By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
If this film was simply a collection of kung-fu fight sequences without an attempted story, then it would be a glorious, spellbinding experience. “The Furious” is a film with a story, however, and no amount of roundhouse kicks to the head can disguise its glaring mistakes. The plot is basically a more brutal version of “Taken,” crossing a line of displaying violence against children that has no place in cinema.
Wang Wei (Miao Xie) is a handyman with a dark past and a special set of skills whose daughter gets abducted by human traffickers. He immediately puts his kung fu skills to use, following the clues left behind by the kidnappers. Along the way, he meets Navin (Joe Taslim), who also happens to be a skilled fighter looking for his missing wife. Together, they must punch, kick, and hammer their way through waves of enemies to find and rescue their loved ones.
This is one of those action romps that simply tries to get from one crazy fight scene to another as quickly as possible. Japanese filmmaker Kenji Tanigaki leans into his strengths as a stuntman and fight coordinator to direct this movie, building long and intense martial arts sequences that pack quite the punch. These scenes are filmed with a level of artistry rarely seen to this extent, incorporating not only creative fight choreography but also inventive involvement of various props that keep the action fresh and compelling. Kenji increases the difficulty by filming multiple fight sequences with longer, continuous shots, which will undoubtedly impress viewers with the number of flawless moves that are captured in these moments. The constant frenetic pacing of these scenes can lead to viewer fatigue, however, especially with the longer fight scenes that seemingly never end. There are also multiple occasions where Kenji clearly speeds up the footage as a cheap tactic to speed up the fighters’ movements, reminiscent of a bad Steven Seagal movie. Not to mention, an exhausting number of grievous blows landed unbelievably have no ill effects for the recipient. Still, the action is cool, it is fantastical, and it is non-stop, which most action enthusiasts will enjoy.
While the combat sequences are the clear strength of the film, the screenplay is one of its biggest weaknesses. The dialogue is some of the worst displayed on screen all year, made even worse by the atrocious dubbing that gives it an unintentional B-movie vibe that is forced in an unfunny manner. Even though the plot is severely basic, Kenji seems incapable of being detail oriented, allowing a number of mistakes and plot holes to permeate the production. For instance, he depicts a bustling city street in one frame, only to be completely vacant in the next frame. Then there’s one of the antagonists who is knocked unconscious for a long period of time, only to wake up and instantly know precisely where his enemies are in the big city to exact his revenge. Kenji attempts to harness a stronger emotional connection to the story by displaying kids as the victims, but depicting kids being violently beaten and murdered is excessively gratuitous. Subtlety could have achieved the desired effect without the graphic brutality.
Fulfilling its stereotypical prophecy is equally disastrous acting. Sure, having the lead protagonist be a mute is wise, limiting the amount of poor dialogue being spewed, but it does disguise his limited facial reactions. Miao Xie pretty much plasters an RBF for the duration of the film, which gets his furiousness across well enough, but there is no emotional range beyond that. Joe Taslim brings a solid background of experience with him into this secondary protagonist role, achieving worldwide fame with his breakout performance in 2011’s “The Raid: Redemption,” and having a sizable role in the last two “Mortal Kombat” movies. Unfortunately, that experience does nothing to overcome the cringingly bad dialogue, but his incorporation of Judo grappling style is rarely seen to that level of detail in action films. As for the entire cast of antagonists, their acting is laughably bad, making the audience wish every player was mute, not just the main character.
If you don’t mind the silly, predictable plot with more errors than the “Bad News Bears,” or the braincell extinguishing dialogue with equally poor dubbing, or the terrible acting, or the unnecessary abuse against children, then you should have a great time with this action thriller. Just don’t expect “The Furious” to be on equal footing with “The Raid” films, because it barely earns a spot in their shadow in terms of overall quality.
This movie earns
