By Tim Estiloz
Video courtesy of The Spiel On Entertainment.
Actor Tom Hardy is certainly no stranger to the action film genre with films like the “Venom” franchise, 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” and 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises” and others. His current pairing with director Gareth Evans for their new Netflix film “Havoc” seriously ups the ante on all the bloody frenetic mayhem and sheer body count that one can jam into an all too familiar storyline that audiences have seen many times before.
However, rehashed cop drama tropes aside, “Havoc” surprisingly and very effectively works as a balls-out, insanely violent action thriller that delivers the entertainment goods in spades.
Hardy plays Wilson, an experienced but career weary cop working the dilapidated streets of an unnamed rain-soaked city filled with grimy, seedy streets populated by even grimier criminals, crooked politicians and assorted cops of questionable virtue. At first, Wilson is a cop drama cliche; a grizzled detective estranged from his wife, trying to buy a last-minute gift for his daughter on Christmas Eve. His half-assed neglect is so pronounced that the best he can come up with is a bag of convenience store trinkets for the kid.
The cliche continues by pairing him with Ellie ( Jesse Mei Li ) a new female partner that he neither wants nor likely has little faith in her abilities on the job. To make matters worse, Wilson is also tied to well-connected real estate mogul, Lawrence Beaumont ( Forest Whitaker ) who’s running for mayor of the city aiming to crack down on crime. Seems that Wilson helped bail Beaumont out with the D.A. who was running an investigation into Beaumont’s shady dealings.
Wilson is also carrying some internal baggage concerning some shady dealings with some of his fellow narcotics crew led by the even more shady Vincent ( Timothy Olyphant ).
Soon, Wilson finds himself reluctantly coerced by Beaumont to save his estranged son who has run afoul of the gangs in Chinatown. It seems Beaumont’s son Charlie ( Justin Cornwell ) and his girlfriend Mia ( Quelin Sepulveda ) stole a truck full of warehoused washing machines stashed with cocaine to deliver to a local Triad boss, Tsui Fong ( Jeremy Ang Jones ). However, while Mia and Charlie are delivering the goods after evading the cops during a wild police chase; some masked rival thugs attack Fong’s lair viciously machine gunning him and everyone else. Only Mia and Charlie manage to barely escape with their lives.
However, their narrow escape could be short-lived. Not only are the masked gunmen that killed Fong looking for them; but also, the arrival of the hard as nails, and just as cold, crime matriarch, Clarice ( Yeo Yann Yann ) looking for revenge threatens to put the frightened duo six feet under. You see, Clarice is also Fong’s mother, and after Charlie is seen on a security camera video escaping the massacre, she assumes Charlie is responsible… and she’s looking for some deadly payback.
Still, it’s not the rather simplistic plot that gives “Havoc” its “must see” pedigree. Where this film excels is in the multiple superbly staged action sequences. Director Gareth Evans who already has an established action reputation via his martial arts themed films “The Raid” and “The Raid 2” is clearly in his element here blending complex, non-stop and extended fight sequences filled with lightning fast martial arts moves and brutal street brawling techniques into finely choreographed mix. It’s a crazy mix that’s seasoned with liberal doses of blood splatter and pulpy viscera flying everywhere.
A lengthy fight sequence involving Mia and Wilson being attacked on a two-level noisy disco by multitudes of Clarice’s thugs and some crooked cops with a different agenda certainly strains credibility. But, reality stretch be damned, this relentless onslaught of kicks, punches and slicing by butcher knives, metal pipes and anything else that isn’t nailed down is so doggone fun in its bloody, over the top mayhem; one can get delightfully lost in the sheer audacity of its brilliant staging.
Evans says he’s a huge fan of action film auteurs John Woo and Sam Peckinpah and that influence is clearly apparent in the manner in which he stages these action sequences. His use of slow motion effects during a frenetic fight scene isn’t gimmicky in this film. Evans usage of those director’s trademark tricks isn’t trite copying; but rather, a genuine attempt to give homage to those skilled directors whom he admires.
Be warned, if bloody violence makes you squeamish – “Havoc” may not be for you.
Tom Hardy handles himself admirably doing the heavy lifting of the action. His character, while effectively portrayed, doesn’t have much nuance to work with. Nevertheless, Hardy is a charismatic force.
Forest Whitaker ably balances the contradictory sides of an aspiring “noble” politician with a shady background perhaps equal to the criminals he promises to clear from the city’s streets as mayor.
Of the women in this cast, Jessi Mae Li as Wilson’s cop partner has some interesting layers to her character that Li explores quite ably. Lastly, MMA fighter Michelle Waterson as Clarice’s silent but extremely deadly nameless assassin is riveting in her several blood soaked scenes with her clearly effective real life martial arts skills being on full display throughout this film.
Overall, “Havoc” is one fun, bloody wild ride from start to finish; so take a deep breath and hold on tight.
Tim Estiloz is a double Emmy Award winning entertainment journalist and film critic with 20-years of professional experience.He is the entertainment reporter for the lifestyle / entertainment TV program, The Spiel. He is also the film critic for El Mundo Boston and a member of the Critics Choice Association. He also is a regular contributor to this website, Kaleidoscope Reviews.