Among Hollywood's current crop of directors, only a handful will leave a significant mark on the film industry. Steven Spielberg created the blueprint for the modern blockbuster. Horror movie maven James Wan turned the jumpscare into a form of high art. And when it comes to crafting mind-blowing, bone-shattering action, Gareth Evans is in a category all by himself.
Evans's collaborations with his muse, Indonesian action star Iko Uwais, particularly in the Raid franchise, revitalized action filmmaking and raised the bar for what audiences expect from the genre. He blends intricate fight choreography with frenetic camera work to create some of the most thrilling and visceral action sequences ever put to film.
After a decade-long hiatus from directing action movies, Evans is back with a vengeance with Havoc, a blood-soaked neo-noir starring Tom Hardy, Timothy Olyphant and Jessie Mei Li. Fans of gritty crime flicks and go-for-broke Tom Hardy performances will find much to enjoy, while anyone squeamish about violence should definitely steer clear.
Hardy plays Walker, a weary homicide detective with a dubious moral code. He's a failed husband and a lousy dad who's not above breaking rules when it suits him. When a drug deal goes off the rails, mayoral candidate Lawrence Beaumont's (Forest Whitaker) son Charlie (Justin Cornwell) is framed for murdering Tsui (Jeremy Ang Jones), the child of a powerful triad boss (Yeo Yann Yann). Walker must use his connections on both sides of the law to clean up the mess and save Charlie's life before he's caught up in the bloodshed.
It's clear Evans hasn't lost his flair for mayhem. Havoc features a handful of bone-crunching fight sequences that put most action films to shame. Evans attempts to one-up himself with each action set piece, finding the most extreme ways to bludgeon and break the human body. The film features more splattered blood than the entire Scream trilogy and a goon body count so high it would make John Wick blush.
Walker doesn't make the most compelling action hero, but it's always enjoyable watching Hardy bring his signature intensity to the role. Hardy comes from the go-big-or-go-home school of acting, and in Havoc, he dials his performance up to 11. Walker is a brash meathead with just enough street smarts to stay ahead of the cops and crooks breathing down his neck. Hardy turns in a performance as subtle as an SNL parody, but it's perfectly in tune with the heightened reality the film inhabits — a sleazy concrete jungle crawling with thugs who look like they crawled out of the black and white pages of Sin City.
Evans and cinematographer Matt Flannery bring Havoc's world to life with varying degrees of success. Between scenes, the camera swoops through the city's streets and alleyways before revealing the next seedy location. This immersive technique makes the world feel vibrant, exuding kinetic energy while looking as digitally enhanced as an episode of The Mandalorian. While Havoc's physical sets feel tactile and lived in, the digital establishing shots look artificial to the point of distraction — like AI's attempt to render a John Wick movie.
The best action movies enhance their stories with thrilling set pieces. These films stand out by creating a gripping emotional through-line and ratcheting up the drama with a car chase, shootout or fistfight. Despite Hardy's colourful performance, Havoc lacks compelling emotional stakes. Instead of the action enhancing the story, it often feels like the plot exists only to serve as connective tissue between action beats.
It's unreasonable to expect a director to keep raising the bar with each successive film, but Havoc isn't even a lateral move. The thinly sketched characters, rote dialogue and generic premise place it a few rungs below Evans's best work. But make no mistake: Havoc's heart-racing action sequences are worth the price of admission, even if its story and characters barely register a pulse.