‘The Furious’ — Kenji Tanigaki’s breathtaking martial-arts revenge thriller is a masterpiece
DUBAI: The plot of Kenji Tanigaki’s “The Furious,” such as it is, is simple. Think “Taken” with far fewer guns.
“Somewhere in South East Asia,” widowed mute Chinese handyman Wang Wei (Miao Xie) spends some time with his young daughter Rainy. When she runs off, angry at his refusal to return with her to China, she is kidnapped by human traffickers. Wei chases them down and fights them, but they escape with Rainy. Wei heads to the police station, but is met by disinterest and incompetence (but we do learn Wei has a mysterious past, and that the police chief is in league with the criminals). While tracking down the kidnappers himself, Wei encounters Navin (Joe Taslim) a journalist whose wife (also a journalist) went missing as she was investigating the gang. The two men — who also happen to be expert martial artists — team up.
The story is played out in a few different languages, including intermittent dubbed English that can accurately be described as “memorable,” just not for the reasons the voice actors would’ve hoped. It’s so stilted your jaw will hurt. And the characters are one-dimensional throughout. There are no layers in Tanigaki’s world: there are good guys and bad guys. In other words, if you’re watching “The Furious” hoping for plot twists and nuance, you’re going to be very disappointed.
