Trailer Catch All

In this vibrant and ever-expanding world of cinema, it's rare that we ever get to experience something truly incredible in its concept and execution, something so amazing that it pushes an entire genre to new heights. That happened at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on Tuesday night, as Gareth Evans' premiered his 2-1/2 hour sequel The Raid 2, and I believe he's pulled off something akin to The Dark Knight of action movies. It is a sequel that is much bigger, more ambitious, and considerably more epic in scope than the first, yet exceeds all expectations and achieves levels of legend in terms of martial arts action intertwined with story.

In my years of writing about cinema, it's only every so often that I get to experience something as historic as the screening that I sat through at Sundance on Tuesday. It will be an event of legend in years to come, for reasons that go beyond just the film itself. The cut of The Raid 2 that Gareth Evans screened at Sundance was a freshly finished 148-minute version that the MPAA has not had a chance to look at, meaning it was as brutal, relentless and insanely violent as it could possibly be. This film isn't for everyone, and I heard about many walk-outs from people who just couldn't handle the "disgusting" level of violence. But for those that can sit through this, it's an experience unlike any before, perhaps one of the best action movies ever made.