HAVOC
(director/writer: Gareth Evans; cinematographer: Matt Flannery; editors: Sara Jones, Matt Platts-Mills; music: Aria Prayogi; cast: Justin Cornwell (Charlie), Tom Hardy (Walker), Forest Whitaker (Lawrence Beaumont), Timothy Olyphant (Vincent), Jessie Mei Li (Ellie), Quelin Sepulveda (Mia), Luis Guzmán (Raul), Michelle Waterson (Nameless Assassin), Sunny Pang (Ching), Jim Caesar (Wes), Jeremy Ang Jones (Tsui Fong), Xelia Mendes-Jones (Johnny), Yeo Yann Yann (Clarice, Tsui’s Mother), Serhat Metin (Cortez); Runtime: 105; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Ed Talfan, Gareth Evans, Aram Tertzakian, Tom Hardy; Netflix/XYZ Films; 2025)
“Revolves around gang vengeance and a dirty cop seeking redemption.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The Welsh martial-arts action-pic maven Gareth Evans (“The Raid: Redemption”/”Apostle”) is director/writer of this action-packed morality driven B-film, which I found to be a disappointment emotionally and dramatically. It’s a brooding neo-noir crime drama that revolves around gang vengeance and a dirty cop seeking redemption by putting himself in harm’s way to do something good to save his decaying city from its moral and financial bankruptcy.
There’s an excessively high body count, which might please some and disappoint others.
A drug deal is botched, followed by the murder of the son of a Triad leader. It takes place in the seemingly always rainy Chinatown criminal underground of an unnamed corrupt American city (filmed in Cardiff, Wales).
The drug courier Charlie (Justin Cornwell), the estranged son of Lawrence Beaumont (Forest Whitaker), a real-estate mogul and a corrupt politician, running for mayor, who blackmails the investigating officer, the dirty cop Walker (Tom Hardy), to make sure his son comes out of this jam with the Triad and the corrupt cops alive or he says he will finger him for past foul deeds.
Cop cars chase the stolen truck full of washing machines packed with cocaine bricks, driven by Charlie’s girlfriend Mia (Quelin Sepulveda), as the washers are tossed from the back of the truck by Charlie to block the pursuing police cars. This ticks off the crooked chief of the narcotics squad Vincent (Timothy Olyphant), who has secret deals with the Triad and with Walker.
Homicide detective Walker investigates the assault rifle bloodbath at the Triad druggie hangout. He does so with his new partner Ellie (Jesse Mei Li), an honest and idealistic beat cop he would rather not partner with.
The cocaine stolen is for the snotty young Triad boss Tsui Fong (Jeremy Ang Jones), as Charlie’s way of paying off his debt. The victimized gang in retaliation for the drug theft kill Fong and massacre everyone in Fong’s gang except for his double-dealing lieutenant, Ching (Sunny Pang). He receives instead a text in the form of a warning that reads: “WALK AWAY NOW.” This incident brings Fong’s crime matriarch mom (Yeo Yann Yann) from Hong Kong, with scores of fighters, to avenge the death of her son.
The ultra-violent clash at the Medusa jazz nightclub, where skulls are cracked and limbs are chopped off, is one of the better set pieces shot on a hand-held camera. It’s where Uncle Raul (Luis Guzman, in a cameo) gets into the swing of things by mowing down some punks with his high-powered weapon.
The derivative character study film reaches its climax when the Triad goons and dirty cops get into a showdown gun battle at Walker’s lakeside cabin in the woods, with the cop protecting Mia and Charlie.
The story takes place over one long night, on Christmas Eve, a time the disillusioned divorced Walker was to spend with his estranged young daughter.
The style over substance adrenaline rush crime story is ugly, ultra-violent and laced with too many action movie cliches and not enough dramatic flourishes to keep it from falling apart.
REVIEWED ON 5/4/2025 GRADE: C
dennisschwartzreviews.com