‘Havoc’ chaotic but compelling

There’s nothing like a good action movie. Who doesn’t love to sit back as paper-thin characters spit bad dialogue at one another while delivering pain and mayhem on a scale hitherto unknown. Gareth Evans understands this more than most and is quite adept at delivering a thrilling experience in which you not only see the violence on screen but very likely feel it in the comfort of your living room.

That seems to be the intent with the film Havoc. It’s the story of a corrupt police officer Walker, played by Tom Hardy, who is introduced to the audience with a sweetness to him. Havoc takes place on Christmas Eve, and before the blood and guts start to fly, the movie focuses on the simple act of a father buying a gift for his daughter.

The mix of sentiment and savagery works well in Havoc, particularly as Hardy’s Walker seeks to protect two star-crossed lovers who have managed to incur the wrath of gang members, crooked cops, and drug runners, all of which are in pursuit. It’s a regular Bonnie and Clyde situation that’s punctuated by some pretty compelling action scenes. In an age where films are optimised to be watched in the background, Havoc dares to draw your attention.

The world of Havoc is presented under a thick coat of grime, echoing the corruption at the heart of the story. It makes it all the more glaring then when Havoc abandons its gritty film aesthetic for the slick and smooth movement that can only be achieved with visual effects. The opening car chase is the worst offender in this regard, with a sequence that looks like the climactic cutscene of a Need for Speed video game.

The film is rough around the edges, and the sprawling conspiracy bogs down what was otherwise a well-paced film. It has surprisingly well-written characters and ekes out a modicum of tension when all its plotlines come to a head. The hand-to-hand combat in the film is leagues above other contemporary action films, with creativity that only the director of The Raid can provide.

Havoc is a movie with no heroes and only characters that fit somewhere on a spectrum of criminality. It can be hard to find someone to root for, or to fear for when the bullets start to fly, but by the end, you simply have to resign yourself to the film’s chaos and watch compelling action, just for the sake of it.

Rating: Half Price

Damian Levy is a film critic and podcaster for Damian Michael Movies.