Stark simplicity can be its own sumptuous feast. If your tummy rumbles for a heaping helping of violence, treat yourself to The Furious, the best action movie since 2011’s The Raid (at a bare minimum). It is a phenomenal reminder of why stunts typically have “coordinators” while fights have “choreographers.”
Good kung fu movies have an unforgettable sequence. Great ones also have a spectacular climax. The best ones also invent a whole new style of fighting. Brace yourself for “body surf brawling.” It is wild.
The Furious has four credited writers, which is objectively hilarious. Those four people couldn’t even decide on a location. It takes place “somewhere in Southeast Asia,” in a city where gangsters are fairly openly trafficking children. A father (Miao Xie) sees his daughter (Enyou Yang) get grabbed and proceeds to make Liam Neeson in Taken look like Liam Neeson in Love Actually.
As our hero slaps, punches, kicks, and hammers his way through a motley assortment of thugs and traffickers, he is joined by Navin (Joe Taslim), who is looking for his missing wife. They fight people together. That’s it. However many lines of dialogue there are in this movie, there are infinitely more bludgeonings. All the cleverness that may have otherwise gone to “plot” or “character” is redirected into thoughtful questions like “what else in this room can be a weapon?”
The final 40 minutes is relentless without being the wrong kind of exhausting. Too much of something can be a bad thing, but apparently there is no legal limit on face-smashing consumption. The film’s last chunk also employs a wrinkle that I don’t know that I’ve seen in any other action movie.
Two good guys square off against two bad guys. Sure. Fine. We’ve seen that before. They sometimes switch opponents. Big whoop. We’ve seen that too. But can you remember a time when it was two-on-two but then a giant fifth person showed up, and he wants to fight all four other people? It is abject chaos.
Actually, it is incredibly meticulously choreographed. That’s the thing about The Furious: It loses exactly zero points for having no story or significance. How many timeless ballets and musicals have no plot? Cats is beloved and appears to be about feline icebreakers. This is about physical “storytelling” and violent vibes. And the violent vibes are good. They are so good.
The only thing that The Furious loses a small (very small) amount of credit for is its somewhat sloppy score. Instead of committing to one flavor of butt-kicking music, it flirts with various genres unsuccessfully. It barely detracts, but it is the only soft spot or opening that goes unkicked.
The pleasure in watching a (near) flawlessly executed fisticuffs epic cannot be understated. As rewarding as it can be to sink your mind-teeth into a layered narrative, letting your eye-mouths gorge on martial arts madness can be equally yummy. If you’re so inclined, you really have to taste this.
Grade = A
Other Critical Voices to Consider
Alison Wilmore at Vulture says “The Furious doesn’t treat its subject matter with anything other than bleakness — it takes place in a not-unfamiliar world in which the rich operate with impunity and the systems intended to keep order, including the police, are all corrupt. But it makes room to acknowledge the absurd excess of the action it puts onscreen and takes an obvious pleasure in the people who enable it.”
Sarah G. Vincent says “The Furious is the kind of movie that is guaranteed to become a cult classic. It is the kind of movie that I would want playing continuously in a loop in the background at home if it did not give the wrong impression.”
Shakyl Lambert at CGMagazine says “The Furious is an instant masterpiece. For every single instance you think you’ve seen the human body move and fight, The Furious shows you at least three new ways every couple of minutes. Yes, the story is basic, but the action within it is downright revolutionary. I can’t wait to see it again at least a dozen more times.”