In the wake of gang boss Kuruc Peter’s demise, the remaining underworld leaders seek to leverage the events and acquire his territory. Fearing retaliation from the fallen kingpin’s forces, Zalan and Luca find themselves on the run in The Siege 2.
Back in the ’80s, The Siege 2 would probably be a star vehicle for Jean Claude Van Damme; the lead character witnesses a tragedy goes into hiding only to be discovered years later taking part in illegal underground martial arts tournaments. They would then return to the fold, fight their way through swathes of bad guys and avenge the tragedy that has affected them so deeply. These action films were released every week back then, with most of them disappearing without a trace. Some however went on to achieve cult status while fewer still managed to achieve huge cross-over success.
Mark G Lakatos, writer, and director of The Siege 2, knows these types of films very well and tips his hat to them on more than one occasion. I haven’t seen the first installment, but I believe The Siege 2 would fall somewhere in between cult and cross-over success because, although it is surrounded by some modern influences that make this 55-minute action film stand out from a crowd, it does get bogged down in cliché at times and this somewhat stalls our enjoyment.
The first thing to point out is that writer-director Mark G Lakatos’ The Siege 2 is one of the very few Hungarian action films that have ever been made. It also focuses on the martial art Krav-Maga, which was developed by a Hungarian for the Israeli Armed Forces in the ’50s. Secondly, the movie itself has a dark and gritty real-world feel that bears comparison to Gareth Evans’ The Raid. Cinematographer Andras Gerlai gives us lots of handheld shaky-cam shots and whizzes us between fight scenes and set pieces. This gets us up close and personal to the action and we can often feel the thuds and bangs while we watch. It is all of these aspects that make The Siege 2 different from regular Hollywood fare.
The downsides are that the short running time hinders its undoubted quality. We don’t get any time to learn about the characters or their motives and although The Siege 2 is more about visual spectacle and the technical skill behind it as opposed to character development, knowing these characters better would have enabled us to enjoy the brilliantly choreographed fight scenes much more. Especially because when Lakatos actually attempts to film intimate scenes he gives us some potentially interesting people, only to throw it away because we have no real-time to explore any of them. This feels like a wasted opportunity as we end up believing no one has any personality.
The action scenes are excellent and tend to follow the same blueprint as the John Wick franchise in the sense that, instead of dialogue, Lakatos uses the action and fight scenes as a means to push the plot along. Although the action itself isn’t new, this particular technique has come to prominence recently due to the many successful films helmed by directors who were previously stuntmen. I’m not sure of Lakatos’ background but the hard work of the self-defense instructors and practitioners of Krav-Maga Global deserve so much credit and praise for their work here.
With some moments of genuine visceral excitement and fight choreography that is up there with the very best, The Siege 2 is a great calling card for Lakatos and, if seen by the right people, could certainly become the springboard for an exciting career in action movies.
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