Havoc on Netflix: Gritty action can't save this overloaded crime thriller
Gareth Evans, director of The Raid, teams up with Tom Hardy for this ultra-violent and relentlessly gory movie that should satisfy fans of Hong Kong-style action cinema, but will probably leave the rest of the audience beaten into submission.
Set in a particularly grimy yet artificial-looking American city, Havoc gathers crime thriller clichés to build a scaffold on which to hang its admittedly inventive action sequences.
Hardy plays homicide cop Walker, a once decent tough guy who has become disillusioned while carrying a terrible secret he would like to forget.
Like all world-weary cops, Walker is estranged from his wife and daughter, but sees a way to redeem himself when he becomes involved in a high-stakes conflict between an ice-cold crime boss, Little Sister (Yeo Yann Yann), out to avenge the murder of her son; petty thieves Charlie (Justin Cornwell) and Mia (Quelin Sepulveda), who Little Sister thinks are responsible for her son's death; and Walker's old squad members led by Vincent (Timothy Olyphant), who are also out to get Charlie and Mia for putting a colleague in the hospital while trying to escape the cops with a truck full of cocaine.
Walker is in the pay of corrupt mayoral candidate Lawrence Beaumont (Forest Whitaker), who knows his dark secret. After recognising Charlie as Beaumont's son in CCTV footage, Walker sees a chance to get the politician off his back: he offers to find and save Charlie from all the murderous factions on his tail in exchange for Beaumont agreeing to stop blackmailing him.
As if that weren't enough to be getting on with, Walker is also saddled with a young, idealistic rookie cop, Ellie (Shadow and Bone's Jessie Mei Li), who in one of the film's few fresh twists, proves to be resourceful and more than capable of holding her own.
Hardy ably carries the drama and action on his shoulders, but his character's motivation for getting involved in this extremely dangerous mess aren't convincing.
Perhaps if Charlie had been Walker's son, it would have made sense for him to go to such extremes to save him, but the promise of escaping Beaumont's vaguely threatening hold doesn't seem enticing to someone as morally corrupt as Walker, who's already lost everyone he holds dear.
Whitaker wildly overacts as if he's in a Shakespearean tragedy, in contrast to Yeo, who knows just how much melodrama to inject into her emotionally devastated yet hard-as-nails gangster. Justified star Olyphant merely looks pained to be there, though younger actors Cornwell and Sepulveda fare better, making the audience believe in their desperation.
The slow build-up with only short bursts of violence do count in the movie's favour, creating some tension and preventing the action from reaching saturation point too soon.
Unfortunately Havoc then descends into a bloodbath that loses its impact, leaving the viewer exhausted instead of exhilarated.
Havoc is on Netflix now. DM
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
eNCA
4 hours ago
- eNCA
27 killed as Israeli army opens fire near Gaza aid point
GAZA CITY - Twenty-seven people were killed in southern Gaza on Tuesday as Israeli troops opened fire near a US-backed aid centre, with the military saying the incident was under investigation. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres decried the deaths of Palestinians seeking food aid as "unacceptable" and the UN rights chief condemned attacks on civilians as "a war crime", after a similar shooting near the same site on Sunday. Gaza's civil defence agency said that "27 people were killed and more than 90 injured in the massacre targeting civilians who were waiting for American aid in the Al-Alam area of Rafah", in the territory's south. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal earlier told AFP the deaths occurred "when Israeli forces opened fire with tanks and drones", while Israel said troops fired towards "suspects" who had ignored warning shots. The International Committee of the Red Cross gave the same death toll but without mentioning the Israeli forces. The organisation said Gazans face an "unprecedented scale and frequency of recent mass casualty incidents". The latest shooting occurred about a kilometre (just over half a mile) from a centre run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which Israel has worked with to implement a new aid distribution mechanism. The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the group over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. At a hospital in southern Gaza, the family of Reem al-Akhras, who was killed in the shooting at Rafah's the Al-Alam roundabout, were beside themselves with grief. "She went to bring us some food, and this is what happened to her," her son Zain Zidan said. AFP | Paz PIZARRO, Omar KAMAL, Cléa PÉCULIER Akhras's husband, Mohamed Zidan, said "every day, unarmed people" were being killed. "This is not humanitarian aid; it's a trap." The Israeli military maintains that its forces do not prevent Gazans from collecting aid. Army spokesman Effie Defrin said the Israeli soldiers had fired at suspects who "were approaching in a way that endangered" the troops, adding the "incident is being investigated". - 'Unconscionable' - Rania al-Astal, 30, said she had gone to Al-Alam with her husband to try to get food. "The shooting began intermittently around 5:00 am. Every time people approached Al-Alam roundabout, they were fired upon," she told AFP. "But people didn't care and rushed forward all at once -- that's when the army began firing heavily." Fellow witness Mohammed al-Shaer, 44, said at first "the Israeli army fired shots into the air, then began shooting directly at the people". GHF said the operations at its site went ahead safely on Tuesday. A military statement said troops saw some people "deviating from the designated access routes" to the Al-Alam aid point, and fired warning shots. When "the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects", it added. The previous shooting on Sunday killed at least 31 people at the Al-Alam roundabout, rescuers said. A military source acknowledged "warning shots were fired towards several suspects". AFP | The world body's human rights chief Volker Turk called such attacks "unconscionable". "Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law and a war crime," he said. The White House said it was "looking into the veracity" of the reports from Rafah. Israel has come under mounting pressure to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where people are facing severe shortages after Israel imposed a more than two-month blockade. The blockade was recently eased, but the aid community has urged Israel to allow in more food, faster. AFP | - The US-backed group named a new chairman on Tuesday, while a consulting firm that helped create it said it had terminated its contract with GHF. Israel has stepped up its offensive in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas, whose October 2023 attack sparked the war. Apart from the aid centre incident, Gaza's civil defence agency reported 19 killed in Israeli attacks on Tuesday. The army said three of its soldiers had been killed in northern Gaza, bringing the number of Israeli troops killed in the territory since the start of the war to 424. