Q&A: Not a superhero fan, says Gareth Evans director of 'The Raid 2'

One of the best, most explosive films to grace cinema screens this year was writer-director Gareth Evans’ Indonesian action typhoon The Raid 2. Picking up just a couple of hours where the first film left off, the sequel follows the heroic Rama (Iko Uwais) who goes undercover and infiltrates various gangs in the sprawling and brutal Jakarta crime syndicate to clean up the city. Not to pound you with hyperboles but the film pretty much has some of the most incredible action set pieces ever filmed. It’s quite astonishing to witness long uncut shots following people simply smashing each other in their torsos and faces, wrestling in the mud, jumping through cars, maiming people with baseball bats and hammers. The violence is beautiful, poetic even and is truly a must-see movie for fans of action cinema. And we should be grateful that the film managed to cross over to the Indian shores. Mihir Fadnavis got a chance to speak with director Evans. Q) If you’re handed a mission to raid something (and not a fridge or a building), what would it be? GE: Whatever remaining DVD/Blu Ray stores are still open these days. In the UK it would have been HMV, I’m a film nerd so I have a ridiculous collection of films already - I’m a sucker for box sets. Q) Given a chance to direct a Marvel movie or a big budget blockbuster, would you do it? Or do you prefer working indie? GE: For me, truthfully I’m not really a huge superhero fan. My heroes have always been people like Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan - real people with an incredible gift physically. That’s what makes me sit in a theatre with a sense of wonder - how they can do these amazing fight sequences and stunts. I think if I was to direct anything based on a comic book - I’d shift my attention to Japanese Manga - it fits a lot more with my styles and influences. Golgo 13 for instance would be quite the project to take on. [caption id=“attachment_1567011” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Gareth Evans in this file photo.[/caption] Q) Which was the last movie (action, or otherwise) that blew you away? GE: I’ve been watching a lot of documentaries lately - for me Cocaine Cowboys Reloaded was fascinating and expertly put together. But if we’re talking about a film I’d absolutely go with Cheap Thrills by E.L. Katz. Q) Have you watched any Indian movies? GE: I’ve been planning to see _Gangs of Wasseypu_r for a long time now. I’m fond of the absolute craziness of Robot (Enthiran) as crazy as it is. Q) I felt I needed more of Baseball Batman and Hammer Girl in The Raid 2, probably a back-story. Do we get to see them in part 3? GE: I have the back story for both characters already and it is hinted at in the film but a more fully developed version of their story will most likely appear in comic book form. They are highly unlikely to appear in part 3 due to what would be a significant spoiler (laughs). Q) In what ways are Indonesian audiences different from the American or NZ ones? GE: There’s not really a huge world of difference – in Indonesia there’s a huge consumption of Hollywood films and so audiences there are just as film savvy and smart as any other country. The one benefit they have with our films is that they will get the in-jokes that may get lost in translation as the film travels to other countries. Certain culturally specific elements play stronger here - but then in the same way there are other elements where we break the rules of what can or can’t happen logically within Indonesia that sometimes cause friction. Snow is a pretty big example of that.