Havoc (2025)
No law. Only disorder.
New action flick, new excuse to have a good time. Netflix once again provides an easy choice of things for me to watch, because it’s an action flick from the dude that directed The Raid movies. That’s the easiest sell to pretty much any action movie fan that’s seen those - just like when you want someone to watch Dredd and you tell them “it’s like a more sci-fi The Raid. It’s like an easy pass for at least interest in a movie, and obviously it got me in the door - combined with a laundry list of actors whose names I recognize I figure it should be fun. Whatever that turns out to be, I’m sure it’ll be plenty of Havoc.
Our plot is a lot of corruption and crooks. Our lead seems to have some shady-ness in his past, but the movie has only just hinted at it as he and his partner end up going to a crime scene. His is a story of trying to get some kid first and bring him to their dad while being complicated by the past. The kid is a story somewhat romantic, complicated by the false belief he’s killed someone bringing him and his love into a lethal situation surrounded on nearly all sides. Yet still is the enemy, the seedy underground crime syndicate boss out after the kid for killing their son. Oh yeah, and mix in a mysterious hockey mask group who actually carried out the hit the kid is getting blamed for, and you’ve got enough turns to keep things exciting, but not enough road to get you lost and confused.
Actors do a pretty good job here. Saying that though, I feel like I wouldn’t be surprised if some folks didn’t agree with me. Some of the times it can feel a bit different - like, perhaps as though it’s either being too serious or not serious enough. I don’t really think that it’s a problem with the acting though, I think it’s just the overly grungy feeling of the world and setting that just makes it feel that way. There are certainly times that a line delivery will come off way better that others - and that extends out to the body language as well. It’s emphasized at points, sort of subdued at others - so I wouldn’t fault people for thinking the acting could be better, but I still think that largely they do exactly what’s called for in the script and movie.
The characters all have plenty of levels to them in the main crew, although I don’t feel it’s entirely necessary and a lot of folks like me won’t really benefit from it since we are mostly there for the action. Still, by having so many dirty cops and getting to play with who and why they are or how they react to a situation it does allow for a lot of comparison - especially when put up against the lead lady cop who might as well be the only cop in the city who isn’t corrupt as far as the movie is concerned. They all get their moments of action, and how much mileage you’ll get out of the lead characters “want to be better but stuck as he is” shtick will probably directly impact how much character you think there is -and the lovebirds kind of play out like you would expect them to in a movie like this. Still, they do use some of the dynamics between characters at times to play with it - like between the politician and the crime boss. It’s a bit better then I needed, although I don’t think it’s perhaps as crazy intricate as if it was a noir detective flick.
Good cop bad cop.
It might seem weird for me to call out noir, but honestly there is definitely something about the movie that evokes that kind of thing. Maybe it’s how a lot of it is dark - both in setting and in morals - or perhaps just how much of the movie is raining or wet. I’m guessing it’s a combination of it - because it’s not like there is an absolute ton of mystery here. I mean, there is some at least for a while, and there are certainly questions of how things will play out as it goes for sure - but it isn’t that classic mystery feel as much as a more generic-style crime thriller sort of plot. That said, this entire movie just feels so grungy it could be a Nirvana song to me. It’s like comparing the Nolan Batman movies to the Adam West Batman series, that dark and moody and wetter than a pool in a rain storm. It all fits the movie and what it’s going for, although in a way I guess all that moody down-beat nature might kinda feel a bit depressing to some when they dropped in for some good action flicks. On the flip side though, if you wanted a moody action flick, it’s an even easier sell.
That moodiness also plays into the music. It can be a bit clash at times - like when a Christmas song comes on after you’ve totally forgotten it was supposed to even be around that time when the main character goes “shopping” for a gift for his daughter. Sometimes the snow almost feels like an accident when it appears - but back on point the music does a good job having some variety because of that. There’s some good mood stuff in there as well, but the dance club and buildup to it probably holds my favorite song of the movie, coming in with some heavy EDM styling that moves your bones with the bass just as much as the action is moving your jaw around with all the “oh!” and “dangs” you’ll be throwing around. It’s not just the music either - the sound department as a whole did a great job here, with an example from the same scene being the punchiness of the guns as they go off, giving it that slightly reverb muffle sound that makes it stand out pretty good. If there’s a downside to this, I will say it’s probably that at times it might be a little hard to hear a line or two because of all these other sounds being nice and loud.
Of course the action here when it crops up is great. It’s not constant - but it’s plenty enough. Some of the deaths involved are brutal - although not overly graphic - and inventive without being too wildly immersion breaking. There’s some fist fighting, there’s some gun fighting, and there is also some car scenes. It’s all shot and handle well, easy to follow, and dramatic as expected. I will say, there is something about the car scenes though that throw me off - I don’t know if it’s how wet everything is, or how it’s shot, or if maybe it’s all just CGI cars or touch ups - I haven’t the clue. This is the second time I’ve watched it, and for some reason they just stand out to me as something being weird without being obvious enough for me to place exactly what it is - it’s not really bad though, just something I noticed. In more of a bad thing though, if you are the kind of person that demands realism from your action movies in things like bullet counts, you might be cursing at the movie a few different times. It doesn’t bother me - I’m a fan of old school action flicks where every gun had unlimited bullets and reloads only happened to be dramatic. Tying into that as well though is a wonderful little spot where - intentional or not I may never know since I didn’t work on the movie - the main character clears a jam from his handgun smooth as heck. My watch buddy the second time (that’d be tonight’s time) actually had me rewind it because he wanted to see it again and make sure he wasn’t just getting tricked.
Is the image kind of crap? Yes, but dropkicks are awesome.
It’s a fun little grimy action flick with some solid action. Characters and acting are good enough for the story it’s telling, and it all fits it’s mood. It has a dark and moody edge to it that wants to make sure you feel like you are in the muck and nobody is capable of being too far above it - but it’s also got that little bit of romantic flower in the muck support to it. I had a good time both times I watched it, and sure at times I might have chuckled over something that wasn’t meant to be funny and some that were, but the guy can direct some awesome action, and the cast and crew do their part to help make sure it’s fun as can be.