“The Furious” is an excellent contemporary martial arts film. The fight choreography is over-the-top in intensity. Great foley sound helps add dimension to the action. The acting is subsumed under the general premise of fighting child traffickers, a part of society that no one minds seeing bite the dust.

There is a note that this story occurs somewhere in Southeast Asia. (The movie was filmed in Thailand.) Journalist Matia (JeeJa Yanin) going to a place where she encounters a child being exploited. She frees the kid and fights off several attackers. However, the child is killed. She sees Tak (Yayan Ruhian) with his bow and arrow. He is accompanied by Paklung (Joey Iwagana) who directs Tak to take care of her.

We next are exposed to Wang Wei (Xie Miao) who is a mute handyman. He constructs a kind of boxing dummy for his daughter Rainy (Yang Enyou) to practice with. His daughter lives in China and appears to be vacationing with him.

She accompanies him to his work location. He has a way of using sign language which she understands. Later, at a hair salon, he and other staff members suggest cutting her hair short. Rainy does not like this badgering. She leaves and another store employee tries to find her.

Outside, Marky (Guo Junqing), a boy with a limp, tells Rainy that there has been an accident and he needs her help. Going down one street, a man pulls a black plastic bag over her and throws her in a truck. She is knocked unconscious.

When the salon employee tells Wang Wei that she couldn’t find Rainy, he leaves to locate her. When he discovers the truck, a major brawl occurs. He is unable to rescue Rainy as the lowlifes escape in their vehicle. He chases them but is hit by a car.

Bloodied, Wang Wei travels to the local police station. He is treated brusquely by a policeman despite his notes indicating a child kidnapping. One policeman wants to help but is overruled by her superior (who we later find out is in cahoots with the traffickers).

In another scene, Navin (Joe Taslim) is talking to one of the subordinates of Mr. Song (Sahajak Boonthanakit). He wants to get in to see the boss.

Navin is the husband of the missing Matia. When he sees Mr. Song, Navin has a video camera installed in his tie. Their meeting goes well until it doesn’t. Then Navin has to fight off a host of thugs as he moves from location to location inside the building.

Lo and behold, Wang Wei is there too. He ends up fighting as well. In the end, the two escape with a computer file. They realize that they are on the same side.

Navin is operating out of a van. They figure out that freezer trucks are being used to transport children to no good place. They arrive at the factory and another major fight ensues.

Later Paklung decides that Mr. Song is a liability. In a future scene, we see that Mr. Song has been riddled with Tak’s arrows.

Will Wang Wei find Rainy? Will Navin find Matia? Their co-search will be the basis for many more fights to come in the picture.

First of all, the choreography of the fight scenes is spot-on. The ones involving multiple participants are deftly set up. Usually it is easy to tell the good guys from the bad ones.

The use of found objects as weapons is another highlight of the film. Of course, my pet peeve about the laws of physics and anatomy and physiology not being applied goes out the window here.

On the other hand, when someone dies, it is usually in as gruesome a way as possible. Even things like biting a finger off, while not in and of itself lethal, are a nice precursor to what is to come.

The foley effects give sound and heft to the action. I also compliment the cinematography for keeping darker scenes well-illuminated so that I could see what was happening without squinting to catch an image.

The screenplay is taut. I found the flow of the film to be harmonious. The story is peppered with fight scenes but that is the whole point of this movie. Another plus: the non-fight segments are not unwanted distractions but remain true to the core of the plot.

The sections where the children are held captive are not too exploitative. Obviously the kids are not in a good situation. But there is no need to be prurient and the picture avoids that.

The theme of how child trafficking hides in plain sight is well-portrayed. From a building in the middle of a neighborhood to the freezer trucks, society does not notice. The scene with the girl having a large plastic bag pulled over her was startling. But from there, it was a simple matter to throw her in an old-fashioned garbage truck bed.

Another theme is police corruption. There is a critical scene where the rank-and-file disobey their chief, who is in on the child trafficking. I couldn’t help but be overjoyed at the kick-ass dismissal of this villain.

I am not sure why the decision was made to cast Xie Miao as mute. In one way, this makes him more demonstrative emotionally to his daughter. It also enhances how his facial reactions have to convey his character. He does an admirable job without speaking.

Joe Taslim does a great job portraying a man suffering from the disappearance of his wife. His comedic skills also are showcased here. His chemistry with Xie Miao is very believable. They make a great team in their fights.

Young Enyou as Rainy does a good job portraying an, at times, annoying brat but also a loving daughter. She proves to be resourceful thanks to her dad’s training. This young actress was completely convincing in her performances both in and out of captivity.

This film is an easy watch. Even though it takes some time to figure out who is who, the many incredible fight scenes more than make up for any flaws. I will say that I felt that the movie ends appropriately.

Four and a half out of five stars

After the daughter of Wang Wei (Xie Miao) is kidnapped by a criminal network and he receives no help from the corrupt police, Wei sets out on a rampage to find her himself. His only ally is Navin (Joe Taslim) – a relentless journalist whose wife has mysteriously disappeared. Fueled by a furious vengeance, the unlikely duo ruthlessly fights against the kidnappers in this explosive martial arts showdown.

STARRING
Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Yang Enyou, Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Manatsanun Phanlerdwongsakul, Guo Junqing, Winai Wiangyangkung, special appearance by Yayan Ruhian, Jija Yanin

DIRECTED BY
Kenji Tanigaki

WRITTEN BY
Mak Tin Shu, Lei Zhilong, Shum Kwan Sin, Frank Hui