THE FURIOUS
Starring: Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Yang Enyou, Yayan Ruhian, Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga, JeeJa Yanin, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Manatsanun Phanlerdwongsakul, Guo Junqing, and Winai Wiangyangkung
Director: Kenji Tanigaki
ADRIANO
I saw The Furious at midnight, and it's a testament to the sheer bone-crushing insanity of director Kenji Tanigaki's martial arts epic that I had so much energy walking out. The story is fairly simple, but you're here for the action, and I can sincerely say this has some of the best action choreography I've ever seen. Several times, I wasn't sure how someone could conceptualize these fight scenes, let alone shoot them, all building up to a two-on-two-on-one sequence where I didn't blink once. An easy movie to get hyped on by just hearing the name after watching it.
AMARÚ
The Furious is absolutely bonkers. Director Kenji Tanigaki found the best ways to use the different fighting styles linked to the who’s who cast of cinematic martial arts masters, putting together tremendously unique, mind-bending, and jaw-dropping choreography. It’s a gloriously violent affair with gasp-worthy moments, made all the better with its pulpy reverence to the camp that makes many martial arts films a goofy and hilarious time. Story-wise, it does nothing we haven’t seen before, but what we really want to see is the marvelous things that our minds could never imagine the body doing. The Furious delivers that in spades.
BODE
In discussing his love for Mad Max: Fury Road, Steven Soderbergh famously said: “I don’t understand how they’re not still shooting that film and I don’t understand how hundreds of people aren’t dead.” I thought that tenfold watching The Furious. Director Kenji Tanigaki delivers ass-kicking pulp of the highest order, with some of the most brutally satisfying action sequences this side of The Raid. Yes, the story is familiar, and the English dubbing is noticeably wonky. But when the fighting is so good, I think they can afford to be afterthoughts. See this with the biggest crowd of action junkies possible.
NICK
There is no denying that the innovative fight choreography in The Furious is among the best ever put on screen. It is less of a gritty brawl and more of a meticulous, violent dance that is a sight to behold. Unfortunately, the rest of the film isn't as flawless. Besides a fairly thin story, there is some unnecessarily sloppy dubbing. This is the biggest black eye on the film as it happens frequently and throughout. That said, if you’re a fan of The Raid, you will be more than satisfied with what The Furious has to offer, flaws and all.
QUENTIN
There probably is a pretentious asshole somewhere hardcore complaining about The Furious’s thin story and moments of absurdity that toe the line of “that’s a bit much.” Or criticizing it for being an unoriginal mishmash of The Raid, Taken, and Oldboy. But, dear reader, I’m not that asshole. And two things can be true. Yes, those points are valid, but if, like me, you’re coming to The Furious for bone-crunching martial arts, hammer fights, and GTFOH-level fight choreography, you’ll leave with the biggest smile on your face because you would have just witnessed a generationally great brawler and one of the year’s best action movies.
This film was reviewed by Adriano and Amarú as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.