If you want better screenplay quality
Choose Exit 8. It scores 4.8 vs 1.7 for screenplay quality, with a 4.2 overall score.
The Furious Movie Review
Bottom Line
Choose it for extraordinary martial-arts choreography, practical stunt work, and a raucous crowd experience. Skip it if thin characterization, awkward dubbing, or graphic child-endangerment violence will overwhelm the spectacle.
Best for
Best for adult martial-arts and action fans who value inventive choreography, practical stunt work, clear camerawork, and an energized theatrical experience over narrative complexity.
Not for
Skip it if you need deep character development, polished dialogue, restrained violence, or family-friendly viewing; the child-trafficking material and gore are intense.
Verdict
The Furious is a near-essential watch for martial-arts fans because its action design is unusually inventive, tactile, and easy to follow. Kenji Tanigaki and a world-class cast turn hammers, bicycles, bodies, and crowded rooms into escalating set pieces that repeatedly feel new. Xie Miao’s wordless intensity, Joe Taslim’s charisma, forceful sound design, and long-take camerawork give the combat real weight. The tradeoff is substantial: the rescue plot is basic, character development is thin, dialogue and ADR are frequently awkward, and the ending divides reviewers despite an acclaimed final fight. Its graphic violence and disturbing child-trafficking material also make it strictly for mature audiences. Still, the overwhelming consensus is that the physical filmmaking is strong enough to eclipse nearly every narrative flaw.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
44 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.023 (52%)
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Positive 3.5-4.47 (16%)
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Neutral 2.5-3.45 (11%)
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Negative 1.5-2.47 (16%)
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Very negative below 1.52 (5%)
Pros
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The fight sequences are exceptional: inventive, punishing, clearly staged, and constantly escalating. Prop-based combat, layered group choreography, and the five-way finale make the action feel genre-leading.
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The reliance on trained performers, long takes, and visible in-camera movement is one of the film’s biggest attractions. Very little of the action feels dependent on doubles or glossy digital fakery.
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Xie Miao’s wordless intensity and physical presence carry the film, while Joe Taslim provides charisma and a complementary style. Their control, athleticism, and expressive action work are exceptional.
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For action fans, the film is an exhilarating, funny, and highly satisfying ride. Its weak writing rarely diminishes the sheer pleasure of the physical spectacle.
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Every punch, break, and impact is reinforced by aggressive, detailed sound design. The crunches and thuds make the fights more immersive, frightening, and satisfying.
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The basic plot is familiar, but the action language feels genuinely fresh. Props, bodies, styles, and group movement combine in ways that rarely resemble standard modern action filmmaking.
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The camera moves with the fighters while preserving spatial clarity, often using wide shots and energetic long takes. A few moments feel slippery, but the visual coverage is overwhelmingly praised.
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The movie is built for a loud communal experience, with applause, laughter, gasps, and cheering enhancing its impact. It plays like a raucous crowd-pleaser.
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Kenji Tanigaki’s direction is a major strength, presenting complicated movement with confidence and clarity. He turns a basic premise into a showcase for world-class physical filmmaking.
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The movie moves with relentless, high-energy momentum and rarely allows the action to cool down. A few viewers found the sustained intensity exhausting or thought the first two-thirds held back before the finale.
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The central pair works well because their contrasting styles and shared purpose make them feel complementary. The father-daughter relationship also gives the action a convincing emotional anchor.
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The intricate choreography and dense physical detail give the movie strong repeat-viewing appeal. Favorite fights contain enough layered movement to reveal new details on another watch.
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Long takes and visible physical effort make the fights feel tactile and authentic despite wildly unrealistic durability. Scrappy movement and practical execution sell the impact even when the physics become cartoonish.
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The supporting performers add memorable personality and varied fighting styles. Brian Le and Yang Enyou receive particular praise for making their roles more vivid than the thin script requires.
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The film has a gritty, kinetic look that favors full-body movement, industrial spaces, and oily urban textures. Its visual approach makes the action feel distinctive rather than polished into generic spectacle.
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The hard-driving music adds momentum and gives the fights a charged, theatrical pulse. The forceful soundtrack is a strong companion to the nonstop movement.
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The film balances bleak subject matter with cartoonish physical excess and grim humor surprisingly well. The contrast can be jarring, but it usually feels energizing rather than careless.
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The international cast and mixture of Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Thai, and Hong Kong action traditions give the film a distinctive Pan-Asian identity. The blend remains compelling even when the vague setting feels artificial.
