The Furious (2026) Lionsgate/Action RT: 113 minutes Rated R (strong bloody violence and language) Director: Kenji Tanigaki Screenplay: Mark Tin-shu, Lei Zhilong, Shum Kwan-sin and Frank Hui Music: Flying Lotus, Elliot Leung and Olivia Xiaolin Cinematography: Meteor Cheung Release date: June 12, 2026 (US) Cast: Miao Xie, Joe Taslim, Yang Enyou, Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Manatsanun Phanlerdwongsakul, Guo Junqing, Winai Wiangyangkung, Yayan Ruhian, Jeeja Yanin.
Rating: ****
The Furious is NOT to be confused with The Fast and the Furious or any of the name-variation sequels from the past 25 years. It’s something completely different.
If I was to compare The Furious with anything, it would be The Raid, the 2011 Indonesian action movie that put actor/martial artist Iko Uwais on the radar of American audiences. Similarly, this Hong Kong actioner should make a star out of Xie Miao, a name not widely known in the US. Not yet anyway. Just wait until people get a load of this flick. It’s FREAKING GREAT!
Directed by Kenji Tanigaki (Enter the Fat Dragon), The Furious is a slammin’ martial arts actioner about a mute tradesman (Xie) who goes into full bad ass mode after his young daughter (Enyou, Eye for an Eye 2) is kidnapped by a trafficking ring. This entails fighting his way through a whole collection of dirtbags at a club, a warehouse and a building in his efforts to rescue her. He’s assisted by Navin (Taslim, The Raid), an investigative journalist looking for his wife (Yanin, Triple Threat) who went missing while looking into the ring herself. That’s pretty much it as far as plot goes.
What’s there not to love about The Furious? It has everything an action movie junkie needs to get by. It has lots of action and bone-crunching violence, awesome fight choreography and a simple plot. It all equals one hell of a great time at the movies. I wasn’t the only one having a blast at last night’s AMC Screen Unseen showing of The Furious. Almost the whole audience was into it save for the older couple who told me they hated it in the lobby afterwards. They said it was too violent for them. To me, that’s a ringing endorsement.
We live in a time when filmmakers tend to overedit action scenes to the point of confusion. I blame it on a generation defined by short attention spans and the need for instant gratification. The Furious deftly dodges that pitfall thanks to flawless editing by Chris Tonick. You always have a sense of geography (where opponents are relative to each other) as well as where all punches and kicks land. I know some directors who could learn a thing or several from The Furious.
That brings me to my next point. The fight choreography by Tanigaki is the best I’ve seen in a very long time. It’s a great big WOW and you know I don’t use that exclamation lightly. The Furious is wall-to-wall action from the moment the bad guys snatch the girl who, unfortunately for them, turns out to be the proverbial “wrong kid”. It starts with the hero (we don’t learn his name until the end) chasing the getaway vehicle (a garbage truck) on foot and getting into it with the baddies. It barely stops to breathe as the hero continues on his mission with no help from the police (courtesy of a corrupt HOP). It culminates in an extended finale that starts at an abandoned, multi-floor building and ends at the police station. The fighting never stops and it’s all incredible. It’s kinetic, fierce and ballet-like. It brings to mind the Hong Kong action films of the 90s, but grittier.
Now let’s talk about the villains of The Furious. The ring is headed by a wealthy guy named Pak Lung (Iwanaga, Alice in Borderland), a wealthy creep who works for his father. He has a gang of thugs that border on cartoonish. They include a sleazebag with an Afro, a hulking half-wit and an archer who never misses. Needless to say, they’re no match for our hero. In the role, Miao does a great job especially when you consider he has no dialogue. He’s mute for reasons that are never explained, but we do know he’s a man with a past. He’s a true bad ass, but also a loving father who only wants the best for his tween daughter. To him, that means constantly training in kung fu so she can take care of herself. In true tween fashion, she resents him for it and other things.
I’m not going to waste time saying a lot about the acting in The Furious. The cast does a fine job. They deliver the types of performances the material calls for, no more and no less. Instead, I’m going to skip right to the bottom line. The Furious is great fun. It’s well made. Tanigaki keeps things moving at fast and furious clip (sorry, I couldn’t resist). The writers don’t complicate things with a lot of unnecessary stuff. It’s all action and thrills with just a little drama thrown in for good measure. In short, The Furious is a great action flick. In fact, it’s the best action flick of the year. It’s going to be hard to beat this one.
