TIFF 2025: ‘The Furious’ Review
Boasting an international cast of martial arts stars, an incredible crew behind the camera, and directed by one of Japan’s leading action directors, it’s no wonder The Furious is the action movie spectacle that it is. Featuring stunt choreography from the inimitable Kensuke Sonomura (Baby Assassins, Ghost Killer) and starring prominent action stars such as Joe Taslim and Yayan Ruhian of The Raid fame, Xie Miao (The New Legend of Shaolin, My Father is a Hero), Jija Yanin (Chocolate), Brian Le (Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Paper Tigers), Joey Iwanaga in a chaotic, villainous role, and many others, The Furious is a multinational affair that collides with fist and foot to deliver the most consistently astounding action scenes in a film. Kinetic, brutal, and creative, Kenji Tanigaki’s latest film makes up for any slight hiccups with a refreshingly non-stop storm of violence and carnage that quickly solidifies itself as one of the best action films of the decade.
There’s a common complaint about martial arts films, where the narrative often feels like a means to an end rather than an integral part of the action itself. That complaint is definitely valid, as some films do focus more on the action than the story, or, unfortunately, the opposite. However, it often arises when a film’s story feels generic or familiar. It doesn’t matter how good the action is; the film gets dragged down simply because it tries to find the neatest way to transition from one adrenaline-pumping fight scene to the next. The Furious will definitely receive similar suggestions as its mute protagonist, Wei (Miao), moves Heaven and Earth to rescue his kidnapped daughter, Rainy (Yang Enyou), from a crime syndicate that has been expanding its operations to include child trafficking. The child trafficking plot has been rehashed so many times that it’s usually just an easy means of creating a quick emotional pull for audiences as a parent tries to save their child. Tied into that struggle is a journalist (Taslim) looking for his wife (Yanin), who has gone missing after getting too close to answers.
It’s a decidedly uncomplicated narrative that focuses more on bringing together a large ensemble of characters to fight with and against each other, rather than on any narrative revelations or character development. At the beginning of the film, we are given a clear understanding of who is good and who is bad, and this remains consistent throughout the film. Even the international cast is accounted for in the film’s streamlining, as it refers to the film’s setting as “Somewhere in Southeast Asia” and makes the odd decision to have every actor speak English, with few exceptions. It takes some getting used to, and it’s clear which actors were not comfortable speaking English, so there’s some dubbing here and there that is noticeably jarring. Everything done to the film is in service of creating something easy to follow, and that has the potential to be elevated by everything working around it.
In this case, The Furious succeeds where many martial arts films struggle. By going for broke and featuring constant set pieces and action sequences for its characters that heighten an already violent world, Tanigaki turns every frantic attempt to save someone into a risky endeavour teetering towards complete carnage. Sonomura delivers some of the best choreography in his already-prolific career as bodies crumble into one another to form mountains and combatants slide across floors as if they’re made of ice with an impossible precision of movement that has them taking out foe after foe. There’s truly nothing like it, and while Sonomura has cut his teeth on this particular brand of kinetic fisticuffs with speedy grapples, it has never felt this visceral and propulsive. Sonomura’s previous work has always kept actors moving but confined to small locations; yet, with The Furious, Tanigaki seems to unleash him into derelict buildings, nightclubs, and streets, where action can spill into every corner of its world.
With a more than capable cast, Tanigaki’s also able to keep the emotional stakes high while also letting the film’s actors get down and dirty with the stuntwork. Taslim and Miao are the heartbeat of the film. Still, the fact that Tanigaki incorporates younger actors into its action without making them feel helpless is a testament to the film’s creative inclinations while ensuring that just because there’s action doesn’t mean characters get sidelined. In fact, The Furious has so many characters involved in set pieces that it’s an achievement how much everyone feels like they’re on equal footing. It’s difficult to discuss any particular fight scene in The Furious without becoming overwhelmed with emotion, not because the story delivers it, but because the action frequently leaves you in a complete state of awe. The camerawork from Meteor Cheung keeps up with the action, while contributions from Flying Lotus to Olivia Xiaolin and Elliot Leung’s score further escalate already intense sequences.
Right from the opening brawl, Tanigaki establishes both the world his characters are brawling through and the brutality their bodies will endure. There are plenty who will dismiss the film’s narrative as derivative—even I must admit that the ending is a bit disappointing and feels rushed—but what it supports is worthy enough to overlook. The reality is that The Furious is so fast-paced and action-packed that it breathes life into the elements that don’t quite work. For the same reason that The Raid: Redemption remains a high point of the genre despite a very barebones story, The Furious delivers a refreshing action experience that takes Sonomura’s electrifying style and gives it a boundless stage to run rampant within. The Furious is an unstoppable freight train of ruthless violence that works tirelessly to showcase a mesmerizing tapestry of hard-hitting punches and sweeping kicks.
The 50th Toronto International Film Festival takes place between September 4th and 14th. The Furious celebrated its World premiere on September 6th, as part of TIFF’s Midnight Madness program. The full list of films selected for the festival can be found here.