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Editing is generally clear and rhythmic, letting completed moves land instead of hiding them behind frantic cuts. The sped-up look of the final fight is a rare visual misstep.
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Enthusiasm is exceptionally high, with the film widely positioned as the year’s best action release and one of the strongest martial-arts movies in years.
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The movie delivers exactly what martial-arts fans want: escalating hand-to-hand combat, distinct fighting styles, and spectacular physical skill.
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The rescue stakes, breathless chases, and dangerous close-quarters fights keep tension high even when the plot is predictable.
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The cast earns strong marks for physical commitment, while traditional dramatic acting receives more mixed reactions. Performances are most convincing when emotion is expressed through movement rather than dialogue.
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The anti-trafficking message is direct, emotionally accessible, and fueled by anger at corrupt institutions. Some find it simplistic, while others appreciate the cathartic call for protection and accountability.
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The movie finds grim humor inside its brutal fights, using absurd props, exaggerated durability, and sudden comic reversals. That dark playfulness helps keep the carnage from becoming monotonous.
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Industrial freezers, crowded clubs, tenements, streets, and a battered police station give each fight a distinct physical playground. The environments actively shape the choreography.
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The electronic score heightens the film’s already intense action and helps make major set pieces feel even more forceful.
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Beneath the mayhem, the film shows sympathy for exploited children and anger at wealthy, protected criminals. The social perspective adds weight, even though the themes remain direct rather than deeply explored.
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The central rescue mission is straightforward and easy to follow. Its clarity keeps the movie moving, though the minimal plotting can feel underdeveloped.
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The father-daughter bond and anger at the traffickers give the action real emotional force. Some dramatic beats land less effectively, especially when the dubbing or late-story structure gets in the way.
Cons
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Awkward English dialogue, conspicuous ADR, and clunky dubbing are persistent distractions. The next fight usually arrives quickly enough to keep these flaws from sinking the movie.
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The screenplay is widely viewed as functional at best, with thin plotting, blunt dialogue, and obvious dramatic shortcuts. It succeeds mainly by creating reasons for the next elaborate confrontation.
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CGI quality is inconsistent: some blood effects look credible, while other blood, lip-sync work, and isolated digital shots appear obvious or crude. The physical stunt work remains strong enough to overshadow most of it.
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The kidnapping-and-revenge setup is familiar and predictable, with little novelty in the plot itself. The tradeoff is easier to accept because the combat presentation feels fresh.
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This is not family-friendly viewing despite its focus on parents and children. Graphic beatings, child endangerment, gore, and relentless brutality make it unsuitable for younger audiences.
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The practical action is impressive, but a few digital and low-budget effects look cheap, especially near the climax. These flaws are brief and rarely distract for long.
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The story is intentionally simple and often effective as a launchpad for the fights, but it becomes thin, messy, or poorly organized whenever the action pauses.
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Character work is one of the weaker areas, with the adults often feeling thin or barely developed. Distinct personalities and family relationships still provide enough investment for the action.
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The savage violence, profanity, and disturbing child-trafficking material make the film appropriate only for mature viewers.
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The unnamed Southeast Asian setting creates a broad Pan-Asian backdrop, but it can feel vague and frustrating. The world functions more as action scaffolding than a fully realized place.
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The nearly two-hour length can feel excessive, especially after the rescue plot reaches an earlier emotional peak. The extended final act may test anyone less invested in pure combat.
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The violence is extreme, graphic, and nearly constant. Genre fans often embrace its outrageous brutality, but sensitive or squeamish viewers are likely to find the level overwhelming.
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The climactic combat is spectacular, but the surrounding resolution is uneven. The rushed wrap-up, extra epilogue, and fading dramatic stakes may leave the ending less satisfying than the final fight.
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The family conflict and trafficking premise provide a workable dramatic base, but quieter emotional scenes are much less convincing than the action.
Cast & Creators
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HoLe is a scene-stealing physical force whose comic resilience, size, and unusual movement make Ho a standout antagonist.
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PaklungIwanaga turns Paklung into a memorable villain, shifting from restrained businessman to explosively dangerous fighter.
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DirectorTanigaki’s direction is praised for clarity, confidence, and an extraordinary command of large-scale physical action.
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Action ChoreographerSonomura’s choreography is celebrated for intricate combinations, escalating group fights, and inventive use of bodies and props.
