Official Trailer
Rating: 8.3/10 | Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller | Runtime: 113 min
Starring: Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Yang Enyou, Yayan Ruhian, JeeJa Yanin
The Furious is exactly what it promises to be: two hours of people getting thrown through walls and punched in the face. And honestly? That’s not a complaint.
Xie Miao plays Wang Wei, a guy whose daughter gets grabbed by criminals. He goes to the cops. They’re useless. So he does what any parent in a revenge thriller would do and starts kicking down doors himself. That’s where Joe Taslim comes in as Navin, a journalist whose wife vanished under similar circumstances. They team up and basically declare war on whoever’s running this kidnapping operation.
The plot isn’t complicated and it doesn’t need to be. The movie knows what it is. It’s built around the action sequences, and that’s where it actually shines. The fight choreography is clean and brutal. You can actually see what’s happening in each shot, which is something a lot of modern action movies screw up. There’s this one sequence about halfway through where they’re fighting their way through a warehouse that just doesn’t let up for like five minutes straight. No quick cuts, no shaky cam nonsense. Just dudes fighting, really well.
Xie Miao does a lot of the heavy lifting here and he’s solid. He’s got that thing where he can go from normal guy to absolutely terrifying within a second. When his character is dealing with the emotional stuff early on, you buy it. And then when he’s in fight mode, the switch is convincing. Joe Taslim brings a different energy. He’s more unhinged, more reckless. Their dynamic actually works because they’re coming at this from different angles.
The supporting cast is stacked with martial artists. Yayan Ruhian shows up as one of the main antagonists and he’s menacing without even trying. JeeJa Yanin has a smaller role but makes an impression. These aren’t just names in the credits. They’re actually bringing skills to the table.
Where things get a little rough is the second act pacing. There’s this chunk in the middle where the story kind of spins its wheels. They’re hunting for clues, getting leads, and it’s all necessary plot stuff but it drags. The movie doesn’t quite know how to handle the slower moments. It’s like it’s just killing time until the next fight scene. Once things pick back up though, it recovers pretty quick.
The story does try to add some weight to what’s happening. It’s not just senseless violence. There’s real anger driving these characters. Wang Wei isn’t some cool action hero cracking jokes. He’s desperate. He’s making reckless choices. The movie lets the violence feel like the last resort of people who have nowhere else to turn, which gives it a little more punch than your typical revenge flick.
Runtime is 113 minutes and it never feels bloated. For an action movie, that’s a solid length. Long enough to develop the characters and plot, short enough that it doesn’t waste time on stuff that doesn’t matter.
If you’re going in expecting deep themes or character development beyond “my family is gone so I’m angry,” you’ll be disappointed. But if you want good action, solid acting, and a premise that actually justifies why these guys are throwing each other around, The Furious delivers. It’s the kind of movie you throw on when you want to see people who know how to fight actually fighting on screen.
Have you had a chance to watch this one yet? What did you think of how they handled the action versus the story stuff?
Where to Watch
Streaming availability varies by region. Check your favorite streaming platform to see if this title is available in your country.