Kenji Tanigaki, stuntman and fight choreographer turned director, delivers his eighth film with The Furious, a fast-paced ode to legendary Asian martial arts cinema. While the film navigates familiar genre paths, Tanigaki finds his own voice, crafting a work with impeccable mise-en-scène, precise technical execution, and a meticulous attention to artistic detail.

The story is straightforward: a father races against time to rescue his daughter from a ruthless criminal organization. Here, the script serves merely as a vehicle; the action is the true engine. Every element exists to fuel the elaborate, high-octane sequences that dazzle with their relentless pace. The plot provides just enough emotional weight to connect with the characters, without ever pretending to be more than a masterfully executed action spectacle. This simplicity is one of the film’s greatest strengths.

The Furious is a veritable buffet of martial arts styles: Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thai, Shaolin Kung Fu, and Judo, blended seamlessly into visceral hand-to-hand combat. The editing emerges as a star in its own right, elevating the choreography so that each sequence surpasses the last in creativity and complexity. It’s not just about fists and kicks, it’s about how Tanigaki stages each confrontation with an eye for rhythm, space, and cinematic poetry.

Wang Wei (Miao Xie) and Navin (Joe Taslim) lead the heroes, while Yayan Ruhian and Brian embody nearly immortal villains. Their authentic martial arts skills lend realism and intensity to every fight. Taslim and Ruhian, reunited from The Raid: Redemption (2011), deliver electrifying chemistry that fans of the genre will immediately recognize. While the film draws inspiration from The Raid, it leans into the fantastical elements reminiscent of 1970s Kung Fu classics, creating a hybrid of modern action epics and traditional martial arts cinema.

Once Tanigaki hits the accelerator, there is no slowing down. The Furious delivers a relentless string of combat sequences, each more elaborate than the last, culminating in a final showdown that pays homage to martial arts legends with breathtaking technical precision. The result is not just an action movie, it’s a celebration of the art of fight cinema, leaving audiences both thrilled and in awe.