‘Havoc’ (2025) Netflix Movie Review - Tom Hardy Dodges Bullets

Gareth Evans, most famous for making the bone-crunching The Raid movies, returns with more ants-in-the-pants violence. The camera rarely rests in Havoc. It runs along with high-speed vehicles to create kinetic rhythms. The movie is high on caffeine and adrenaline - its nocturnal images look dirty, sweaty, and alive, and they seem to be salivating for blood (Matt Flannery is the cinematographer). Evans clearly made this film to prove that he can skillfully spill blood. The bullets dance, and they also make their victims dance. The violence has a video game-like nature. Guns are fired so relentlessly that it feels as if someone has activated the "unlimited ammo" cheat code. This constant shower of gore eventually evokes chuckles. One stops seeing the characters as flesh-and-blood humans; everybody looks like a rubber toy made to be punctured by blades or bullets for our sick pleasures. Action is the only point here. Other things - strained relationships, the quest for vengeance - are mere excuses for all the bloodshed. Why else would the centerpiece of Havoc be that scene set in a nightclub? It goes on and on for so long that you have to give credit to Evans for not letting the sequence crumble. He knows what mood he wants and sustains it throughout the film with commitment and vigor.

Tom Hardy is quite appropriate in the lead role. He has the correct physical features. Moreover, his fine acting skills help Evans smoothly move from one zone (action) to another (comedy) and back. Walker (Hardy) confronts Raul (Luis Guzmán) with such intensity, such force that he almost drags him up the wall. Words flow out of his mouth faster than bullets, and you feel that neither of the men is breathing in air. It's a tense scene that turns funny thanks to its rapid momentum and Hardy's performance. But perhaps it's Clarice (Yeo Yann Yann) whose pain, whose rage, seems sharper than all the bullets. Her emotional pain is palpable, which is why she is the only character who looks like a human in Havoc. When Clarice realizes that she has been betrayed by a close ally, you can't help but feel a bit sorry for her. Yann Yann is the beating heart of this hot-headed juggernaut. (Spoilers start from here) When her corpse is seen lying beside that of Forest Whitaker's Lawrence, Havoc asks us to consider the futility of violence. The desire for revenge consumes the lives of many people, including the parents who deeply loved their children. This is where Evans fumbles. After generating excitement through ferocious sequences, he begins to act moralistically about violence. This is like feeding your kids junk food and then telling them they are spoiling their health. It's a huge blunder from Evans, the director. If he really wanted us to be all introspective and sober, he shouldn't have spent most of his time hyping us up with brutal set pieces. People like Evans are worse than bad filmmakers. They take us down to amoral levels and then suddenly turn into saints by taking the moral high ground, while we are left bewildered. (Spoilers end here).

Final Score- [5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times