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‘Havoc’ Review: In Gareth Evans’ Dark, Destructive Netflix Outing, Only Tom Hardy’s Reputation Remains Unscathed
'The Raid' director Gareth Evans' bloody action bonanza lays waste to a fictive American metropolis, pitting dirty cops against Asian gangsters.
So far, it’s all straight from the Shane Black playbook, including cynical repartee with rookie partner Ellie (Jessie Mei Li) and the scene where Walker scours a filthy convenience store looking for a last-minute Christmas gift for his 6-year-old daughter (inexplicably seen playing with a handgun a few seconds shy of the 10-minute mark). Now imagine the exact opposite: a clichéd and highly disorganized crime movie in which Evans — who can direct the hell out of an action scene, but struggles with anything remotely dramatic — lards a simple-minded mission to protect Beaumont’s son Charlie (Justin Cornwell) with a wildly complicated conspiracy. In any case, it’s the right music for a Gareth Evans spectacular, matching Aria Prayogi’s dark, industrial-sounding score, but a weird fit for the neon-lit venue or the scene’s laid-back DJ, all of which belong to somewhere frat boys and Kardashians hang out, not the final resting place for 50 or so thugs with incredibly bad aim.
Or read this on Variety
