When it comes to action blockbusters, critics often want something with a bit of character depth and intriguing plotlines, while audiences just want to see bullets fly, bad guys explode in a gush of gore, and the hero defies all odds and logic to come out mostly unscathed on the other side of a tight 100-minute runtime.Tom Hardy’s long-delayed Netflix thrillerHavocis a movie that really delivers on the bonkers action stakes, and its director,Gareth Evans, doesn’t care if people pick fault with the believability of it all.
Havocis a movie that took a long time to make it to screens, and for Netflix audiences (and critics) the result is a very mixed bag that doesn’t quite stick the landing in the way mindless action movies usually do. Criticized for its “thin plot” and ‘unmemorable” position as a movie to “put on in the background while doing the laundry” – ouch! – no one should expect director Evans to really be bothered by any of the gripes coming the movie’s way. Speaking toSlashFilm, Evans addressed the way the film’s gunfights logically deal with a seemingly endless supply of bullets.
“Every time the characters would empty a gun, they would throw it away and recycle and grab somebody else’s. So what that meant was we had to figure out and orchestrate which triad members would fall through windows and come into rooms and what guns they would have with them, so that we could logically track the weapons usage across the room. So that was something that I really wanted to [be specific about], because I know that there’ll be people complaining about, ‘Oh, it’s so unrealistic. They shoot guns all over the place!’ But really, if you check the weapons that they pick up, they are using them. They are recycling weapons throughout that space there.”
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When fans stumble upon an action movie on streaming, there seems to be a compulsion to click and watch at the earliest opportunity. This is why free streaming charts are often dominated by older action titles, andJason Statham’s bonkers movieThe Beekeeperhit streaming charts early last year and never really went away.
Havocis another one of those movies that will no doubt find itself circling the top of the chart on Netflix in the coming days, and while it’s action scenes may not stand up to simple facts like how many bullets can be fired from a gun without reloading, they offer plenty of blood, guts, and thrills. Usually, this is more than enough for audiences to heap praise on a movie, but inHavoc’scase, viewers are not as happy as they normally are when Tom Hardy comes to town to beat people up.
Fortunately, as long as the movie delivers in viewership, reviews are pretty much irrelevant in the grand scheme of things as they do not pay the bills. It will take a few weeks to discover ifHavocdelivers the goods, but it would be a foolish person who would bet against Hardy coming out on top again.
Source:SlashFilm
