Havoc | Review by: Benjamin Garrett

Compensating for its formulaic plot with a whole lotta violent action, Havoc is a sufficiently entertaining bloodbath. This is essentially an 80’s b-tier action movie with a shiny modern coat of paint, and despite its shortcomings, it emerges as a passably fun watch.

Nearly character in this story is a different level of corrupt. Dirty cops, dirty politicians, gang members, drug dealers - they’re all involved in shady business at varying levels. Tom Hardy’s character is among the least corrupt (but still a little corrupt to keep things interesting), so that makes him the protagonist by default. He plays a detective in the back pocket of a powerful politician, sent to do one last job before he can get out and live a clean life. Sound familiar? That’s because we’ve seen variations on this trope a million times before. It’s a tired story beat that does this movie no favours in the originality department. Hardy is reliably entertaining in the role, with some surprisingly great comedic delivery to boot.

…But then the bullets start flying, and the blood starts splattering, and you think “huh, maybe I don’t really care about the plot all that much”. You can kick back, turn your brain off and enjoy the carnage at face value. The action is frenetic - unwieldy and messy at times, but effectively so. The camera sticks tight to the action, shakily navigating through each shootout and brawl in ways that make the cameraman feel like he’s trying to dodge bullets too. There’s some wonky CGI used during a chase scene that opens the movie, but it surprisingly fits with the gritty tone and attitude the movie constantly exudes. There’s also a grainy film stock filter that helps mask some of the digital deficiencies.

Havoc takes aim and opens fire on a weak script with a full clip. What it lacks in narrative originality and at times coherence, it makes up for in pure violent bliss. Chaotic action sequences, a slick soundtrack and a solid lead performance from Hardy make this sturdy popcorn streaming flick worth a watch.

3/5

Review by: Benjamin Garrett

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