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 4,240 people have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,510, mostly civilians. Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
The South African
6 hours ago
- The South African
BackaBuddy campaign launched to repatriate body of Cape Town woman murdered in US
A BackaBuddy crowdfunding campaign has been launched to assist the family of Kim White Towne, a 32-year-old Capetonian who was murdered by her American husband in Chantilly in the state of Virginia. The campaign aims to raise funds for the repatriation of her remains to South Africa so that she can be laid to rest among her loved ones. Towne's tragic death, reportedly at the hands of her husband during a domestic dispute, has left her family devastated and facing a financially overwhelming situation. The campaign, organised by Lauren Delcarme, is titled 'Bring Kim Home' and, at the time of publishing, has already raised R88 404 of its R108 000 target. 'Kim was a vibrant and cherished member of our family whose warmth, kindness and gentle spirit touched everyone she met,' said Delcarme on the campaign page. 'Her sudden and untimely death has left us in profound grief, and we are faced with the heartbreaking task of bringing her home to South Africa.' Delcarme noted that the costs of repatriation are substantial and include cremation, legal documentation, and international transport, among other formalities. The family is appealing to the public for any contributions to help reunite Kim with her family in Cape Town. Kim White Towne, originally from the Blouberg area, had moved to the US to build a life with her husband, with whom she shared a young son. The BackaBuddy page has been flooded with messages of support and heartfelt condolences from friends, family, and even strangers moved by the family's plight. Those wishing to contribute can visit the official BackaBuddy campaign via and search for 'Bring Kim Home' or donate directly to the listed banking details on the campaign page. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
TimesLIVE
8 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Maestro Musetti carves Tiafoe win to reach French Open semifinals
Italian craftsman Lorenzo Musetti used his full palette of shots to decorate Court Philippe Chatrier with blistering baseline winners, beating American Frances Tiafoe 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-2 to reach the French Open semifinals for the first time on Tuesday. Despite a few muddled moments, the world number seven set up a meeting with either defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or Tommy Paul of the US as he continues his Renaissance after some soul searching. Musetti, who said he put some order in his mind and game, did not let frustration take the best of him after losing the second set and once he found his groove, there was no stopping him as 15th seed Tiafoe gradually lost the plot, twice arguing with the chair umpire over line calls. He bowed out with yet another routine shot into the net, his 'Big Foe' neck chain dripping with sweat as a testimony of the battle just fought. Lorenzo Musetti carries the one-handed backhand legacy into the #RolandGarros semifinals 💥🎾 — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2025 'Definitely Frances did not start the way he wanted but today was really complicated, it was so windy and difficult to mange to properly hit the ball,' said Musetti, the only man to reach at least the semifinals of every main clay court event this season. 'The third set was a fight and even if I was a little tired I found the extra energy to win this set and the last set was probably the best set of this match.' Musetti is one of the rare top players using the single-handed backhand, a vintage shot often praised by tennis connoisseurs. 'We are Italian, we are elegant,' he joked. 'Joke aside, I have a little bit of a retro style.' 'Our rivalry is pushing both of us.' It's going to be a blockbuster match-up between Sabalenka and Swiatek in the semifinals 🍿 🎟️ #RolandGarros — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2025 Earlier, and in front of mostly empty seats around lunchtime four-time champion Iga Swiatek, looking to become the first woman in the professional era to win the title four times in a row, beat Elina Svitolina 6-1 7-5 to set up a clash with world number one Aryna Sabalenka for a place in Saturday's final. The Belarusian ended Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen's 10-match winning streak at Roland Garros with a 7-6(3) 6-3 victory to advance. With the main arena finally almost full, Musetti got off to a strong start, his heavy top spin proving tough to handle for Tiafoe, who dropped serve in the second game. The Italian, however, was not completely flawless and he faced a break point at 4-2, which he saw off thanks to his mesmerising backhand. He sealed the opening set on his opponent's serve when Tiafoe's volley sailed wide. Musetti's game, however, needed some fine-tuning and Tiafoe jumped on the occasion to bank on errors here and there to snatch an early break in the second set. He held serve throughout to level the contest as Musetti seemed to struggle adjusting to the windy conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier. Musetti dug deep in the third and played a near-perfect game on Tiafoe's serve to surge 2-1 ahead. A modest second serve met Musetti's powerful cross court return and after trading heavy topspin shots, Tiafoe attempted a crafty drop shot, but the Italian charged forward for a clinical backhand winner on the baseline. The fourth set looked more like a post-match cool-down for Musetti, who would not be distracted by Tiafoe's antics.
