The horror anthology sequel V/H/S/2 is a mixed bag, both in terms of the horror shorts it presents and the identity the franchise is trying to acquire.  Arriving a year after its predecessor, it’s clear that V/H/S/2 is meant to be the first of what should be an ongoing series where fan-favorite indie directors step behind the camera to deliver a horror short.  The sequel attempts to reduce the flabbier aspects of the original, but it also feels more standardized and therefore less exciting.  Additionally, two of the four shorts come across as underdeveloped or rushed.  But the ones that work are worth the price of admission, and make the strongest case for the existence of a V/H/S franchise.

Production has officially started on writer/director Gareth Evans’ The Raid 2 in Indonesia and we’ve got the first images from the sequel to share with you.  Picking up where The Raid/The Raid: Redemption left off, Rama (Iko Uwais) leaves the high-rise behind in order to infiltrate a Jakarta crime syndicate with the intentions of protecting his family and unearthing the corruption within his police force.  The sequel also stars Tio Pakusadewo, Putra Arifin Scheunamann, Julie Estelle, Alex Abbad and Roy Marten, and will shoot for the next 100-odd days.  Check out Steve’s interview with Evans in which he talks about the sequel, then hit the jump to see the first official images and read the full press release for The Raid 2.

Gareth Evans‘ action flick The Raid: Redemption took festival audiences by storm at TIFF 2011, Sundance 2012, and SXSW 2012, and the director is already hard at work on the sequel, Berandal (which means “thug”).  Speaking to Steve at Sundance, Evans said the sequel will be bigger, and he hopes to “bring car chase elements to it as well. So we have like a cool fight scene where you go inside a car, fighting against four people as it’s speeding along a one-way.”  The Raid is an intense ride for its hero, Rama (Iko Uwais), so I’m sure he’ll have time to rest up.  He barely made it out of the tower with his life.  So how much time will he have for some much-needed R&R?

Two hours.  Hit the jump for more.

If Halloween’s got you hankering for another horror anthology, you’ll be pleased to hear about the gaggle of directors attached for V/H/S 2.  Chief among them are Gareth Evans (The Raid) and Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project, Lovely Molly).  The duo will be co-writing and co-directing different segments of the second installment of this year’s found-footage collection of horror shorts.  Also joining the directing team will be Jason Eisener (Hobo with a Shotgun), Timo Tjahjanto (Macabre) and Sanchez’s producing partner, Gregg Hale.  Hit the jump for more on V/H/S 2.  

So many modern action movies are CGI and superhero spectacles. Yes, there’s action sequences, but they rarely involve real contact. And what’s great about The Raid (or as it was dumbly retitled for America The Raid: Redemption) is that when punches are thrown, they connect. You get the visceral thrill of watching people who know how to fight fight well. Director Gareth Evans gives you so many great bone-crunching moments of gleeful violence, the likes of which we haven’t seen much of since the rise of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980’s and 90’s. Our review of the Blu-ray of The Raid follows after the jump.

We knew that Iwo Ukais, star of director Gareth Evans’ The Raid, was set to return for the sequel, Berandal, but now we have our first look a a new character.  Evans tweeted an image of Alicia, aka “Hammer Girl,” recently, but no other information on her character has been released.  It’s not clear which side Hammer Girl will be on when Berandal hits screens.  If you haven’t seen the original film, you’re in luck: The Raid: Redemption is now available in an unrated version on Blu-ray and DVD.  Hit the jump to see the image of Hammer Girl and for more on The Raid and Berandal, including an interview with Evans himself.

Sony Pictures is getting a move-on with the feature film adaptation of the 1980s CBS crime series The Equalizer.  Denzel Washington has been set to star as far back as last December, and Sony is hoping to make the film the first in a franchise.  The TV series centered on a former covert operations officer who dedicated his life to helping people in trouble.  The film will retain that main conceit, but is only loosely based on the show.  Deadline reports that an April 8th start date has been set for the feature, most likely in Boston, but the next order of business is finding a director.  Hit the jump to see who’s landed on Sony’s shortlist.

Director Gareth Evans wowed audiences with his small budget Indonesian action film The Raid (titled The Raid: Redemption for US audiences), and now Universal Pictures wants him to tackle a heist drama.  Deadline reports that the studio acquired the fact-based drama Breaking the Bank as a directing vehicle for Evans.  The story is based on the book Heist: The True Story of the World’s Biggest Cash Robbery and the Sports Illustrated article Breaking the Bank, and tells the real story of former UFC fighter “Lighting” Lee Murray, “a mixed martial arts street brawler who masterminded the largest cash heist in history in England in 2006.”

Evans’ talent behind the camera was more than impressive in The Raid, and I’d be interested to see how he handles a film that veers towards the more dramatic side.  He’s set to direct a sequel to The Raid called Berendal in what’s planned as a trilogy.  Evans is also working as a producer on the American remake of The Raid.  Hit the jump to watch the trailer for Evans’ excellent The Raid.

