In the middle of Gareth Evans’ Havoc, a corrupt politician (Forest Whitaker) and a Chinese triad leader (Yeo Yann Yann) sit down for a quiet conversation about their sons. These are moments that try to (and are supposed to) hit you hard and make you empathise with the characters. However, none of the emotional moments leave an impact in this relentless action film, which hops from one location to another and is hellbent on catering to the ‘adrenaline junkie’ in you. Now, if you are one and can overlook the threadbare plot with sketchy character treatment, there is a lot to enjoy in Havoc.
Director: Gareth Evans
Cast: Tom Hardy, Forest Whitaker, Yeo Yann Yann, Jessie Mei Li
The film has much of the thrilling hand-to-hand, wall-to-wall action that we have seen in Evans’ Raid films. However, here, the plot is more complex, albeit detrimentally intentional on occasion. Tom Hardy plays a detective named Walker who must protect politician Lawrence Beaumont’s son, Charlie (Justin Cornwell) because he owes it to Beaumont after an egregious drug bust contributes to an undercover cop’s death. Beaumont exploits Walker’s past and involvement with other corrupt cops in the law enforcement system to force the latter to save his son. It is no walk in the park for the detective, as everyone from the triads and the moles in the system are now on his trail.
Havoc does not break new ground in terms of storytelling. It is a familiar concoction of the John Wick films and numerous other cop dramas with corrupt detectives. However, the spectacle is exhilarating to watch, as is often the case when Tom Hardy is revving it up behind the wheel or causing utter mayhem with a rifle. It is admirable how the actor maintains a sense of emotional continuity even when a lot is going on around him and the plot becomes over the top. He commits fully to the stunts and does not sleepwalk through his character at any point. For instance, at one point, Hardy’s Detective Walker takes a breather amid all the guns and glory to reminisce about his estranged daughter. The Die Hard-like moment makes you overlook Hardy the star, consider his perilous situation, and forget the slight contrivance involved in it.
Jessie Mei Li (as Walker’s partner Ellie) also gets some superbly staged action scenes, especially one involving a chase with bullets being sprayed all over a staircase. There is also Timothy Olyphant as a detective named Vincent. This underrated actor is unfortunately shortchanged with a character who is in service of the plot. The biggest problem in Havoc is perhaps the excess of plot and characters. The film keeps adding one character after another to the already overstuffed plot where a slicker approach would do just fine. For example, what is the point of having a character named Raul (Luis Guzman) as a protector for the damsel and the knight in distress if only to conveniently dispose of him in the middle of the story?
Nevertheless, action fans craving a well-made cop thriller do not have too much to complain about in Havoc. The film’s setting looks convincing as a hotbed of corruption and malpractice where anything goes. And it just whizzes through its roughly 100-minute runtime with car chases and shootouts crafted with special attention to detail.