If you’re a fan of hard-hitting martial arts action, The Furious was built specifically for you. I freakin’ loved the movie! It’s easily the best action movie you’ll see this year!
The new action thriller from acclaimed fight choreographer and director Kenji Tanigaki has arrived in U.S. theaters through Lionsgate Films, and while the story is straightforward, the action is anything but.
The film follows Wang Wei, played by Xie Miao, a desperate father racing to find his daughter after she’s kidnapped by a child trafficking ring.
That simple setup fuels a relentless barrage of fights that rarely let up. What makes The Furious stand out isn’t just the speed or intensity of the combat. It’s the precision.
The camera stays locked into the action, allowing audiences to actually see every punch, kick, throw, and improvised weapon strike without hiding the choreography behind sloppy frantic editing.
For Tanigaki, the foundation of every fight starts with the fighters.
After spending more than three decades working in action choreography and stunt coordination, he has developed a philosophy that puts character first and fighting style second.
The result is combat that feels unique from one opponent to the next.
“I’m so lucky to have a good choreographer and stunt team,” he says. “We think together and set pieces come first: Who fights who and what kind of style, because in action cinema, the characterization is very important.
“So we use our actors’ own martial arts background. Xie Miao is a Chinese Wushu, Joe Taslim is a Judo. This Judo versus Chinese Wushu is very simple but a big difference.
“So our choreography comes from this point first. Because Joe Taslim is a Judo, he tries to grab Xie Miao and throw him, right? But Xie Miao tries to keep the distance from Joe, as Joe tries to close in.”
That attention to detail helps make every encounter feel like more than just two people throwing punches.
Each fighter approaches combat differently, creating a constant push and pull throughout the movie’s action sequences.
Of course, designing great fights is only part of the challenge. Capturing them properly is just as important.
Tanigaki wanted the camera team involved long before production began, allowing cinematographer Meteor Cheung to understand the choreography as it evolved instead of showing up at the last minute and trying to catch up.
“We asked our actors to join rehearsals a month and a half before shooting,” he says. “At the same time, I asked our DP to come into our rehearsal room one month before the shooting.
“They can talk to each other. Many times nowadays, it’s a bit unfair to the camera team because they are the department that joins at the last minute. So many times they don’t know the choreography.”
That collaboration helped create the smooth, fluid visual style seen throughout The Furious, where the audience can follow the action without losing track of who’s hitting whom.
Then there’s the film’s massive finale.
The movie culminates in a sprawling 20-minute showdown that is insane. According to Tanigaki, the sequence required nearly three weeks of filming.
“I spent 18 days on that police station set piece,” he says, looking surprised that he actually survived the process.
What’s even more interesting is that the sequence wasn’t originally designed to be quite so chaotic.
The final battle initially centered on a straightforward clash between the heroes, played by Miao and Joe Taslim, and villains portrayed by Yayan Ruhian and Joey Iwanaga.
But during production, Tanigaki couldn’t shake the feeling that one fan-favorite villain deserved another shot. That character was played by Brian Le.
“In the ending fight, it was originally two guys versus two guys,” he says. “It was very normal. But I really love the character played by Brian Le. He’s a villain. He’s a bad guy, but he’s such a lovely character.
“So I really wanted him to come back. That’s how our five guys fight from three different parties came about.”
That decision transformed the finale into something much bigger, creating a fight involving multiple competing factions instead of a traditional hero-versus-villain showdown.
With martial arts stars from different disciplines colliding, inventive choreography, and a finale that took 18 days to shoot, The Furious is determined to earn its place among modern action standouts.
Tanigaki is already thinking about where the story could go next, but whether audiences get another chapter depends entirely on how the first film performs.
“I want to do a sequel, but first of all, the first one must be very successful,” he says. “So I really need audience support. It’s on the audience’s shoulders, and then let me shoot a sequel.”
If action fans show up, this may only be the beginning of The Furious franchise.
Source: Variety
