Just came back from having watched The Furious in cinema, and my god was this an absolute spectacle. I’m a huge fan of martial arts and action movies anyway, but this was genuinely something else.
The movie, rightfully so, draws comparisons to The Raid movies and it should come as no surprise as it also shares some cast members such as Joe Taslim and Yayan Ruhian, both who have been standouts in any movie they show up in. Except maybe Joe Taslim whose immense talents were woefully wasted in the recent Mortal Kombat movies as Sub Zero/Bi-Han.
The fight choreography in this movie is also somewhat similar to The Raid movies in some ways, but mostly in that they share that somewhat grounded yet gritty and stylistic violence and martial arts display. Here you’ll find very little to no cuts to hide punches or hits, or the fact that your action star can’t truly fight. Many of the actors and stunt people are martial artists or athletes themselves, and they go through rigorous training and practice to get each of the long shot action scenes.
There is also a very much visceral feel to the combat, and the action scenes are superly directed and handled by Kenji Tanigaki who also has been the fight choreographer for other similar standout action and martial arts movies like SPL and Flashpoint. That’s not to mention other standouts such as Brian Le who plays Ho, a character who has such a unique and animalistic fighting style. Without spoiling too much his fight scenes, specially one where it becomes a big brawl, truly stands out and steals many scenes.
While the non-fight or action scenes of the movie are kind of okay, a movie such as this and with the pedigree of the cast and crew behind it lives and dies by the fights and action scenes. Here though they have well and truly delivered and at such a high level. I think this movie stands supremely on its own, and while i can see the comparisons and arguments around which movie(s) has the better fight scenes in The Raid movies and The Furious, for me they stand out equally on their own.
I can’t wait to see what other work the cast and crew put on in the future. The people behind this are certainly people to keep your eyes on.