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Everyone loves a good action movie. And when it comes to adrenaline-fuelled beat-downs, nobody does it better than Asian filmmakers. Whether it's classic Hong Kong cinema from Jackie Chan, Japanese crime thrillers like Dead or Alive, or Indonesian martial arts favorites such as Ong-Bak, Asian action films are on a completely different level compared to their counterparts from the West. And with his eighth feature, The Furious, stuntman-turned-director Kenji Tanigaki is proving that fact yet again, in this fast-paced and action-packed thriller about two strangers who find themselves on the same dangerous mission — taking down a nefarious human trafficking operation. Navin (Joe Taslim) is a reporter for a Southeast Asian news agency. But when his wife and fellow reporter, Matia (Jija Yanin), goes missing after investigating a human trafficking ring operated by Paklong (Joey Iwanaga), the son-in-law of a local business tycoon, Navin is forced to take matters into his own hands. Going undercover to infiltrate the operation, he soon realizes just how far this criminal enterprise goes. It's only when he teams up with mute kung fu expert Wei (Miao Xie), however, that Navin is able to really start making inroads into his investigation. The father of a kidnapped girl named Rainy (Enyou Yang), Wei also happens to be on the same mission to get to the rotten core of Paklong's syndicate. And when these two put their minds and their fists together, neither Paklong nor his most lethal minions (Yayan Ruhian and Brian Le) will be able to stop them. Brute-forcing their way into Paklong's headquarters, a building sinisterly known as the Snake Pit, Navin and Wei must fight their way through hordes of heavily armed thugs if they're to have any hope of rescuing Rainy and finding out what happened to Matia. But in a corrupt city where even the chief of the local police is on Paklong's payroll, will exposing this despicable crime ring do any good? Or will Navin and Wei's hard-fought efforts ultimately be for naught? Part Taken, part The Raid: Redemption, with a dash of Oldboy and Max Max: Fury Road mixed in for good measure, The Furious is an epic big-screen spectacle that will keep genre fans on the edge of their seats. Bolstered by outstanding fight choreography, this non-stop barrage of hand-to-hand combat and martial arts mayhem is sure to earn a spot as one of the most crowd-pleasing action movies of the year, if not the past decade. And while it may not really address the topic of human trafficking aside from using it as a trigger for igniting the action, one thing's for certain — Liam Neeson ain't got nothin' on this kick-ass duo. |
The Furious screens under the Midnight Madness programme at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Its runtime is 1 hr. 53 min.
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