Movie review «Havoc»

On April 25, Netflix released the action thriller «Havoc» from the director of the action movies «The Raid» (2011) and «The Raid 2» (2014) by Gareth Evans. This time, the unwavering Tom Hardy will be the one to light up the screen, having finally thrown off the yoke of kindergarten superheroes and can fully return to adult cinema. Let’s find out what the new product looks like, in particular against the background of «John Wick» and its numerous followers — in the review below.

Pluses:

good action scenes;

Minuses:

Evans is much better at it;

6/10

Rating
ITC.ua

«Havoc»

Genre action movie, crime thriller
Director Gareth Evans
Starring Tom Hardy, Forest Whitaker, Timothy Olyphant, Jessie Mae Lee, Justin Cornwell, Kelin Sepulveda, Luis Guzman, Michelle Waterson
Premiere Netflix
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb

Homicide detective Patrick Walker doesn’t get along with his family and is reluctant to work for mayoral candidate Lawrence Beaumont. The latter’s son is involved in some dubious venture involving cocaine hidden in washing machines and the murder of the son of the head of a triad. So Beaumont asks Walker to find the bumbling offspring in exchange for ending their, so to speak, cooperation.

The young man is already being hunted by a vengeful Asian mother, and his colleagues from the narcotics department are also somehow involved in the case. Will the frowning policeman manage to get to the boy before his many enemies? And even if they do, how will they fend off the annoying pursuers?

At one time, director Gareth Evans established himself as a director of excellent action films that didn’t require exorbitant budgets. Both of his «Raids» made a lot of noise and became the standard for the production style and manner of filming action scenes for years to come. A kind of Hollywood’s response to these daring cinematic antics in a good way was «John Wick», who not only had many followers (literally one of them we wrote last week), but also rebooted the career of Keanu Reeves, a public favorite.

But today is not about him. Today we are talking about Tom Hardy, who has recently been bogged down in meaningless superhero passions (and, consequently, dark resinous liquid), but who has worked out his contract trilogy and can finally devote himself entirely to normal cinema. Actually, this was already evident last year, when the English actor played in «The Bikeriders», but Austin Butler was still cast in the lead role. And now Hardy is simultaneously shining on Netflix (though the filming took place back in 2021) and Paramount+, where the 10-episode season of the crime drama «MobLand» is in full swing. Judging by the ratings of viewers and critics, it was a success.

The film starts off in high gear, throwing the viewer into the midst of a dynamic nighttime chase, where someone wearing a Sub-Zero mask and several of his (actually, her) accomplices are trying to get away from the police. The scene is beautifully shot, with Evans’ characteristic style, though not without some noticeable computer graphics. It sets the tone for the story and, unexpectedly, suggests a washing machine as a way to stop the police car. Yes, this is not a useless DVD player with one street racing saga.

However, after the incendiary debut, the director takes a rather long pause and begins to play a kind of neo-noir plot, which does not work very well. Because the viewer is absolutely indifferent to all the characters on the screen, including the stalwart man played by Hardy. So the story itself doesn’t arouse any interest. A very light version of the story flashes in the frame Wilson Fisk, the film features the most pretentious Asians, some dubious youths, and corrupt cops, and by the time all this good company decides to take up arms, the viewer will have time to get bored.

Fortunately, in one of the scenes, Hardy’s character will have to visit a neon nightclub (the police did not hesitate to charge 5 bucks at the entrance, those scoundrels!). And, as we know from Testaments «John Wick», where there is a neon club — there is always a good fight. The action is solid, extremely bloody, but without any technical revelations. And the jerky dynamic camera is a bit unfashionable.

Meanwhile, while the protagonist is trying his best to protect the black boy and his Mexican girlfriend, the most of the film’s action is taken by the highly pretentious Asians, a movie that the Communist Party censors would hardly miss. In contrast to the Chinese, where Walker and his companions are supposed to be made into a sieve, they are only frightened because even though the bullets fill the entire space around the idols, they are not destined to hit anyone. Apparently, some of them have been possessed by the spirit of Neo, since we have already mentioned Reeves.

While our fearless heroes are overcoming these pseudo-obstacles, the story is quietly limping along to the final showdown. To be honest, the level of destruction of the less pretentious Asians reaches its peak here, and watching this twitchy, noisy mess gets a little tiresome. The scum are dying like flies, and it doesn’t make you feel warm or sick. And if the same «Wick’s» staging and even the setting of the fight scenes can be called elegantly stylized, Evans’ makes it all look filthy, meaty, and twitchy. The artificial blood just splashes in all directions.

Somewhere in this moment, all the distinctive Tomhardtian brutality will rapidly leave the chat room when a very belligerent Asian woman takes over, as if to take revenge for her offended fallen countrymen. But the celebration on her street will be short-lived — bring another body bag. Somewhere in the background of the showdown, there is still a villain in the person of Timothy Olyphant, but he is so unremarkable that it is even a shame to mention him.