After its trailer promised some truly epic hand-to-hand action, the action film The Furious has unveiled a new clip. And it still looks incredibly exciting.
Since making his mark in The Raid back in 2012, Indonesian actor and martial artist Joe Taslim hasn’t had many chances to shine on the big screen, let alone in Hollywood. He popped up in Star Trek Beyond as a rather lousy alien villain, then in Fast & Furious 6 to play a forgettable hitman, and finally in Mortal Kombat, where he embodied Bi-Han, the future Sub-Zero. He even made a return to theaters this year with Mortal Kombat 2, donning the dark gaze of Noob Saibot, a role that still hasn’t given him the visibility he deserves.
Perhaps, or certainly, Hong Kong cinema could be the arena where he shines once again, especially in a feature that promises to be the rightful heir to The Raid: The Furious, which will also reunite the excellent Yayan Ruhian, known as Mad Dog in Gareth Evans’ film. The trailer had already made a striking impression—if not a bit overly excited—and the new clip released doesn’t exactly test anyone’s patience.
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The pitch for The Furious is pretty straightforward on paper: Wang Wei’s daughter, a respectable shopowner, has been kidnapped by a criminal network and the police don’t seem to be lifting a finger. He sets off in pursuit, with his only ally Navin, a journalist whose wife has also vanished under mysterious circumstances. The progression: they track down the captors, fight, fight, and more fight.
But before they team up and head out on a punitive expedition, the two men will have to get acquainted—indeed, in a rather muscular fashion, as shown in the excerpt. The Furious, which was shot in English, is directed by Kenji Tanigaki, the action designer on the excellent City of Darkness and choreographer on John Wick 4.
Watching their fighting technique and their almost ominously precise movements, one would assume this isn’t going to be a tale of a mere field journalist or a shadowy shopkeeper. He will also be portrayed by Xie Miao, better known as Mo Tse, holder of several wushu titles—a collection of traditional Chinese martial arts.
Cinematically, he’s notably taken the lead in Ip Man: The Master Awakening, but has also appeared in Eye for an Eye (and its sequel), the Great God Monkey trilogy, and the films The Legend of the Red Dragon and Special Agent from 1994 and 1995 with Jet Li. The rest of The Furious’s cast will include Brian Le (seen in Everything Everywhere All at Once, where he also served as a choreographer) and JeeJa Yanin, already seen in Triple Threat with Iko Uwais, because the world really is small.
The Furious hits theaters on June 10.
