Havoc is now streaming on Netflix.
Headlines are usually the first thing people go for when they see links to articles – specifically movie news and reviews – and they derive all their info from there. Alas, if you’ve gotten this far and you’re still reading, thank you, because I have just a tad more to say about Gareth Huw Evans’ new movie, Havoc.
To add, there’s no question that I’ll pretty much be singing the same praises you’ve probably read elsewhere since the trades published their reactions and earlier posts from my colleagues and fans alike followed suit. Nonetheless, after screening two movies over the weekend, Havoc was just the pièce de résistance this weekend going into a new week of film discourse.
It took an extensive period of time for this film to finally arrive too. For this, I’m a little disappointed that this movie didn’t come in December or later this year since the story is set during Christmas (I wouldn’t have minded waiting eight more months, but that’s just me). For this, and for all intents and purposes, I’m glad Evans and his team took the time they did to crank this one out and deliver it in its finest form.
Havoc marks Evans’ return to the table since making his debut on Netflix with dark psych religious thriller, Apostle. Riding high on his creds as the prominent shepherd behind the rise Southeast Asian action on screen since 2009’s Merantau, Evans also spent his time and effort as exec producer on hit TV series, “Gangs Of London,” as well as priming his propulsive 2011 action crime flick, The Raid, for a 4K revamp.
Evans has his hands on other things as well, including a long-gestating reimaging of the latter. In the meantime, Havoc comes as a blessing, and a reminder to patient fans that Evans hasn’t gone anywhere. He’s very much present, and in good company, namely with the likes of Tom Hardy, Timothy Olyphant, Forrest Whitaker, Jessie Mei Li, Yann Yann Yeo, Sunny Pang, Luis Guzmán, and Michelle Waterson.
Hardy plays Walker, a hard-noised, hard-headed, and hard-boiled cop with a laundry list of shit he’s done for the city’s corrupt mayor, Beaumont, played by Whitaker. Here, Walker’s thrust into the all-or-nothing task of rescuing the Mayor’s son, Charles (Justin Cornwell) from the city’s criminal underbelly when a Chinese gangster’s son is brutally assassinated.
Adding to the pressure is when the incident paints Charles as a prime suspect, pigeonholing him and girlfriend Mia (Quelin Sepulveda) between vengeful gangsters, and dirty cops eyeing a bag of drugs. Can Walker save the Mayor’s son and cash in on some semblance of redemption before it’s too late?…
Invariably, that’s the question that leaves you in adrenaline-fueled suspense for most of the film’s 105-minute duration. Evans’s script delivers a smartly crafted, taut, and woven tale that pulls you in further into the murky trenches as they’re riddled with bullet holes, mystique, and filmic poetry.
Hardy and Li are fantastic as Walker and Ellie, who are near-polar opposites of one another for most of the way. The two sharing a few great character moments that eventually bring them full circle on matters of trust which eventually elevates things for Ellie as a cop on a mission of her own and with goals firmly aligned with Walker’s.
The same goes for Whitaker and Yeo, borderline enemies with a shared nuance as parents troubled by their own ways, with Whitaker’s Beaumont forced to confront the consequences of his own choices in the film’s final act. It’s definitely one of the most gripping moments between father and son, and it’s all downhill from there. Pang, a staple of Singapore’s own stunt community with equal billing as an actor and action performer, is terrific as the perfidious Ching, along with Olyphant as Hardy’s equal in the role of Vincent.
Pulsating needle drops and ballistic gunfights are at the top of the menu for Havoc with ample shares of the hand-to-hand goods when they arise, putting our stars and stunties to work at just the right moments. Among the film’s action sequences, the three most crucial ones occur from midway into the movie, orchestrated brilliantly with the involvement of stunt coordinator Jude Poyer. The action is especially where we finally get to see Waterson putting her best trigger finger and feet forward as a Triad assassin.
Havoc is definitely the kind of film I wish I could have seen on the big screen, and I’m positive I’m not alone in that sentiment. For now, it’s great that Evans has found a home on the streamer’s library, joining him right alongside the likes of Timo Tjahjanto whose own output has undoubtedly been lighting up Netflix’s numbers ever since The Night Comes For Us. Where Havoc stands on the latter of “bests” in action is entirely up to you, the fan, but there’s no denying that Evans remains one of the best to ever do it.
