Havoc
review by Bobby Blakey
Director Gareth Evans has already established himself as an action genius with the insanely awesome films The Raid and The Raid 2. Now he is teaming up with Tom Hardy for the new action flick Havoc co-starring Jessie Mei Li, Justin Cornwell, Quelin Sepulveda, Luis Guzmán, Michelle Waterson, Sunny Pang, Jim Caesar, Xelia Mendes-Jones with Yeo Yann Yann, Timothy Olyphant, and Forest Whitaker. Does this film bring the expected high-octane action, or will it be a drug bust not worth stopping?
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Havoc follows Walker, a bruised detective fighting his way through the criminal underworld threatening to engulf his entire city. In the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong, Walker finds himself with a number of factions on his tail, a vengeful crime syndicate, a crooked politician, as well as his fellow cops. When attempting to rescue the politician’s estranged son, whose involvement in the drug deal starts to unravel a deep web of corruption and conspiracy, he is forced to confront the demons of his past.
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AS a massive fan of the The Raid of course I was all in for this flick and then add to the mix Hardy then I was ready for some badassery. What I didn’t expect was the tone to the film which is dark gritty and almost got a noir feel to it as we navigate the underworld. The film pulls no punches with the action but also tries to give some heft to the characters involved with each element adding to the next.
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Instead of the martial arts action of The Raid he went full in with gun play which fits to perfection for this story, but have no fear there are still plenty of fight sequences as well. It pulls out all the stops in the action department letting the bullets, blood and cars fly throughout making for one of the better action movies of this year so far. There is the old school excessive number of shots on one
person along with some creative maneuvers that are a blast to watch.
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This film would have worked with this action, especially the final no-holds-barred barrage of violence in the final act, but Hardy elevates the film to something more. He perfectly captures the gruff hardened detective that is no nonsense but looking to do the right thing despite his past. He is both unlikable and likeable at the same time. You know he has your back, but also that he will break the law to get his man. It’s the type of character you might have seen Bruce Willis take on back in the day, but Hardy is perfect in the role and loved getting to see him in something like this. He just works in this type of world and would love to see him take on more roles like this in the future.
Get in on the bad ass action and check out Havoc streaming now on Netflix.