Havoc Review

Writer/director Gareth Evans' "Havoc" is a lumbering pile of genre stereotypes- corrupt cops, drug dealing and foreign organized crime syndicates, rescued occasionally by random bursts of extreme violence.

Tom Hardy stars as Walker, a detective who looks like he hasn't showered in days or brushed his teeth in weeks, who's introduced regretting all the crooked decisions he's made. He's a lousy father, an even worse husband to his estranged wife, and, on yeah, might have killed an undercover cop making some extra dough for Forest Whitaker's Beaumont, a mayor-to-be.

Whitaker has a thankless role here, walking around in a suit that looks about one size too small as he learns his son Charlie (Justin Cornwell) and his girlfriend Mia (Quelin Sepulveda) are the prime suspects in a shootout with their town's friendly neighbor Triad. At least, that's what the only surviving surveillance footage suggests. We the audience knows they were simply delivering some cocaine they stole for Tsui (Jeremy Ang Jones), as does Walker (a classic case of being "at the wrong place at the wrong time"), but everyone else will only learn once the plot demands. But I digress.

Actually there's a bit more- the young lovers were actually chased by the police, which resulted in a washing machine being tossed out, critically injuring a cop in the process. He's rushed to the hospital, of course, but in "Ye Old Book of Action Movie Cliches," you never want to be the one left recovering in the ICU.

Tsui is killed during the shootout, which really ticks off his mom (Yeo Yann Yann), who blames Charlie and kidnaps Beaumont to try and find him. He's abducted during broad daylight, sitting in traffic as armed men and women strut along with their guns free for everyone to see; when firearms go "boom," the police are nowhere to be found. In a scene I suppose is intended to be thrilling, it ends up being unbelievable and unexciting.

This happens throughout: later on, when a man pulls out a gun, slowly attaches a silences, while on  security camera, face completely visible. What is the plan here?!

The plot gradually becomes more complicated, involving Timothy Olyphant as Vincent, another bent cop, a secluded location in the woods, etc., but I found myself checking how much longer I had left. That is not the sign of a very good movie.

Everyone fires guns like an arcade game, shooting bullet after bullet even as blood errupts from nameless henchman number #2 and their body dramatically flings back. And in the grand "Stormtrooper" tradition, aside from our heroes, nobody can seem to actually hit anyone, save for a flesh wound here and there. Once you learn the pattern, any suspense dissipates into the streaming ether.

And then there are the scenes outside grungy clubs, hideouts or police stations, where cars, trucks and trains have all the grace and physics of an old video game cutscene. It's a distraction saved only be releasing on Netflix instead of in theaters.

Unfortunately, bad effects aren't the only visual issue here: the editing is egregious, scenes cut and spliced so chaotically that it's often hard to get a sense of what's happening. The camera whips around like if "John Wick" was filmed for TikTok.

Oh, it's worth mentioning that this takes place during holiday time, despite releasing late April. They could have at least delayed it and improved the awful CGI, but it looks like The Grinch stole Christmas early this year.