'The Furious' Packs One of The Best Punches You'll Ever See

Ladies and gentlemen, we may have a new classic. Comparisons to The Furious with The Raid are being made for good reason. Not only does this movie feature even superior action, but the story is a knockout, too. Leave it up to the Asians to show Americans how to make a legitimate action flick that puts the yanks to shame. The Americans came close with The Matrix (which replicated Hong Kong kung-fu cinema). Yet they still struggle to learn from the greats. From the movie’s set pieces to its plot twists, it’s a feature thrill ride that never lets go of the gas.

One would think that after The Matrix, the rest of the world would learn how to shoot action. Unfortunately, pulling off those long-take, wide-shot fight scenes is excruciatingly difficult. There’s a reason Daredevil makes the long-take a highlight for each season. Most flicks stick with conventional coverage, where the fights are loaded with cutaways from wide shots to close-ups to extreme close-ups to shots I can’t even tell what the shot is, because the camera’s cutting so much. The action is disorienting in those pictures. You can’t tell who got hit where. Look no further than Quantum of Solace or Batman Begins as prime examples of how to not direct action.

In comparison, popular Bruce Lee films put their actors in danger because the actors actually perform their own stunts. When we see that action unfold, audiences experience the excitement and anxiety you can’t get when the editor is making chop suey of the picture. Couple that with a lot of movies with boring, bland revenge/protection quests that don’t ultimately lead to any conclusion, other than the good guy wins in the end.

Here’s a movie that actually carries a meaningful intention in its story, with shock levels similar to those in Old Boy. The movie opens with the audience unsure of what’s going on, where a bunch of people are getting the tar beaten out of them in a hallway. We then cut to our protagonist. Wang Wie (Xie Miao) is fixing a kitchen sink while his little girl is recording him. Moments later, Wie’s daughter gets captured, sending Wang to chase after her in the most reliable pair of sandals ever made. Until they eventually fall, causing Wang’s feet to be dirtier and bloodier than a hippy’s.

When reporting the incident to the police, Wang’s plea is met with scoffs and laughter, even though He had walked into the station, looking sweaty, and his feet covered in dirt and blood. With no other choice, Wang seeks to reobtain his daughter by any means necessary. But he won’t be alone. Navin (Joe Taslim) is a dedicated journalist, trying to figure out what happened to his missing wife. Together, the two take on a human trafficking ring when the authorities, like the US government in charge, fail to protect women and children from perverts. With all the news about the government’s cover-up of Epstein Island, it’s a cathartic experience to see sickos get maimed and murdered in the most spectacular of fashion.

Unlike most vengeance flicks, the movie glorifies violence while also addressing its endless cycle. Once you start killing, you go too far, whacking the wrong person, which ends up putting a price on your conscience and your head. Nobody is ever at peace until they’re dead or they’ve managed to kill everyone around them like they’re playing a video game. Director Kenji Tanigaki understands the absurdity of action cinema. No one person can take on an army of goons. So, he takes everything a step further by almost immortalizing our heroes to the point where anyone in the audience would be asking how they’re still walking, let alone breathing. Tanigaki is telling the audience that nobody would feasibly survive this in real life, and that’s what makes these one-person army massacres so fun to watch.

There are moments in the movie that will leave your jaw hanging open, making you wonder how they pulled off the action. Not in terms of spectacle, but choreography. When that camera stays on a master shot, the audience can feel the actors taking the hits, making the character even more heroic, since we can literally see what they’re putting on the line. Aside from action, Kenji Tanigaki and his writing team aren’t just making another Taken where the human trafficking scum are put in their place. He’s making a call to action. Without giving much away, at one point in the picture, there’s a large crowd protesting the police who are trying to protect the trafficking complex. Eventually, the people win over the authorities in one of the most satisfying character moments I’ve seen in a while. This is a good week for movies. You have Spielberg’s Disclosure Day and The Furious. Do yourself a favor, and make a double feature out of it. You won’t regret it.