The Furious (dir. Kenji Tanigaki)

By: Adam Freed

For nearly 90 years, Kung-Fu films have invigorated the cinematic landscape with a barrage of lightning-quick, empty-hand combat performed at a dizzying pace.  The artform originated in China but quickly spread in popularity globally, giving rise to countless variations including historical epics known as “Martial Heroes,” and an advanced gravity-defying form of film combat known as “Wire-Fu”.  Of course Hollywood couldn’t let Eastern filmmaking have all of the fun and slowly came to accept “Gun-Fu” as a Western variation of the beloved genre.  From black and white swords and sandals epics to the sleek modern saga of John Wick (2014-2023), the classic art of Kung-Fu films is alive and well. One needs to search no further than the career trajectory of stuntman, stunt coordinator and director Kenji Tanigaki for proof that mastery level knowledge within the genre is the most direct path to the creation of greatness.  The evidence is Tanigaki’s The Furious (Hou zhe yan), a fireworks display of an action film about a father desperately seeking to free his kidnapped daughter from the clutches of a vile child trafficking ring.

While its premise is all too familiar, nestling in somewhere as a crossover between Taken (2008) and The Sound of Freedom (2023), the technical execution behind The Furious is second to none.  Fight choreography and stunt coordination cannot possibly be executed with a higher level of difficulty or proficiency than is captured within the confines of what is easily the best Kung-Fu film in years. Chinese genre legend  Xie Maio (Blade of Fury, Wine Sword) stars as desperate father Wang Wei, an aging but ferociously capable handyman, set to stop at nothing to rescue his daughter Rainey (Yang Enyou).  While it only takes The Furious a few moments to establish the intensity and bombastic nature of its presentation, Tanigaki’s pristine action thriller seems to make a point of raising the level of audience expectation with the unveiling of each dramatic new action set piece.  An opening foot chase scene framing Wang Wei in desperate pursuit of his captured daughter, proves to be a concussive blast of adrenaline and yet far from the highest form of combat choreography that Tanigaki has to offer.

While The Furious isn’t likely gain a great deal of praise for the complexity of its narrative, the breakneck action film subscribes to the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, making a commitment to bloody knuckle and bone-crunching combat, powerful enough to make looking away from the blood-soaked choreography an impossibility.  While Western audiences have grown accustomed to formulaic action films that offer ample opportunity for bathroom breaks amidst an endless sea of exposition, Kenji Tanigaki renders leaving one’s seat during his frenetically paced and gloriously executed The Furious an impossibility.

Target Score 8.5/10 - While the Kung-Fu genre is far from new, Kenji Tanigaki’s bruising and bloody international action thriller The Furious is a revelation and a new 21st Century high water mark to say the least.  While leaning on a familiar plot, Tanigaki’s concussive fireworks display of a film elevates itself from its opening act to its memorable final melee.