[This is a reprint of my review of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.  The movie, now entitled The Raid: Redemption, opens tomorrow in limited release.]

A good action movie is not simply throwing every single bullet, punch, slice, and explosion into a blender and dumping it onto a screen so it can punch you in the adrenaline gland. It has to be finessed. There has to be tension—the wind-up to the hit, the pull of the hammer. The Raid: Redemption writer-director Gareth Evans knows how to deliver some of the most magnificent action scenes in years, but more importantly, he knows how to build to those scenes. Working off a bare-bones, serviceable plot and characters built more for their fists than their personalities, The Raid is an action feast that keeps finding new ways to dish out inventive kills and fights, and keeps its blood-thirsty audience cheering.

Though we’ve known for quite a while, director Gareth Evans is now officially set to direct Berandal (tentative title), the sequel to his much buzzed about action pic The Raid. I haven’t stopped hearing great things about The Raid since it screened at TIFF, and our own Matt Goldberg recommends it without hesitation. The martial arts-heavy film centers on 20 elite SWAT team members must make their way up the treacherous floors of a criminal-infested highrise in order to get to the gang’s leader. It’s a simple premise, but after watching the trailer you begin to see how Evans has crafted a pretty insane actioner.

The film opens in the U.S. on March 23rd under the title The Raid: Redemption, but Evans previously told Steve that The Raid is the first in a planned trilogy. He talked extensively about the follow-up and said he hopes to bring car chase elements to the sequel, Berandal. THR confirms that both Evans and star Iwo Uwais are officially set to return for the next installment, and Evans told Steve that the budget for Berandal will be “significantly larger” than the first film, with an eye towards close to $3 million. Production on the sequel will apparently last around 100 days.

We’ve been covering director Gareth Evans’s insane Indonesian action movie The Raid (retitled The Raid: Redemption for US audiences) for quite a while now. The film comes with a ton of buzz, and Matt caught it at Sundance and recommends it without hesitation. The martial arts-heavy pic centers on 20 elite SWAT team members must make their way up the treacherous floors of a criminal-infested highrise in order to get to the gang’s leader. We brought you the first US trailer a few days ago, the final poster yesterday, and now an extensive 13 minute “Making-of” featurette for the film has gone online. It highlights how Evans brought the film to life, choreographing the crazy fight scenes, how they sent the cast to boot camp, the mixture of practical and CG effects, and so much more.

Hit the jump to watch.  If you missed it, be sure to check out Steve’s interview with Evans where he talks about the planned The Raid trilogy. The Raid: Redemption opens on March 23rd.

We’re proud to premiere the final poster for The Raid: Redemption.  It’s the only movie I saw at Sundance that I recommend without hesitation.  Everyone who loves action movies should see this.  The martial arts on display are mind-boggling, and director Gareth Evans knew how to shoot the hell out of every punch thrown and bullet fired.  As for the new subtitle, I imagine it’s because The Raid is the first movie in a planned franchise.  I don’t think it’s necessary, and it doesn’t really have much to do with the plot, which is about a SWAT team enduring a hellish fight through an apartment building in order to capture a crime boss.  If the movie absolutely had to have a subtitle, I think “Good Times with Machetes” would be more fitting.

All of this is beside the point.  The Raid comes out March 23rd and you’re going to see it.  No arguing.  Hit the jump to check out the poster, and click here to watch the latest trailer.

A U.S. trailer for Gareth Evans’s insane actioner The Raid has gone online. The film is apparently being billed as The Raid: Redemption here in the US, but it’s the same crazy action movie that’s had people buzzing for the last few months. Our own Matt Goldberg hailed it as “one of the best action movies in years” and Screen Gems is already hard at work on an English-language remake. The Indonesian pic boasts a simple premise: 20 elite SWAT team members must make their way up the treacherous floors of a criminal-infested highrise in order to get to the gang’s leader. As you can surmise, some ridiculous action sequences ensue and many of them are on full display in this US trailer. The film is the first in a planned trilogy from Evans, and he recently spoke to Steve at the Sundance Film Festival a bit about his plans for the follow-ups.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The Raid: Redemption opens on March 23rd.

The Raid is awesome and you should see it.  I’ve already explained why in my review, but simply put, it’s one of the best action movies in years.  A new two-minute clip has gone online and it’s only a piece of the full four-on-one fight scene.  If you’re a director and you’re wondering, “How do I competently shoot a melee combat scene without shaking the camera around like a spaz?” director Gareth Evans has the answer.   The clip doesn’t include a lot of bloodshed, but it does contain a brutal blow so it’s on the edge of NSFW unless your workplace digs the majesty of masterful fight choreography.

Hit the jump to check out the clip. [Update: We've included the new Australian poster after the jump]