Bullets will fly. Blood will be shed. When the dust settles, bodies will pile up like garbage on trash day. Who’ll be left standing after this havoc? Who?
Crime stories and gangland killings fuel crime/action/thriller movies. Dirty cops wrangling criminals when the line between the law and the lawless is blurred beyond recognition is a staple. Director/writer Gareth Evans’ premise, script and filmmaking don’t aim high; they go for the bullseye. His former cable series Gangs of London (international gangs warring in Britain) and films like The Raid: Redemption (A S.W.A.T team is trapped inside a tenement) underscore his basic strategy: Heavy on the action, thrills and grimy crime. Light on innovative narratives, character development and perceptive dialogue. Give the audience the mind-numbing violence they crave and all will be well.
Walker (Tom Hardy, Oscar® nominee The Revenant), a narcotics detective, has dirty hands. When a local, connected mayoral candidate, Lawrence Beaumont (Forest Whitaker, Oscar® winner Last King of Scotland), asks him to find and save his estranged son Charlie (Justin Cornwell, TV’s Bel-Air), the cop gives him his cold-hearted opinion. “Your son just started a gang war. They want him dead. End of story.” But coerced by the powerbroker, he snaps into action, as thugs are hunting down Beaumont’s offspring. And no wonder, the dude was involved a messy drug deal. The son of an Asian mafia crime boss named Little Sister (Yeo Yann Yann) was killed. She’s pissed!
Nothing about this mission is easy for Walker. Hard to explain it to his rookie cop partner Ellie (Jesse Mei Li). Harder to tell her that some of the mayhem they’ll encounter will come from their own direction. From cops caught up in a web of deceit, payoffs and blue on blue animosity. Just how deadly is this quest gonna be? Ask the corpses strewn along the way.
Late night Netflix viewers cruising around for thrills will encounter a neo-noir, high-body count, action film in the vein of Hong-Kong thrillers like John Woo’s The Killer. They’ll experience a viable descendant of that style. A hybrid created by a Welsh-born filmmaker who knows how to turn on the bloodletting spigot they crave. From the git go, he’s amped. Opening scenes depict a breakneck car chase, where police pursue a speeding semi-truck filled with washing machines. What’s real and what’s fake in this sequence isn’t the point. Adrenalin is the key.
As plot pieces are disseminated a plethora of characters assemble. Walker’s family, cops from his station, Beaumont’s associates and the legion of killers sent by the vengeance-seeking crime lady who wants an eye-for-an-eye remedy. Viewers don’t need to keep track of who’s who. Throw reason out the door and go for the ride. Watch Walker try to rescue Charlie and his lover (Quelin Sepulveda), as he pursues them over hill and dale, down dark streets and into nightclubs and cabins. Until they reach the end of the road and a final piece of exhilarating, balletic gunplay and combat. The climax isn’t mindboggling as that in John Wick: Chapter 4, but close enough to forget the weak drama that preceded.
Guessing which American city this production is trying to feign is a waste of time. Detroit? Chicago? New York? It doesn’t really matter. The direction and production don’t leave telltale marks. Many of the sets (production designer Tom Pearce, Gangs of London) have a gray/brown tint to them that makes the environment look dirty and lived in. The clothes the crooks, police and innocent wear fit the people, place and atmosphere well (costume designer Sian Jenkins, God’s Own Country).
Time rolls by quickly because editors Sara Jones and Matt Platts-Mills cut scenes down to the bone. When moments need to be accentuated, Aria Prayogi’s (The Raid: Redemption) score throws gasoline on the fire. Perfect angles, moody lighting, astute composition and a knack for shooting action sequence like a champ is the province of cinematographer Matt Flannery (The Raid: Redemption). A big movie theater screen might expose imperfections. A TV screen does not.
The very moody actor Tom Hardy carries a chip on his shoulder that’s as big as Denzel Washington’s. He brings a strong, inner storm with him wherever he goes. A soul filled with conflict and contradictions breathes life into his Walker portrayal. Ferociousness on one hand, yet sensitive enough to fret over buying a small toy for his daughter. This cop is intriguing. Just like the characters he played in films like Inception, The Dark Knight Rises and Mad Max: Fury Road. Hardy has perfected a scowl that’s engaging.
Whitaker as the dirty-dealing businessman and politician is colorful and braggadocios, “I’m a part of the solution not the problem.” There’s a coldness in Yan’s interpretation of the crime syndicate leader that resonates as she confronts Beaumont, “Your son took the one thing I loved in this world.” An innocence in Li’s young cop character and a cunningness in the crooked policeman Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood: The Movie) are equally compelling. Having veteran actor Luis Guzman in a key supporting role provides a great chance to see a master thespian at work.
Theatergoers might have been less receptive. But ‘round midnight, Netflix fans will eat this one up. There’s enough mayhem and carnage to go around. More or less. Mostly more.
Visit Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.