At the start of the last decade, Gareth Evans made his second feature The Raid, a masterpiece that would have an impact on how Indonesia would approach action cinema, paving the way for filmmakers like Timo Tjahjanto who directed The Night Comes for Us. As for Evans himself, he would apply his visceral aesthetic from his two Raid movies and applying it to the 2018 folk horror Apostle. However, Evans’s latest feature marks his return to action cinema with Havoc, which has been delayed due to scheduling issues and recent Hollywood strikes, but you can watch it now on Netflix.
Set in an unspecified American city, Havoc introduces us to Patrick Walker (Tom Hardy), a corrupt homicide detective who is estranged from his family and on the payroll of Lawrence Beaumont (Forest Whitaker), a real estate tycoon and mayoral candidate. After a drug deal gone wrong, involving Beaumont’s estranged son Charlie (Justin Cornwell), Walker must fight his way through the criminal underworld to rescue him, which unfolds a deep web of corruption and conspiracy.
When it comes to Gareth Evans, he is at his best when telling a simple narrative that you can sum up in one sentence, such as The Raid where all the action and soap opera takes place in a single setting, unlike its two-and-a-half-hour crime epic of a sequel. During its initial half, Havoc establishes a lot of moving parts, from corrupt politicians and policemen to Triads, all pursuing one person. Story-wise, this has more in common with 2012’s Safe, but instead of Jason Statham with an unspecified American accent, you have Tom Hardy with an unspecified American accent.
The characters are essentially archetypes that you will know if you are well-versed in action movies, even down to the gruff policeman protagonist who is estranged from his family, a role that fits nicely for the actor who once played Max Rockatansky and Eddie Brock. Apart from the charisma of all the actors, particularly Jessie Mei Li who should have more screen Walker’s reluctant partner Ellie, Evans’ screenwriting doesn’t bring much depth, considering the unfolding web of crime and corruption that the film displays.
You may get blood and carnage during the initial half – though the CGI car chases stick out like a sore thumb to disguise the fact that the film was shot in Wales – it is during a visit in the nightclub in the film’s second half that you’re reminded that this is from the director of The Raid. Whilst you get the bone-crunching, blood-splattering impact you expect from Evans’ fistfights, with gory and inventive deaths, Havoc puts more emphasis on gunplay. Clearly a fan of John Woo’s Hong Kong cinema, Evan directs the action in such chaotic fashion and yet there are choreography and coherence that it is hard not to be impressed by.
