A desperate father and journalist combine their bruising kung-fu skills to battle ruthless human traffickers in a race against time in The Furious, which delivers a hurricane of savage beatdowns. It’s not hyperbole to say that the film has some of the best action and fight choreography to grace the silver screen in recent years. Famed Japanese stunt coordinator and director Kenji Tanigaki delivers martial-arts bliss with a truly gifted ensemble. All the players deserve credit for jaw-dropping scenes that will literally have audiences cheering out loud.
The Furious takes place in an unnamed Asian city with an intrepid reporter, Matia (JeeJa Yanin), on the hunt for a slew of missing children. The police have conspicuously ignored the kidnappings, but Matia has found an important clue. Some time later, in another part of the city, the precocious preteen Rainy (Enyou Yang) takes a social media video of her handyman father. Wei (Miao Xie) cannot speak due to a head injury, but he signs to his beloved daughter to stop filming him as he’s working. She should be practicing her kung fu, but Rainy doesn’t care about training. She wants to be pretty, not a fighter. Wei believes his daughter needs to be able to defend herself. When Rainy mysteriously disappears, a frantic Wei scours the city, finding an unexpected ally in a dangerous place. Navin (Joe Taslim) has also been searching for someone; his wife vanished, and like Wei, he will do anything to get her back.
The Furious gives you a cinematic black eye with a blistering opening fight sequence. Tanigaki, action director on Blade II, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, and The Prosecutor (one of his many collaborations with Donnie Yen), sets the stage for greatness. He’s basically announcing to viewers that this is just a bloody taste of what’s to come. The beginning is so good that it could have been the satisfying climax of other films, but Tanigaki wants your expectations high, and he sure as heck delivers on that promise.
Tanigaki doesn’t rely on edits or camera tricks to film the highly orchestrated movement. Scenes develop in long cuts with spectacularly intricate choreography. The camera moves around and tracks along to capture scenes in their full glory. This means that actors’ blocking has to be exact to stay within frame and no one can be out of step or miss a beat, because the entire take would be ruined. Tanigaki’s filmmaking techniques are akin to a ballet teacher using the entire stage for complex interactions. There’s so much going on, but your eyes are drawn to particular moments for a defined focus, which is masterfully done and the work of a director who’s obviously at the top of his game.
Tanigaki achieves incredible success because of a capable cast. Miao has been a martial arts star since childhood, starring opposite Jet Li as his son in both The New Legend of Shaolin and The Enforcer. He was an absolute badass then, so you can imagine how formidable he is now. Miao doesn’t utter a single word while unleashing bone-crushing blows on his opponents. Wei’s inability to speak means that Miao has to physically emote feelings of tragic loss and anger while beating baddies to a pulp. Miao’s also extremely dexterous when engaging attackers, jumping and leaping around sets in parkour fashion. One scene that takes place in and surrounding a cage match is amazing to see.
Taslim serves as the perfect counterpart to Miao’s quiet ferocity. He’s not as acrobatic, but he’s a superb fighter with style that leans more into grappling and throwing. Navin has to convince Wei that they’re on the same side, as these men have a shared goal but are complete strangers otherwise. They have to learn how to work together to save their loved ones and survive in the process. Navin provides key narrative exposition to the masterminds behind the heinous child abductions, who are merciless and consider every life to be expendable. The Furious doesn’t flinch showing innocents getting brutalized or killed, and some of these scenes are quite jarring.
There’s some gunplay, but it’s not Tanigaki’s intention to make another John Wick. Most weapons are simple, like hammers and screwdrivers, which still inflict serious damage. Wei cracks more skulls than a Whac-a-Mole convention, and it makes sense that a handyman would use the tools at hand instead of guns. One unanswered question we’re left with is why Wei and Navin are so devastatingly lethal. Tanigaki hints at Wei’s past, but never explains how he lost the ability to speak or where he learned to fight. That may be sequel material, so we can give the film a pass on those details. It’s important to note there’s zero realism in how much punishment everyone takes, as they all take a licking and keep on coming for more. It’s borderline humorous at times, but purposely done for entertainment value, making The Furious a must-see for action fans.
- Release Date
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June 10, 2026
- Runtime
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113 minutes
- Director
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Kenji Tanigaki
- Writers
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Mak Tin-Shu, Shum Kwan-sin, Frank Hui, Lei Zhilong
- Producers
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Bill Kong Chi-Keung, Frank Hui, Tam Chi-San
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
