Kung Fu Theater is BACK, baby! At least, it had better be with The Furious upon us.
Legend of the Seven Monks and Enter the Fat Dragon (which gets him cool points on that title ALONE) director and veteran stuntman Kenji Tanigaki brings one of the best martial arts actin films to the big screen in a LONG time with the story that takes place “Somewhere in Southeast Asia”. A mute day laborer (Miao Xie) goes on the hunt against a human trafficking ring after his daughter is taken from him, and in doing so crosses paths with Navim (Joe Taslim from Warrior and the new Sub-Zero), who is on a quest to find his missing wife. As they team up to go after those who have wronged their loved ones, the danger gets to a fever pitch, the cops don’t want to believe the man who cannot speak, and it all leads to a climax that simply left me breathless.
While all of this is going on, a fantastic performance is put in by Enyou Yang as the aforementioned daughter who is incredibly headstrong for her young age and becomes a bit of the hero of her own. Also here for the ride is one of personal favorites in Yayan Ruhian, who always plays an amazing henchman in a film surrounded by younger talent and goes toe-to-toe with them in a story that establishes itself quickly so it can get to its lightning-fast and elaborate fight sequences that are nothing shy of mind-blowing.
Action Director Kensuke Sonomura (who himself has over twenty years of stunt experience) brings everything but the kitchen sink (which he may have used at some point, I’m not sure… wait…) and brings out the best in each and every person on screen, and they are all up to the task while the biggest task seems to be on the shoulders of cinematographer Meteor Cheung to capture the best in all of this, and he absolutely does. Bodies are flying everywhere, kills are incredibly creative, and the violence is at full-throttle that even dominates the third act of The Furious, and I am here for ALL of it. When I looked down at my watch at what could have been the end of the story and realized we still had a half-hour to go intrigued me, and then it took off again in a fight sequence that took up almost all of it in brilliant fashion, having me wince and “whoa” more than I have in a film in what seems like forever.
If you grew up like I did with some of the great martial arts films ever put to celluloid taking up part of your weekends and then had it partially revived with films like The Raid: Redemption and the John Wick franchise, The Furious should propel it right back into the mainstream for years to come. This is one of the most action-packed films out there and deserves to have multiple viewings no matter how it is seen, but do so quickly!