Fist and Furious (2020) Review

“Fist and Furious” Theatrical Poster

Director: Ha Won-Joon
Cast: Jung Doo-Hong, Ryu Deok-Hwan, Seo Eun-A, Jung Eui-Gap, Kim Hae-In, Choi Je-Heon, Yoon Seung-Hoon, Lee Hae-Young, Kwon Hyeong-Joon, Choi Ha-Na
Running Time: 90 min.

By Paul Bramhall

Coming with possibly the most ridiculous English title since Wheels on Meals, director Ha Won-joon’s sophomore feature Fist and Furious probably has the guys over at The Asylum kicking themselves for not coming up with such a title of their own (instead they released The Fast and the Fierce in 2017). Awful wordplay aside, the mid-budget Korean production is notable to action fans for featuring the countries most prominent action director, Jung Doo-hong, in his first leading role since co-starring alongside Ryoo Seung-wan in the latters City of Violence in 2006 (which was also his first leading role).

While Doo-hong had memorable supporting turns in many of the early Korean Wave classics such as No Blood No Tears, Resurrection of the Little Match Girl, Arahan, and Fighter in the Wind, by enlarge he’s spent his career behind the camera. Chances are if there’s action in a Korean movie, Doo-hong will be involved in some capacity, so to see him here in only his 2nd leading role in 14 years is a rarity. It’s also a welcome return, as while many action directors may not necessarily be able to turn their talent for orchestrating chaos into onscreen charisma, as proven by City of Violence Doo-hong has a likeable screen presence that works infront of the camera.

While Fist and Furious may be Doo-hong’s 2nd leading role, it’s also director Ha Won-joon’s 2nd time in the directors chair. Having debuted with the poorly conceived Stray Dogs in 2013, an ill balanced rape revenge thriller that struggled to make any of its unlikeable characters compelling or relatable, like his debut here he’s also working from his own script, and has thankfully made some amends. The plot sees Doo-hong playing a former detective who, similar to Sol Kyung-gu in Public Enemy, doesn’t exactly follow the rules. Combined with his anger management issues (the Korean title directly translates to A Violent Record), when the case he’s working leads to a confrontaiton that leaves him with fragments of a knife in his head and a dead partner, he becomes a grumpy recluse.

That changes when he finds himself in the sights of a video jouralist (played by Ryu Deok-hwan – Default, Our Town), who also happens to be a North Korean defector (a random plot detail which is mentioned in passing and has no bearing on proceedings). When Doo-hong realises that collaborating with Deok-hwan could lead him to the drug dealing gangster (played by Jung Ui-kap – Split, The Dinner) responsible for murdering his partner, he reluctantly agrees to team up, with one looking for revenge and the other looking for a scoop. The pair eventually become a trio when they come across a girl working in a kareoke bar (played by Seo Eun-ah – Missing Woman, Roman Holiday) who’s looking for her missing sister, and fears she may have been taken by the gangsters to have their new drug concotions tested upon.

Ever since the start of the Korean Wave in the early 00’s its a film industry which has had an interesting relationship with the action genre. While Korea very much had it’s own distinctive action genre in times gone by, from 70’s kung fu flicks through to 90’s taekwondo bashers, the genre was always heavily influenced by its Hong Kong counterparts. When the Korean film industry founds its feet and started gaining internation prominence, its productions also started to contain some of the most brutal and frantic action you could find, however it rarely took place in what could be considered a pure action movie. Instead, Korea became the master of incorporating intense action sequences into its thrillers and gangster flicks, and the concept of the movie you’d check out purely to see people get kicked in the face gradually faded away.

There have been a couple of exceptions of course, with the aforementioned City of Violence, and more recently Bruce Khan’s passion project Revenger, but such examples are few and far between. It should come as no surprise then, that Fist and Furious isn’t an outright fight fest like the goofy English title suggests, despite the credentials of its leading man. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. Take Alfred Cheung’s On the Run for example, my favorite movie of one of Hong Kong’s greatest action stars, Yuen Biao, which has him barely throw a punch. Director Ha Won-joon isn’t an Alfred Cheung though, and the end result is a somewhat middling experience which frequently promises to turn into a solid thriller laced with some stellar action, but constantly falls over itself just short of ever getting there.

We want Doo-hong to throw down, and he does, backed up by a stunt team that includes the likes of Yoo Sang-seob (Spare, Friend), Kwon Kwi-deok (who is one of the Seoul Action School members that the excellent 2008 documentary Action Boys follows), and Kim Min-soo (The Villainess, Veteran). The problem is the first couple of scuffles are filmed at night with inadequeate lighting and incomprehensible editing. Doo-hong looks like he’s pulling off some awesome moves, but that’s exactly the issue, it looks like he is, although if you were to ask me to tell you what exactly he did, I’d struggle. Thankfully things improve once the sun rises, and as the opponents become more defined, so does the clarity of the action, even if it is only marginally.

A fight in a church is a highlight, which has Doo-hong clambering over pews to deliver kicks to the head and a throwdown against the main henchman, played by Choi Je-heon (who looks like he was seperated at birth from Gang Dong-won), which comes to a swift but satisfying conclusion. Another fight takes place on a wharf, which sees Steven Seagal’s infamous pool ball in a handkerchief scene from Out for Justice reimangined as a flashlight in a rubber glove, and creative use of other fishing parafanallia such as ropes, knives, and best of all, a can of tuna (this scene may have actaully topped Hyun Bin’s use of a toilet roll in Confidential Assignment as my favorite unconventional item used as a weapon). The finale takes a leaf out of The Brink’s playbook, taking place on a fishing vessel out at sea, although like the rest of the action, it’s grounded and gritty as opposed to the bombast of the movie where it perhaps took its inspiration.

The plot itself is functional and serves its purpose. Deok-hwan’s character is a weak link, as while the character himself isn’t particularly annoying, the fact he’s always filming Doo-hong and Eun-ah from a couple of steps behind them is. His occassional narration also doesn’t quite work, and certain scenes just come across as plain dumb, such as when he falls asleep in church right after almost being murdered by a group of blood thirsty assailaints, who are all scattered around him either knocked out or dead. Perhaps inevitably in a movie which uses the filming device, Won-joon can’t resist cutting to Deok-hwan’s video camera perspective for parts of the fight scenes, although ironically sometimes its these shots which frame the action best. 

In short, go into Fist and Furious with the expectation of it being a mid-budget Korean thriller, and chances are there’ll be plenty to enjoy, and for those unfamiliar with Doo-hong it’s not a bad introduction. There’s no standout moment like the sliding doors restaurant scene from City of Violence, but the trade-off is here he’s the centre of attention, and I daresay it’s slightly better paced. Go in expecting 90 minutes of Doo-hong kicking butt and taking names, and chances are you’ll walk away disappointed, so really the key here is to manage expectations. If you’re on the fence, then perhaps the best approach will be to ask yourself if you’ve ever wondered how to turn a can of tuna into a deadly weapon, and if the answer’s yes, well, you know what to do.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10