I don’t know how many other folks have specific actors and actresses that they’ll follow across movie genres, but I’m pretty guilty of doing that myself.
Most of the time the movies turn out fairly decent or at least don’t make me regret the time spent watching them for too long.
However, that was not the case with Netflix’s “Havoc” last weekend.
I don’t really have anything redeemable to say about the film except if you want over-the-top and gratuitous violence then Havoc is definitely your jam.
Havoc is a 2025 action thriller film written and directed by Gareth Evans.
The film stars Tom Hardy, Jessie Mei Li, Justin Cornwell, Quelin Sepulveda, Luis Guzmán, Yeo Yann Yann, Timothy Olyphant, Forest Whitaker, Luis Guzmán, Serhat Metin, Gordon Alexander, Sunny Ping, and Richard Harrington and is a co-production between the United States and the United Kingdom.
Clocking in at 107 minutes long, the film is rated TV-MA which is the same as an “R” rating that makes it generally not suitable for people or individuals under the age of 17, but it does feature - strong coarse language and intense/graphic violence.
The movie opens with a gang of thieves, consisting of Charlie (Cornwell), Mia (Sepulveda), Johnny (Jones), and Wes (Caesar), steal a batch of washing machines that contains a hidden shipment of cocaine.
They are pursued by Vincent (Olyphant), Hayes (Alexander), Jake (Harrington) and Cortez (Metin) - a group of narcotics squad detectives.
Cortez is badly wounded during the chase and hospitalized.
Later that night, Charlie and Mia take the stolen cocaine to Tsui (Jones), the head of the local Triad.
Mia had previously stolen Tsui’s car and was forced to work for him to pay off the debt.
While there, a gang of masked assailants bursts into the hideout, gunning down Tsui and his enforcers while Charlie and Mia barely escape.
The masked gang is in league with Tsui’s disgruntled lieutenant Ching (Ping), who flees the scene shortly before they arrive.
Homicide detective Patrick Walker (Hardy) is estranged from his family and on the payroll of Lawrence Beaumont (Whitaker) a real estate tycoon, mayoral candidate and Charlie’s father.
Upon learning that his son is accused of Tsui’s murder, Lawrence commands Walker to find his son and protect him.
Working with his rookie partner Ellie (Li), Walker begins hunting down leads for the location of Charlie and Mia.
He also visits Cortez at the hospital, as he used to be a member of the Narcotics squad, all of whom are on Lawrence’s payroll.
Walker is estranged from them following an incident where Vincent killed an undercover cop during a drug theft gone wrong.
As Walker investigates, Tsui’s mother and Ching’s older sister, a senior Triad leader nicknamed “Mother”(Yan), arrives in the city and confronts Ching, demanding to know what happened to her son.
Ching blames Charlie, and so Mother has Lawrence brutally kidnapped from his motorcade.
Walker tracks down Mia’s uncle, Raul (Guzmán) who is forging passports that Charlie and Mia can use to leave the country.
Walker forces Raul into setting up a meeting at a nightclub that evening where the passports are to be picked up.
However, before Walker can get Charlie and Mia out safely, he is interrupted by the arrival of Vincent, Hayes and Jake.
Naturally, things devolved into a bullet-ridden bloodbath that makes Walker’s job infinitely harder to handle.
Overall, I fully endorse skipping this flick unless you really love Hardy or Olyphant – otherwise it’s a waste of time.
