In Havoc, the latest absolutely chaotic, utterly brutal actioner from writer/director Gareth Evans (The Raid), Tom Hardy plays Walker, a beaten-down, taken-out-with-the-trash detective who starts out like that even before the movie's plot kicks in. This guy is crooked, in the back pocket of Lawrence Beaumont (Forrest Whitaker), who is running for mayor of whatever city they’re occupying, and it’s clear Walker manipulated evidence in a case again Beaumont that cleared the path for him to jump back into the race. Walker has also fallen out hard with his wife, who has custody of their daughter, using her ability to keep the daughter from him as a weapon against him. More than once, someone sarcastically calls him “Father of the Year,” and he can’t dispute his inability to put his family first.
But when a drug deal involving a Chinese crime family goes wrong and evidence points to Beaumont’s estranged son Charlie (Justin Cornwell) and his girlfriend Mia (Quelin Sepulveda) being involved, Beaumont demands the Walker clear his son’s name, even if it means Walker’s job. Once his mostly off-the-books investigation begins (with his new partner Ellie, played by Jessie Mei Li), it puts him in direct conflict with various crime syndicates and even his fellow cops, including a rogue group led by his one-time friend Vincent (Timothy Olyphant).
And while story is important in Havoc, director Evans is known for being one of the greatest directors of action films in recent memory, and he doesn’t disappoint here. There are car chases that are terrifyingly fast, crashes, explosions, gun battles, hand-to-hand combat, and everything you can imagine hurting you hitting someone’s head at some point. And if that weren’t enough, Luiz Guzman shows up as Mia’s uncle and has a couple of really funny, clearly improvised scenes, including one with Hardy that is an unexpected scream.
What Hardy does best in most of his work is give us a clear sense that the world is closing in on him, often with just his facial expressions. And he is fully battered and bruised throughout most of Havoc. I’m not sure giving him a motivation like finally getting free and clear of his obligations to Beaumont so that he can look out for his family is quite the dramatic lynchpin Evans thinks it is, but you get a sense that Walker doesn’t know another way other than the hardest way to do anything.
But what the film comes down to is the relentless action; bodies were not meant to bend and take abuse the way they do in this movie, and so much of this movies hurts to watch. You feel every instance of contact, making this is a nasty piece of work in the best possible way. Naturally, I wish Evans cared more about character development a little more, but what we’re left with in Havoc is thunderous, savage, and undeniably ruthless.
The film is now streaming on Netflix.
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