Havoc

When you combine the immense funding that Netflix offers with the star power of Tom Hardy and the action director pedigree of The Raid and Gangs of London's Gareth Evans, on paper you'd think that there's not a lot that could go wrong. These three pillars holding up a gritty crime action flick where Hardy stars as a corrupt and grizzled detective fighting to save the son of a bent politician from the triad, a story that ultimately shines the spotlight on all manner of corruption seeping through a hellish city that can best be described as a Gotham without the Batman. Yep, in theory the idea and backing behind Havoc is almost the perfect action formula. It's just such a shame then that it never realises its true potential.

Havoc is a fine example of a film that simply does the core things wrong. There are ideas and parts of this film that work well and entertain, but then there are several other moments and stylistic choices that really hold it back and see it flounder.

The structure of this film for one is a grievance. The first act is a pretty mediocre affair from start to finish. The opening portion delivers a vehicle heist sequence that would be intense if it wasn't for the fact that it has been created entirely out of subpar CG animation that looks like it belongs in a cutscene in a Kane & Lynch game from the late 2000s... It's simply hard to stomach and digest and really doesn't set Havoc up as something to have much faith in. But then soon after you meet Hardy's gruff Walker, become familiar with his place in the world and personality in just a handful of moments, and once again Havoc gives you a reason to believe.

It's around this time that we're introduced to the majority of the rest of the cast; Jessie Mei Li's honest cop Ellie, Forest Whitaker's corrupt politician Lawrence Beaumont, Timothy Olyphant's dishonest detective Vincent, and so on. Frankly, the rest of the cast handle their tasks at hand serviceably at best, with Olyphant and Whitaker in particular being disappointments and failing to live up the potential we've seen from them in prior projects. But hey, Havoc is mostly about Hardy doing the one thing he does best, being a hardened and no-nonsense tough man, and it's safe to say he completes this job with ease.

But anyway, back to the plot, the second act serves up a much better portion of film, balancing the necessary emotion that a narrative like this needs to survive, with shocking twists, and plenty of brutal action that would make The Raid fans scream out for joy. The scene in the nightclub with a heavy bass soundtrack thumping in the background is particularly great and shows the heights that Havoc can reach when it's at its best.

However, then we get to the third act. Now granted, I will say that the chaotic sequence in Walker's cabin is exciting - ridiculous but exciting - but what follows is a truly disappointing end that once again shows that Havoc doesn't quite know how to hold itself together. The conclusive moments are daft beyond belief, delivering a scene that makes the shootout at O.K. Corral look like child's play. Any structure and hope that Havoc gives to you that it can build on the stronger second act and present a clean and fulfilling dismount is washed away in minutes, leaving you hollow and simply shocked that the answer was to simply end the film with maximum violence with very little meaning or reason behind it.

It's very clear that despite having all the hallmarks of a memorable and interesting gritty crime detective action film, Evans had no intention to make Havoc anything more than a forgettable violence-fest. Sure, some of the action stands out and entertains, Hardy is once again effortlessly engaging, and the grim painting of a city that Evans has built up has plenty of potential, but the story and narrative at the heart of this tale is paper thin at the best of times, and the cast don't do a whole lot to elevate it. It's not a complete trainwreck of a film however it's also not nearly as good a film as it could have been. Although, that has become a common occurrence for many streaming films of late, so should we be surprised...?