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CinematographerCheung’s cinematography keeps complicated movement readable while giving the fights a dynamic, immersive visual flow.
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Wang WeiMiao delivers a charismatic, emotionally expressive lead performance through physicality, facial intensity, and precise martial-arts skill.
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ComposerFlying Lotus supplies a hard-driving soundtrack that helps propel the fights and sustain the movie’s adrenaline.
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MatiaYanin’s brief contribution is praised for accomplished martial-arts skill and an immediately forceful opening presence.
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NavinTaslim brings charisma, athletic control, and a smoother counterpoint to the lead’s rawer fighting style.
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RainyEnyou gives Rainy spunk, maturity, and emotional weight, making the child role feel active rather than merely vulnerable.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other Movies, this product is above average in pacing, action sequences, originality, near average in story quality, CGI quality, below average in age appropriateness, family friendliness, world-building.
Comparison summary
44 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher27 (61%)
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Same as average within 0.3 pts7 (16%)
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Below average 0.4+ pts lower10 (23%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| age appropriateness | 1.0 | 3.1 | -2.1 |
| pacing | 4.7 | 2.8 | +1.9 |
| action sequences | 4.9 | 3.4 | +1.5 |
| family friendliness | 1.0 | 2.8 | -1.8 |
| world-building | 2.3 | 3.9 | -1.6 |
| originality | 4.8 | 3.4 | +1.4 |
| critic appeal | 5.0 | 3.5 | +1.5 |
| special effects quality | 2.0 | 3.5 | -1.5 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better runtime
Choose Leviticus. It scores 4.5 vs 1.5 for runtime, with a 4.2 overall score.
If you want better plot originality
Choose Rose of Nevada. It scores 5.0 vs 2.1 for plot originality, with a 4.5 overall score.
If you want better age appropriateness
Choose Girls Like Girls. It scores 4.5 vs 1.0 for age appropriateness, with a 4.0 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
John Wick
- Worse: martial-arts skill The reviewer considers its physical skill level even higher than John Wick's.
- Compared: action style The film shares similarities with John Wick but still stands apart.
- Compared: over-the-top action It is compared with John Wick but described as even more outrageously over the top.
Taken
- Similar: family rescue drama The family rescue element is compared with Taken.
- Compared: rescue premise The kidnapping premise is compared with Taken, but the hero's martial-arts abilities are even more extreme.
The Raid
- Better: groundbreaking impact It does not reach The Raid's groundbreaking heights, though it remains a crowd-pleasing action success.
- Compared: bone-crunching action The film shares The Raid's bone-crunching intensity while pushing the excess further.
FAQ
Is the action really the main attraction?
Yes. Nearly every source treats the elaborate hand-to-hand choreography, practical physicality, and inventive use of props as the film’s defining achievement.
Does the story hold up between fights?
The rescue plot is clear and emotionally accessible, but it is deliberately basic. Many reviewers found the writing thin, clunky, or poorly developed outside the action.
How graphic is the violence?
Extremely graphic and nearly constant, with broken bones, blood, dismemberment, child endangerment, and brutal improvised weapons. It is intended for mature viewers who tolerate hard-R action.
Are the dialogue and dubbing distracting?
Often, yes. Awkward ADR, stilted English delivery, and visible dubbing are recurring complaints, although most reviewers say the action quickly recaptures attention.
Is it worth seeing with a crowd?
Reviewers strongly favor a large screen and lively audience, describing applause, cheering, laughter, and gasps as part of the movie’s appeal.
Does it have rewatch value?
For action fans, yes. The speed, density, and layered movement of the fights give viewers plenty of details and combinations to revisit.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
YouTube - AngryJoeShow
- Review score
- 4.6
YouTube - John Rocha
- Review score
- 4.1
Article Reviews
themoviebuff.net
Looking for a review of "The Furious?" The Movie Buff is your source for reviews, movie news, and more.
- Review score
- 4.3
pluggedin.com
‘The Furious’ is packed with top-shelf martial arts action. But the end result is messy in oh so many ways.
- Review score
- 2.5
decider.com
Kenji Tanigaki directs the best assemblage of choreographed martial arts violence since The Raid.
- Review score
- 3.4
empireonline.com
Kenji Tanigaki goes all-in with martial-arts action epic The Furious — in UK cinemas now. Read Empire's review.
- Review score
- 3.9
digitalspy.com
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the...
- Review score
- 4.5
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