Cover A film still from ’The Furious’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
A film still from ’The Furious’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
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Rated 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, ‘The Furious’—helmed by ‘Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In’ action director and stunt coordinator Kenji Tanigaki—stands out with its visceral choreography.
It is a challenging feat for any release to secure a perfect 100 per cent score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the definitive digital platform for cinematic consensus. According to a 2024 article by Variety, about 480 films with a minimum of 20 reviews have achieved this immaculate rating over the last two decades. Hollywood classics such as Singin’ in the Rain (1952), The Terminator (1984) and Toy Story (1995) remain prime examples of this rare elite tier.
This month, an Asian action feature proudly joined the ranks. Premiered on June 12, The Furious, an R-rated martial arts thriller, has made an immediate splash through its spectacle of creative, rapid-fire and fiercely physical fight sequences. Directed by Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In action director and stunt coordinator Kenji Tanigaki alongside Trivisa producer Jevons Au, the project unites five genuine martial artists. The star-studded ensemble features seasoned action heavyweights Tse Miu (The New Legend of Shaolin), Joe Taslim (Mortal Kombat), Yang Enyou (Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman), Li Wei (Everything Everywhere All at Once), and Yayan Ruhian (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum).
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Above The trailer of ‘The Furious’
Set in a fictional city within Southeast Asia, the narrative follows a mute, former bodyguard who must fight his way through gritty underworld dens to rescue his kidnapped daughter. Along his perilous journey, he aligns with a martial arts-trained journalist who is actively investigating a sprawling child-trafficking ring.
When measured against Tanigaki’s previous work on Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, The Furious may lack an environment as historically jaw-dropping and elaborate as the Kowloon Walled City, yet this latest release compensates with significantly tighter, more meticulously calculated choreography. The combat sequences transcend mere visual stimulation; they actively drive the narrative character arcs forward.
Above A film still from ’The Furious’, featuring the protagonist and his daughter (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
A film still from ’The Furious’, featuring the protagonist and his daughter (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
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For instance, the protagonist initially relies on raw desperation, brawling frantically inside a Muay Thai ring to uncover his daughter's whereabouts. Once he partners with the journalist, his methodology evolves into a more strategic infiltration of a syndicate stronghold. Later in the film, a complex five-person battle took place between the protagonist and his ally, the crime boss and his sidekick, and a betrayed underling who shifts his loyalty. The final, climactic showdown is far from a standard exhibition of technical skill; it functions as the raw, emotional crescendo of a desperate father pushing his physical limits to save his child. This sequence brilliantly mirrors the evolving psychology and increasingly complicated relationships of the central characters.
While recent high-profile releases like Mortal Kombat II deliver impressive action enhanced by Hollywood visual effects, The Furious offers a grounded, tactile experience. The production carries an undeniable authenticity because the actors and stunt teams perform genuine feats of Chinese wushu, judo, taekwondo, karate, and pencak silat on screen. Tanigaki deliberately bypassed traditional actors in favour of elite martial artists, requiring the core team to train intensively together for a month before filming to ensure every transition was executed with flawless precision.
Above A film still from ’The Furious’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
A film still from ’The Furious’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
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There are, however, minor narrative blemishes that detract slightly from its perfection. The dialogue assigned to supporting characters, particularly the law enforcement figures, occasionally suffers from an unnatural stiffness. Furthermore, certain action set-pieces stretch boundaries a fraction too far. Granted, the film operates within an exaggerated, fictional universe, but the threshold of narrative believability remains crucial. A scene where a police officer successfully neutralises a gangster holding a child on a building’s edge from a considerable distance—without a clean line of sight, while miraculously ensuring the collapsing body does not drag the victim over the edge—requires an excessive leap of faith.
The most jarring creative choice rests in the decision to overlay the closing sequence with real-world documentary footage of global child-trafficking cases. Though the underlying message of child advocacy is undeniably vital, its inclusion here feels tonally disruptive, abruptly severing the immersive cinematic experience. The Furious establishes itself as an adrenaline-fuelled action spectacle designed to entertain, wrapped in a high-stakes story where friendship and justice triumph over corruption. There are far more appropriate platforms for raising serious humanitarian awareness; a Category III action blockbuster is perhaps not the ideal vehicle.
Above From left: Miao Xie, Kenji Tanigaki, Brian Le and Joe Taslim from ‘The Furious’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
From left: Miao Xie, Kenji Tanigaki, Brian Le and Joe Taslim from ‘The Furious’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
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These minor script flaws aside, the film remains thoroughly captivating from start to finish, cleverly embedding subtle mysteries that leave the audience eager for a follow-up. Tanigaki revealed last week that conceptual development for a prequel or sequel is already underway. Discerning cinephiles can certainly look forward to how this talented creative team will continue to revolutionise action cinema through choreography that speaks as loudly as the script.
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Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
