by Cris Mora-Villa, Contributing Writer
I cannot count the number of times I’ve heard someone name drop The Raid Redemption and The Raid 2 as two of the greatest action films of all time. Perhaps this is tailored to the specific media sources I read or listen to as part of my regular intake for film criticism and general appreciation of the medium, but there was certainly a moment when I recognized that the series’ steadily growing popularity had cemented a niche place in the cultural zeitgeist. And it’s not difficult to understand how that became the case. I first became acquainted with Gareth Evans’ Raid duology through word-of-mouth in the summer of 2017 and was quickly compelled to see what it was that induced such effusive praise. Needless to say, my expectations were superseded in ways I had not anticipated. Without discounting the critiques which could be had at the series’ narrative shortcomings, I was hardly pressed to even recognize that qualm. So enraptured was I in the vibrant setting and pulse-pounding action set pieces, that I felt no incentive to do anything other than give myself over the experience. Though I don’t much care for this expression, I did in a way turn off my brain and opted instinctively to feel the emotions of the characters by how they were moving when pushed toward the inevitable fight. That is the memory which remains with me when I reflect on what is firmly Evans’ magnum opus, and the same could now be said about Kenji Tanigaki’s The Furious.
Set somewhere in southeast Asia, The Furious follows Wang Wei (Xie Miao) and Navin (Joe Taslim), two extremely proficient martial artists who partner up and embark on a relentless mission to rescue their loved ones after they go missing at the hands of a human trafficking ring, inflicting violence where necessary. To quell the lingering notion, I feel obliged to dispense with, there are aspects of The Furious that under traditional filmic circumstances would warrant some valid criticism. That being there is a perfunctory quality to the movie’s script, inelegantly maneuvering between scenes with dialogue that can never manage to break away from its stilted tenor. Add in the questionable voice dubbing for non-English speaking actors and a few kitschy performances from some minor characters, and the whole thing does start to feel a bit syrupy. Imagining the film transcribed in screenplay form would largely be a counterproductive exercise since that’s hardly the ideal avenue for which to view the film’s action, yet it does bring into stark focus the overtly awkward dialogue and barebones plot structure. The thing to understand about this element of the picture is recognizing that The Furious seems intent on catering to western audiences in a way that The Raid films weren’t. Despite being vague about where the film is set, (though principal photography did occur in Bangkok) a good portion of the film’s spoken dialogue is captured in English. Far be it for me to excuse away some of these issues just by considering the movie’s attempt to be a commercially viable product, but that aim seems to have paid off given how quick word of mouth attributed to the film overperforming the way it has and garnering the critical acclaim it’s received. So, while The Furious isn’t going to be winning any awards for its screenplay, the caveat I want to highlight is this isn’t a very traditional picture. It simply revels in kicking too much ass.
The Furious remains absolute in committing to the simplicity of its premise, the plot able to acclimatize into set dressing to support the movie’s primary focus, that being Kensuke Sonomura’s impeccable work as the film’s stunt choreographer. For the sake of transparency, I’m not sure any of the words I scribe here can accurately express the overwhelming ferocity and pinpoint precision felt in the ensemble cast’s execution of Sonomura’s choreography. To say that the movie speaks for itself might sound like a flattery laden deflection of any descriptive or insightful commentary on my part, but at its core The Furious is tailored to exist within a visual framework of the cinematic medium. The film is designed to offer a fiery and tantalizing experience through its action, jumping at every opportunity to showcase the sheer absurdity and ultra efficiency of each performer’s physicality, which is then only further fueled by the increasingly creative uses of the environment around them. Their bodily mechanics nailing every beat in a fight down to a science yet never giving the game away that they might be pulling their kicks or punches. Though my untrained eye can only do so much to differentiate between the various styles of martial arts on display, the breadth of each actor’s ability to utilize their talents in order to construct the films many fight scenes (by my count nine) goes to show that the violence is an artform all its own and needs to be seen to be believed.
In addition to Taslim and Miao who do well in leading the film with authority, ample credit is owed to every onscreen performer doing their part to make each blow feel like death. The fight sequence which opens the film encapsulates that feeling perfectly with the character of Matia (Jeeja Yanin), Navin’s wife and a journalist investigating a series of disappearances. She sets the tone of the picture with her own eye-catching offense unlike anybody else’s, a precursor for what is to come when looking towards the film’s antagonists. Another telltale sign which cements The Furious as a success is how it’s able to introduce audiences to new names from the world of martial arts cinema. Opposing our heroes are Pak Lung (Joey Inagawa), a mid-level boss within the trafficking network, and the two deadly henchmen working beneath him in HD (Brian Lee) and Tak (Yayah Ruhian). Ruhian and Taslim lend a familiar face to invest in with each having appeared in Evans’ Raid films. It is with the added inclusion of Inagawa, Lee, Yanin, and Miao’s vastly dissimilar fighting techniques that the kind of kinetic motion seen in either Raid picture is able to ascend and reach new euphoric heights, though I feel duty bound to note that I speak from a glass house in making that statement.
A broader idea that’s been brewing in my head since my initial viewing has been the western audiences’ relationship with action fare from Asian markets. The central crux for why I’ve referred back to the Raidfilms as a point of comparison for The Furious stems beyond an overlap in cast members or the films’ shared frenetic spirit, but rather my own history with the genre, which has remained relatively novice since 2017. Even after seeing both Raid films, the lasting takeaway in regard to my viewing habits proved to lean towards the director Gareth Evans, whose work I’ve since kept up with. Using myself as a test case, there can sometimes be a tendency for people to discover something totally new and unlike anything they have ever seen before but are content to stop there. With the exception of a few works from Indonesian filmmaker Timo Tjahanto, I’ve been very tentative in actively seeking out other martial arts films. Though perhaps a case can be made in this being a matter of accessibility as two of Tjahanto’s recent films, The Night Comes for Us and The Shadow Strays were distributed via Netflix, that only plays a small factor in my case as it extends beyond contemporary works. There are countless figures with extensive resumes in the world of martial arts cinema that I’ve no history with. It is that position which I suspect a sizable percentage of the people who have seen the Raid films would be able to resonate with.
I bring all this up as somewhat of a confession, in part to signal my depth of experience when describing the qualitative barometer for which I’m measuring The Furious against as an action film. While this could adjacently parallel the broader public’s own willingness (or lack thereof) to explore beyond a certain type of movie, it should go without saying that The Furious is able to transcend that barrier. One of the film’s biggest triumphs being its rapid ascent towards solidifying its place in the canon of contemporary action masterclasses. In addition to what the picture is able to achieve as a piece of labor, there has been no shortage of public fervor on social media. Seeing out of context clips of individual fight scenes, their behind-the-scenes making, or other films tangentially related to The Furious, generates an anticipatory feeling mixed with inspiration. Their continuous sharing and reposting only further widens the reach that will draw people closer to movies of a similar ilk. When looking at the works of filmmaker Kenji Tanigaki, whose own career includes credits on dozens of feature films as either director or stunt choreographer, it goes to show there is a vast underbelly of martial arts cinema just waiting to be discovered. It speaks to what I love about the wildfire rate at which The Furious has been able to spread. Both incentivizing the masses to seek out these works which helped build toward and will spawn off from The Furious, as well as what it means for the future endurability of the genre. Thinking about that future feels like a boundless endeavor as The Furious shows there will come a time for another film to do what it has done by pushing every aspect of the form to its breaking point.
Rating: Loved It
The Furious is playing in limited Theaters and available to Rent or Purchase on most major streaming Video-On-Demand platforms.
You can read more from Cris Mora-Villa, and follow him on Letterboxd