by Tim Gordon
Gareth Evans, the director who set a modern standard for action with The Raid films, returns with Havoc, a bruising crime thriller that tries to stretch his signature brand of mayhem into a sprawling urban saga. The result is a film that crackles with visceral set pieces but struggles under the weight of a tangled plot and familiar crime tropes.
Havoc kicks off with a simple heist gone spectacularly wrong. A crew of small-time thieves led by Charlie (Tom Hardy) and Mia (Jessie Mei Li) steal a batch of washing machines only to discover they’re stuffed with cocaine. This accidental score ignites a brutal turf war involving a corrupt narcotics squad, a ruthless Triad, and a weary homicide detective, Patrick Walker (Forest Whitaker), who’s paid to keep the mess out of the headlines.
Evans trades the tight, claustrophobic corridors of Jakarta for a grimy American cityscape crawling with crooked cops, vengeful gangsters, and a crime family on the edge of collapse. Hardy does what he does best as the brooding Charlie, a thief torn between survival and the weight of his father’s power. Whitaker, pulling double duty as Walker and Charlie’s father Lawrence Beaumont, a slick real estate mogul running for mayor, brings his trademark gravitas even when the script gives him little room to breathe. Timothy Olyphant is a standout among the crooked cops, infusing his detective with just enough charm to make him dangerous.
The problem is, once the bullets stop flying, the story rarely holds the same tension. The film leans heavily on well-worn crime archetypes, the haunted cop, the loyal thief, the vengeful Triad matriarch, but never digs deep enough to make them feel fresh. Yeo Yann Yann, as the ruthless “Mother” seeking revenge for her murdered son, deserves more screen time than the film allows.
When Havoc works, it’s because Evans lets his action instincts take over. The brawls are savage, staged with the same relentless energy that made The Raid iconic, bruising stairwell fights, desperate alley shootouts, and hand-to-hand scraps that don’t flinch from the impact. But these jolts of adrenaline are spaced out by a plot that too often drifts when it should detonate.
At its best, Havoc reminds us why Evans remains one of the genre’s most exciting stylists. But unlike The Raid, where story and action fed each other seamlessly, here the narrative buckles under its ambition. The result is a film that lands plenty of blows but never quite delivers the knockout punch it promises.
If you’re here for bone-crunching action and Tom Hardy’s trademark grit, Havoc delivers just enough to satisfy. Just don’t expect a crime epic as tightly wound as Evans’ best work. This is more chaotic skirmish than an all-out war, and sometimes, that’s enough.
Grade: C+
