If you’ve spent any time watching action cinema over the last few decades, you’ve probably seen Kenji Tanigaki’s work. After cutting his teeth orchestrating mind-boggling stunts for over fifty films (including Snake Eyes), he leaped into the director’s chair with the Shinobi franchise.
Now, he’s back with The Furious. And it’s an absolute adrenaline shot of a movie! In fact, we confidently dubbed “the action movie of the summer” in our spoiler-free review.
I had the pleasure of sitting down with the maestro himself. We discussed the chaos, the choreography, and how he pulled off some of the year’s most jaw-dropping set pieces.
The Plot: John Wick Meets a Hardware Store
The Furious follows two desperate men on a brutal collision course with a ruthless criminal empire.
The Father: Xie Miao plays Wang Wei, an ordinary tradesman whose life is shattered when human traffickers abduct his young daughter. After the corrupt local police department gives him the cold shoulder, he decides to handle the problem himself.
The Journalist: Along the way, he crosses paths with Navin, played by martial arts royalty Joe Taslim (The Raid, Mortal Kombat). Navin is a relentless journalist hunting for his own missing wife.
What follows is a tag-team rescue mission that makes John Wick look like a cozy Sunday afternoon. It is an absolutely savage affair—especially once Wang Wei decides that a standard hammer is his preferred tool for dispensing justice.
Why You Need to See It
Between Tanigaki’s masterclass direction and the powerhouse performances from Xie Miao (interview) and Joe Taslim (interview), The Furious is a masterclass in modern martial arts cinema. The stunts are raw, the stakes are painfully personal, and the action sets a terrifying new bar for the genre.
If you’re looking for a pulse-pounding film, The Furious is playing IN THEATERS TODAY.
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