“Furious” Poster
Director: Kenji Tanigaki
Cast: Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Yayan Ruhian, Jeeja Yanin, Brian Le, Yang Enyou, Joey Iwanaga, Winai Wiangyangkung, Sahajak Boonthanakit
Running Time: 113 min.
By Z Ravas
It’s been a problem for at least a decade now that Hollywood doesn’t sincerely know how to market a stylish new action movie, particularly one out of Asia, without resorting to lazy comparisons like ‘It’s the next John Wick!’ or ‘It’s the next Raid!’ We’re seeing this same tactic play out now as Lionsgate tries to convince regular armchair Americans, the kind who don’t peruse websites like City on Fire or frequent the martial arts-obsessed corner of Twitter, as to why they should leave the comfort of their homes and pay money to see The Furious on the big screen—and the distributor has often done so by drawing comparisons to the popular Keanu Reeves series. (Outlets like Yahoo and Collider are guilty as well).
So let’s make one thing clear: The Furious is not the next John Wick. It is not the next Raid. It is the first The Furious.
And if we’re lucky, The Furious will prove to be just as influential as The Raid, setting a new benchmark for the action genre at large. At the same time, I’m doubtful that your average filmmakers will even attempt to meet the bar that’s set here—it is simply too out of reach! What we’re seeing in The Furious is really the fusion of two incredibly talented visionaries in this genre: director Kenji Tanigaki, who is Donnie Yen’s go-to action choreographer and also the man behind the action design in the popular Rurouni Kenshin live-action films; and ace choreographer Kensuke Sonomura, who has been on a remarkable hot streak of exciting Japanese films such as Baby Assassins, Bad City, and Ghost Killer.
The two men’s styles are so effortlessly combined here, it’s somewhat difficult to parse where the influence of one stops and the other begins (and I mean that complimentary); but if I’d have to wager, I see in “The Furious” both Tanigaki’s strength for physical setpieces, weapons-based combat, and dynamic camera movements—all of which have been on display on recent Donnie Yen offerings like Raging Fire and The Prosecutor—blended with Kensuke Sonomura’s one-of-a-kind fight choreography, which is taken to a whole new level here.
Sonomura breaks down the idea of a fight scene to its barest essentials—bodies in conflict—and from there challenges everything we’ve come to expect from the genre. The fight scenes in The Furious are often closer to environmental puzzles than traditional one-on-one bouts: how can our protagonist, a badass mute played by Xie Miao (My Father is a Hero), utilize his opponents’ torsos and limbs to both incapacitate them and navigate to safety? The result is action sequences that have the kind of subconsciously satisfying feeling of watching a great Tetris player, only instead of bricks falling into place, we’re witnessing Xie Miao outmaneuver and out-contort his foes. In a way, it feels like Sonomura has invented an entirely new language for the action genre. It’s for that reason I don’t think we’ll see as many Furious imitators as we did for The Raid: I mean, how the hell do you replicate this?!
And to be somewhat charitable: the comparisons between The Furious and The Raid are more understandable for the simple fact that The Furious features a rematch between The Raid actors Joe Taslim and Yayan Ruhian. So it almost goes without saying that the cast is loaded with insane martial arts talent: if you keep up with the Direct to Video action scene, you may be familiar with actor Brian Le, who has appeared in indie movies like The Paper Tigers and Gladiator Underground, not to mention the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once. Le has felt poised to break out in a big way the last few years, particularly for his Sammo Hung-like manner of moving at a tremendous speed that belies his size, and he delivers another standout turn in The Furious. I get the sense Japanese actor Joey Iwanaga (Baby Assassins 2, Tokyo Tribe) is someone else we’re about to see a lot more of; his incredible Taekwondo-kicks prove a scene stealer during the finale, showcasing the kind of skilled footwork we haven’t seen much since the heyday of guys like Ken Lo (Drunken Master 2) and Ron Smoorenburg (Who Am I?). And can I just say that, as a longtime fan of the Thai classic Chocolate, it did my heart some good to see Jeeja Yanin get the very first fight scene in the whole movie?
It’s hardly a shock that most initial reactions to The Furious, mine included, are going to focus primarily on the action and not that pesky thing called…plot. And while this script’s ‘heroes must take down a human trafficking ring’ storyline is hardly novel in this genre, I do want to give Tanigaki credit for devoting enough time to Xie Miao’s connection with his daughter (actress Yang Enyou, who previously appeared opposite Miao in Eye for an Eye 2), such that we are properly invested once the fists start flying. It helps that Enyou is a talented child actor, and I’m pleased that her character isn’t simply a defenseless victim for much of the movie. (There’s a brief moment involving her character that almost feels like a throwback to when Jet Li and Xie Miao teamed up as father and son in My Father is a Hero, and it might be my favorite moment in the whole film).
My quibbles with The Furious are minor: it’s probably unavoidable with such an international cast, but there are a couple of scenes where actors are dubbed into English, and at times the dubbing can be mildly distracting (mostly in the scenes set in a Thai police station). And for a movie that offers nearly two hours of gory finishers—you know, the kind of brutal fatalities that will probably have a few people in your theater exclaiming “Da-aaaaamn”—I found it strange that the final, final fight scene ends on a bit of an anti-climactic note. Nevertheless, I guarantee most action fans will be walking out of this movie on a high, dreaming about the possibilities of a sequel. (Next time around, I’m hoping Sonomura can rope in our favorite Ghost Killer, Masanori Mimoto, to join the fray.)
All the same, I want to pause, take a breath, and appreciate how special The Furious is, and how special it is that Western audiences will be able to experience it on the big screen. I’d encourage any and all martial arts movie fans to make the trek to the theater for this, to show that there’s an interest in this kind of subtitled fight film out of Asia—and to reward Kenji Tanigaki and Kensuke Sonomura for work that I don’t think is hyperbole to call ground-breaking.
By Z Ravas’ Rating: 10/10
