The Furious

Last night I went to a double feature for two movies that I have been super hyped about (but for very different reasons).  I started with The Furious and I can't remember when an audience was as vocal (with cheers, laughter, and audible gasps) as they were for this action thriller!  When a journalist named Matia (JeeJa Yanin) is captured by the child trafficking ring she has been investigating, her husband Navin (Joe Taslim) attempts to infiltrate the group in order to find her.  However, his meeting with Mr. Song (Sahajak Boonthanakit), a low-level crime boss for the organization, is interrupted by a mute and mysterious laborer (Xie Miao) looking for his kidnapped daughter Rainy (Yang Enyou).  They eventually join forces (after fighting each other in a nightclub) in their search for Matia, Rainy, and the other missing children until they ultimately meet up with the real boss Pak Lung (Joey Iwanaga) and two of his henchmen, Ho (Brian Lee) and Tak (Yayan Ruhian), in an epic final confrontation.  The action sequences are violent and unrelenting and feature some of the most innovative fight choreography I have seen (I especially loved a scene in which the father fights while holding his daughter above his head).  Characters use a multitude of weapons, both conventional and unconventional, as well as every day objects that are found close to hand (my favorites are a ladder, a bicycle chain, and a large block of ice with a corpse frozen inside).  The cameras put the audience right in the middle of the action and it is exhilarating to see the villains (and they are truly evil) get what they deserve.  I loved the performances from both Taslin and Xie because, in the middle of all of the mayhem, they infuse their characters with a bit of vulnerability.  I also really enjoyed Yang because her character is so feisty!  This is an adrenaline rush from beginning to end and I had so much fun watching it.  Fans of the genre are sure to love it and I highly recommend seeing it with the biggest crowd possible!