The hype is what makes me so happy. In 2012 an unknown film called The Raid: Redemption burst onto the scene, ushering in a new era for martial arts movies: a gritty crime action extravaganza. 14 years of other films from these guys and movie admirers lead you to euphoria. But also The Furious, very much a culmination of excitement knowing you’re gonna witness action you’ve never seen the likes of before. Strap in, let’s effing go!
There’s an outbreak of kidnappings in the part of SouthEast Asia where The Furious takes place. Very much run by powerful people, who have made a journalist Matia (Jeeja Yanin) investigating them disappear. Her husband Navin (Joe Taslim) takes up his wife’s mantle, eager to get her back and inflict justice/revenge on these awful criminals, who have just kidnapped Rainy (Yang Enyou), a cute girl raised by her deaf dad (Xie Miao), who might also want some revenge on this dirtbags too.
If you’re going to see an action movie like the furious, it’s usually better if you see “directed by famous stunt performer.” Kenji Tanigaki has been wowing people since the 1990s, but only 3rd time as a director, and first in a few years. Perhaps he sees the end in sight, because he pulls no punches with The Furious. There’s barely a plot here, just enough to link together 8-10 of the most incredible setpieces you’ll see since his last big one, Twilight of the Warriors. There’s giant fights with hordes of people going after the heroes like zombie attacks, so many that you see the hero vertically grow his stack of people high enough in one scene to jump out of an enclosure to go after a bad guy; I’ve NEVER seen that before. There’s blunt force fights between fighters of various body mass, a battle of styles if you will. Hell even little Yang Enyou gets a flourish or two reminding me never to mess with kids from Southeast Asia. All those battles are a delight, but they build to this big battle royale of the action all stars, majestically malevolent in every way. That last fight will let you know if there’s a beast inside of you; you’ll find yourself gutturally yelling at the screen exclaiming because ancient instincts kicked in.
Kenji’s work looks so good cause he’s got the starting 5 of martial arts all stars at his disposal. The savvy vets of this type of film are Joe Taslim and Yayan Ruhian. Taslim anchors this thing, saddled with stringing the plot together while also kicking ass with those intimidating eyebrows. Ruhian is even more scary here than usual, equipped with a crossbow. He remains the human equivalent of a chihuahua with rabies, where you underestimate him at every turn until he slowly destroys your soul with his incredible speed and technique. Taslim and Ruhian’s tete a tete, this time with a ladder, expectedly delivers the goods. The new faces to the Western Audiences for these films are Xie Miao and Joey Iwanaga. Iwanaga’s role is underwritten, but he’s chilling enough as a deranged sociopath. Xie Miao is the less scary version of Yayan Ruhian; you see his diminutive stature and chuckle a little at his running, ignoring the laser focused determination, and Muhammad Ali hands, he possesses at your own peril. Brian Le is the new guy. After winning tax professional of the year (wink wink), Le’s the big winner of The Furious. He looks so different than his other foes, that his bulky unstoppable force makes him the biggest threat in the movie most of the time, charging like a wildebeest towards his enemies.
No time for twisty plot mechanics here. The Furious just looks straight ahead, goes in, and tries to get back everything it lost, and then some. For anyone wondering if their date might be into this movie, ask them how they feel about ballets and blood. If they like both in their movies, you’re golden! Oh, and I won’t say the trailer gives away the best stuff, but The Furious is better if you go in cold, so watch after.