“The Furious” Review

As much as I may want to hold every movie to the same rubric, I understand that different movies, different genres, have different priorities and goals and to judge “The Furious” for its thematic density would be like judging “Oppenheimer” for its fight scenes. Here is a movie with generic plotting, laughably bad dialogue, and yet if you’re seated for “The Furious”, none of this matters so much as the action sequences and, on that front, boy does it deliver an exhilarating, visceral good time.

The film opens with a journalist, Matia (Jeeja Yanin), infiltrating a warehouse being used by a criminal organization to imprison and traffic children from the country’s poorest, most vulnerable communities. After capturing the journalist, the criminal syndicate continues to operate with impunity until one day they kidnap the wrong little girl and her mysterious, mute father (Xie Miao) embarks on a rescue mission that sees him team up with the missing journalist’s equally vengeful husband (Joe Taslim) as they fight their way through the traffickers in a desperate search for their missing loved ones.

With a story riddled with action movie cliches, a revenge fantasy in which everybody knows kung fu and elaborate criminal enterprises can be taken down if you just punch them hard enough, “The Furious” places all of its creative eggs in the fight sequence basket. Fortunately for the film, the action sequences are unmatched by anything in recent years in terms of virtuoso performances and visually inventive fight choreography that portrays the elegant coordination of the fighters without sacrificing any bone-crunching impact.

As Hollywood consistently churns out sanitized, forgettable fight scenes with A-List stars often subbing out for more experienced stunt performers, “The Furious” is a testament to the skill required to deliver the absolute best in action cinema. One part of this equation is the skill of the performers, which is on full display in this film with Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Yayan Rahian and others exhibiting marvelous athleticism and technical precision.

If memorable action sequences were just the result of skilled performers, though, then Hollywood would have been able to capitalize on the talents of so many imported martial artists over the years. Unfortunately, Hollywood has again and again squandered the potential of these martial arts experts, be it Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jet Li or any number of similar maestros, rendering their skills pedestrian and forgettable in big budget spectacles that prove money can’t buy directorial vision when it comes to action.

Kenji Tanigaki, a veteran choreographer and stunt performer, directs “The Furious” with an eye on maximizing the skills of the performers while maintaining a visual clarity for the action, even as the fights grow bigger and more chaotic. Fight scene after fight scene is filmed with such astounding vision, ingenious choreography, and creative use of the environment that escalates the action without losing focus on the characters we care about.

These fight scenes, especially the climax which is one of the most deliriously exciting fight scenes in recent memory, are a masterclass in the technical skills needed to stage believable and balletic feats of athleticism, in which characters fight with fists, feet and teeth, ice-blocks, ladders and bicycles. I sat in shock at several of these scenes, wondering just how many takes were required, how much rehearsal was needed to coordinate the vicious yet graceful acrobatics from so many different people working in confined spaces.

Whenever “The Furious” steps away from its bravura action sequences, it is diminished by flat characters and awful dialogue, with people in my theater involuntarily laughing at moments that were clearly intended to be dramatic or triumphant. Yet these lackluster moments are blissfully short, as Tanigaki and his heroes race onwards to the next villain, the next fight, the next opportunity for full-throttle, unforgettable action and all of the artful blood and carnage imaginable.

The Furious
Rated R for strong bloody violence and language.
Running Time: 1 hour and 53 minutes.

Director Kenji Tanigaki
Writers Mak Tin-shu, Lei Zhilong, Shum Kwan-sin, Frank Hui
Stars Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Yang Enyou, Jeeja Yanin, Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga, Yaya Ruhian
Rating R
Running Time 113 Minutes
Genres Action, Crime, Thriller