‘The Furious’ Delivers A Knockout For True Action Film Fans

If you’re a fan of New Wave action cinema like The Man From Nowhere, Old Boy, John Wick, and The Raid, then The Furious was tailor-made for you. Per the plot synopsis: “When a skilled martial artist’s daughter is abducted by a child trafficking ring, he teams up with a journalist whose wife disappeared. The duo battle their way through the dark underbelly of human trafficking to free their loved ones.” The creators of the film are also clearly fans of those movies previously listed and freely remix elements from them — hammer fights, silent martial artists, neon-soaked night clubs, and child abduction. But these things aren’t merely narrative shortcuts or cheeky homages for in-the-know action fans. Instead, the picture builds upon everything that’s come before and levels up the action genre to new creative heights.

Without a doubt, The Furious is the most visceral and violent action film you will likely see in theaters this year. There’s a level of savage brutality to the fights that left the audience in my theater screening screaming and groaning in surprise. Each hit looks painful and the combat is well-choreographed yet unrelenting. There’s an extreme quality to the violence that feels more at home in a slasher film than a traditional American wish-fulfillment action spectacle. When I left the theater, I felt like I’d been in a physical fight; my body wasn’t ready.

The movie features some familiar faces from other gritty martial arts films including Joe Taslim (The Night Comes for Us) Yayan Ruhian (The Raid: Redemption and The Raid 2). We are also introduced to the new powerhouse talent of Miao Xie and director Kenji Tanigaki (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In). Clearly, this is a film created by and for martial arts fans! In summation, The Furious is not only a killer film, but it sets a new gold standard for action cinema. If you’re a true genre fan, this is a film that must be witnessed in theaters.