Acclaimed action choreographer-turned-director Kenji Tanigaki (SPL, Flash Point, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In) propels a desperate father (Xie Miao) into a knock-down, drag-out war to rescue his daughter from a nefarious array of cutthroat kidnappers.
The pitch may be familiar: a determined father doling out justice on human traffickers while in pursuit of his kidnapped daughter. But understand that the players of Kenji Tanigaki’s The Furious represent perhaps the greatest confluence of contemporary pan-Asian action cinema talent since Hong Kong’s high-kicking heydays.
Xie Miao stars as the resolute patriarch Wei, an inspired full-circle turn given his origins in father-son duos with Jet Li like The New Legend of Shaolin and My Father is a Hero. Fighting alongside him is Joe Taslim of The Raid: Redemption (TIFF ’11) as a hard-boiled journalist on the trail of his missing wife (Jija Yanin from TIFF ’08’s Chocolate) who was a mere leg-sweep away from exposing the criminal syndicate that just might be privy to the whereabouts of Wei’s daughter (Yang Enyou). To say nothing of their combatants, who include the iconic Yayan Ruhian as an archery assassin, a deliciously unhinged Joey Iwanaga as a deadly failson, and a revelatory Brian Le, whose not-so-gentle-giant physique ricochets remarkably against all of the above.
Tanigaki conducts this supergroup of fighters with all the finesse and verve expected from the choreographer whose contributions to SPL (TIFF ’05) revitalized and redefined the martial arts action genre. Shepherded by veteran producer Bill Kong (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, TIFF ’00), and further buoyed by soundtrack contributions from Flying Lotus, The Furious represents a culmination of the last 25 years of Asian action, one that will inspire combat connoisseurs to place fist to open palm and bow towards in astonished and nostalgic reverence.
PETER KUPLOWSKY
Screenings
Royal Alexandra Theatre
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