The Raid 2

In 2011, Welsh writer -director Gareth Evans scored an unlikely sounding hit with Indonesian martial arts film The Raid: Redemption.

While both lengthier and costlier, the inevitable sequel hasn’t lost the wow factor of the original – containing an abundance of ultra-violent yet undeniably impressive action sequences.

Jakarta cop Rama (Iko Uwais) is pulled back into the criminal underworld, entering prison under an assumed identity in order to bring down a deadly organised gang from the inside.

“The Raid 2 lets its warriors rip for two and a half thrilling hours. With the precision of dance and the punch of a KO champion, Evans keeps the action coming like nobody’s business,” said Peter Travers of Rolling Stone.

“A brilliant, dazzling, and devastating ballet of brutality that’s more ordeal than entertainment,” said Tirdad Derakhshani of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Raid 2 currently has an 80% rating on rottentomatoes.com and an 8.8/10 rating on imdb.com.trivia

• A third film is in the pipeline, but Gareth Evans has claimed that he first plans to take a break from martial arts films for several years.