Havoc Is #1 on Netflix With Only 49% on Rotten Tomatoes – Is It a Skip or a Must?
Tom Hardy and Gareth Evans' new project fails to live up to action fans' expectations.
Netflix's new project Havoc was filmed in 2021, put on the shelf, and then suddenly pulled out a few years later. The arrival of spring does not correlate with the Christmas setting in the movie, but the brutal masculine energy exuded by the film's star, Tom Hardy, is always relevant.
Despite Tom Hardy's performance, Havoc becomes a rather mediocre action experience, which is saved by two amazing fight scenes.
What Is Havoc About?
Experienced cop Walker is not a very good father: he buys his daughter's Christmas presents at the first store he comes across, and he has not communicated with his family for a long time because of work.
Patrick has a secret: he and his colleagues tried to pull off a drug deal, but something went wrong. The mayor of the city knows about the operation – he blackmails Walker and asks him to bring him his son Charlie, who has gotten out of control, in exchange for his silence.
He ends up under suspicion of murdering the heir of a Chinese clan – the guy is being hunted, and Walker has to do everything to protect the guy, himself and his family from death.
Havoc Has Too Much Exposition and Not Enough Action
Gareth Evans' main problem this time is his preoccupation with the plot. Instead of immersing us in the chaos of hand-to-hand combat, the director is busy writing predictable story arcs that don't need any explanation.
Havoc couldn't repeat the success of The Raid – it is just a poorly motivated attempt at a crime noir with police corruption, a restless protagonist and a stylistic parody of John Wick and Sin City.
Havoc Is Gareth Evans' Weakest Project to Date
Havoc rarely hits the mark, but it does so with great commitment. Somewhere around the equator, the movie offers the audience a brilliantly shot scene in a club: Walker tries to fend off both his colleagues and Chinese thugs.
The climax is the final fight in an abandoned house and on a snow-covered wasteland. Human flesh is pierced by all manner of bladed weapons – from a penknife to a harpoon and bullets of every caliber.
Without this dynamic, so familiar to Evans, Havoc would be in danger of being completely lost. The director is still in the ranks, but from his tandem with a Hollywood star and his first major release, one expects much more scale and violence.
His previous project Apostle inspired real horror precisely because of the feeling of complete impunity. Here, Evans plays cautiously, making you eagerly await a new round of the director's creativity.