The Furious Review: Arguably The Best Martial Arts Movie Of The Decade

Non-stop action from start to finish. The Furious reminds us why martial arts films don’t require extensive dialogue. It is the fists that do the talking.

A Reminder Why Martial Arts is Cinematic Art

There is a rather small consensus going around that martial arts movies are in decline. I’m not talking about sales, but martial arts movies as an art form.

I might sound like an old man rambling, “… back in my day,” but those who have lived through the glory days of Yuen Woo Ping and Tsui Hark will notice there’s a significant shift in the martial arts meta. It has become more style over substance.

This is not to say The Furious does not use CGI, but they use it properly and still retain the authenticity and core of martial arts. The camerawork and sound effects capture every fight scene with extreme detail, so it feels like you are inside the fight scenes yourself.

At the early screening, I sat beside a dude who had to sit up for the entire movie. Almost every punch, kick, and near-eye gouging moment was reciprocated with a physical reaction.

Of course, this is also due to the awesome casting of Xie Miao and Joe Taslim as leads. Both of them actually practice martial arts – Xie Miao with traditional Shaolin kungfu and Joe Taslim with Judo – making the scenes feel in the right place.

Also, if you are a lover of action flicks that’ll get your adrenaline kicking, check out the movies coming soon to TGV!

Strong Comparisons With The Raid For The Right Reasons

Often hailed as one of the best martial arts movies ever, The Raid is immortalised in the martial arts circle with a decent cult following. Its mastery in capturing the atmosphere of Indonesia’s rougher parts is in itself a work of art. The only movie that could rival it in this regard that comes to my mind immediately is Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In.

Though The Furious doesn’t particularly stand out in its atmosphere, it matches The Raid with its gritty take on combat.

Both movies don’t hold back. The blood and gore are through the roof. Personally, I do prefer The Furious as there is more emphasis on hand-to-hand combat, with the occasional hammer bashing through the head sequence that is oddly satisfying.

It’s actually hard to put into words the greatness of each scene because there are just too many. One scene that stuck with me the most is when Xie Miao performs a Shaolin stance, and in one move, ankle-crushes a grunt’s leg. Perfection.

The Furious is Honest With Itself and The Martial Arts Genre

This reminded me of the time when I brought a friend to watch Louis Koo’s Back to the Past, and after I naturally asked him for his thoughts, he said the story wasn’t compelling enough, comparing it with Nolan’s films.

It got me thinking, does it really need to be?

Plot-wise, The Furious is as formulaic as it gets, but nobody is going into it expecting a riveting story. All of its eggs are placed in the choreography basket, and that is what the director, Kenji Tanigaki, is best at.

The Furious trusts that it doesn’t need to use words to deliver the core of its movie, but instead uses kicks and punches. I love that about it because we often see overly ambitious takes on a niche genre and movies becoming something they are not.

I’m glad Tanigaki didn’t fall into this trap and instead stayed true to the “martial arts roots” and managed to deliver what I consider to be one of the best martial arts films of the decade.