Havoc launches exclusively on Netflix on April 25, 2025.
Synopsis
Walker (Tom Hardy) is a bruised detective fighting his way through the criminal underworld threatening to engulf his entire city. In the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong, Walker finds himself with a number of factions on his tail; a vengeful crime syndicate, a crooked politician, as well as his fellow cops. When attempting to rescue the politician’s estranged son, whose involvement in the drug deal starts to unravel a deep web of corruption and conspiracy, he is forced to confront the demons of his past.
Review
Gareth Evans is back in the director’s seat for his latest high-octane violent action flick, Havoc.
Set in an ambiguous American city, giving off strong ‘detective noir’ vibes, what should have been a simple drug trade descends into a race against time against various groups of bad guys. Firstly, the style of the film is good; I love the look of this gritty, crime-ridden city. It feels like the world of the Max Payne games, and the film holds this vibe throughout. The driving scenes do have some questionable visuals at times but it’s easily forgiven for the shot they chose to make.
Now Gareth Evans is best known for his films The Raid 1 and 2, and the Gangs of London series. This man, along with his team, knows how to direct intensely violent, visceral fight scenes, and Havoc provides a fair few of these in glorious, gruesome detail. Although Havoc leans more towards brutal blows and gunfights over beautifully choreographed martial arts fights, it still leaves you wincing at every other hit to the face or shot on target.
The cast is solid too, with the likes of Tom Hardy, Forest Whitaker, Jessica Mai Li, and Timothy Olyphant all involved in the wild, chaotic story this film tries to tell. Everyone puts in a solid effort for the roles they’re given, but this is where the film fails for me. The characters are more or less entirely one-dimensional. We have so many stories being told in a short space of time between the action scenes that we don’t really get the breathing space needed to feel their actions later on. Everyone is given their character trope and assignment, and that’s really it.
The film was fun to watch, though. It brings high-octane action and some thoroughly entertaining bust-ups with more bullets fired than a Call of Duty game, but sadly, it’s just really light on substance. The world is interesting but not really explored; the characters have potential but are often one-note; and the overall experience does not make me want to revisit it at a later date, unlike in The Raid, where I was more than happy to experience that journey again.
Verdict
Go in to Havoc with levelled expectations for some very cool, very visceral, and brutal action scenes, but little else.
⭐⭐⭐
