Havoc (2025)
Directed by: Gareth Evans
Premise: A police detective (Tom Hardy) must find the son of a local politician who is sought by criminals and corrupt cops.
What Works: Havoc combines a noir crime story with an action film. The picture primarily centers on Walker, a shady police detective played by Tom Hardy. This is the kind of character that Hardy does well. Walker is ethically compromised and working within a nexus of corrupt politicians, crooked cops, and ruthless gangsters. That’s visualized well in the design of the film. Havoc has a grubby feel that’s in keeping with its criminal themes. The filmmakers balance an impressive number of interested parties. A crew of thieves have stolen a drug shipment putting them in the crosshairs of organized crime and corrupt cops. Walker is indebted to a local politician (Forest Whitaker) whose son is in the middle of this mess and he’s paired with an honest newbie police officer (Jessie Mei Li). The film is a kaleidoscope of competing forces but everyone is presented in a way that ought to be clear to the audience. Filmmaker Gareth Evans is best known for directing 2012’s The Raid: Redemption and its sequel. Like those films, Havoc displays Evans’ muscular and intense filmmaking style.
What Doesn’t: Havoc features a deliberately excessive style. The car chases and fights have a frantic energy but they are also sometimes hard to watch because of the way the action is shot and edited. The screen direction sometimes lacks a sense of continuity. The shootouts frequently contain scenes of characters riddled with gunfire and copious amounts of blood. The imagery is very reminiscent of first-person shooter videogames, especially the blood sprays that are obviously digitally created or enhanced. The digital squib effects tend to spoil the illusion of the film. The effects are so over the top that they make the violence cartoonish. Similar effects can be seen in retro exploitation pictures and in the films of Quentin Tarantino but those films did the effect practically which gave it an organic look. The digital look of Havoc’s gore tends to diminish the impact. The story relies on a lot of crime movie cliches and Havoc lacks a compelling dramatic motivation. This is the kind of movie in which everyone is corrupt to some degree and everyone wants to kill everyone else but there is nothing tangible at stake. That’s especially evident in the climactic shootout. People are dying but it’s unclear who is doing what to whom and why.
Disc extras: Available on Netflix.
Bottom Line: Havoc is an intense and maximalist action picture. It’s a bit too much carnage and not enough character. Havoc often has the look of a videogame and it is about as emotionally involving.
Episode: #1051 (June 8, 2025)