. We have the first official look at Gareth Evans’ The Raid 2: Berandal right here, courtesy of the good folks at Twitch. Watch it a few times, and then decide if you still want to bloody your knuckles while waiting for the anticipated action sequel to hit theaters next year.
This is an Indonesian teaser trailer, and as such, shows us very little about what we can expect from Evans’ next picture. At the very least, it introduces a slew of new faces, and hints at the expansion of the action from the first Raid which – if you are reading this far, you probably remember – was contained to one rundown apartment building that had to be conquered, floor by floor, by the indestructible rookie police office Rama (Iko Uwais).
We don’t know anything about the plot of The Raid 2, though rumor has it that it takes place two hours after the events of the first movie. Which begs the obvious question: Why is Rama in a prison cell? Has he been framed? Did he turn himself in for the action that took place in The Raid? Evans established Rama as a highly moral hero, a family man who often fought for protection and survival, not bloodlust. Either way, he likely won’t stay caged for long, as the montage of images in the Raidsequel trailer hint at a wide range of colorful foes who will want to make life very difficult for our resilient police officer. Get a look at them all in this great teaser poster:
The buzz on Berandal already swirls around a character known as Hammer Girl. Evans brought footage to the Toronto International Film Festival in September and showed clips to the Midnight Madness crowds. All they talked about was Hammer Girl, who is shown twice in the above clip. There’s no footage of Evans’ TIFF presentation, but here’s a Sundance interview he conducted where he talks, in depth, about Berandal and the hope of making a Raid trilogy. We don’t yet know when we’ll see the Raid sequel in U.S. theaters – I’m praying it will be at SXSW 2014 – but I guarantee all of us will be in a seat on opening night, begging for more bone-crunching action.
