Overkill the name of the game in Furious
I doubt fans of martial arts movies will raise many objections to the many flaws in Kenji Tanigaki’s The Furious. Those who flock to films of this sort don’t get hung up on hackneyed dialogue, cliched characters, improbably plot twists or an inordinately long running time. Nope, they lay down their hard-earned cash and buy the largest popcorn-soda combo so they can settle in to see bone-crunching action and acrobatic derring-do, no more, no less.
To be sure, Furious will leave even the most hard-to-please genre fans sated as Tanigaki and his action choreographers pull out all the stops in delivering an imaginative, yet brutal ballet of violence. Much like the “John Wick” films and Jackie Chan’s best movies, this is an exercise in precision and movement, a meticulously rendered revenge tale that despite its blood-drenched aesthetic, impresses with its nimbly executed fight scenes that ultimately border on the comical.
Somewhere in Southeast Asia, or so a title card tells us, is the scene of the action. A child trafficking network is the focus, a system that’s allowed to flourish due to public indifference, corrupt officials paid to look the other way and the vast nature of the operation. However, it comes under increased and direct scrutiny from two disparate individuals. Navin (Joe Talsim) is a reporter seeking his partner who’s gone missing while investigating the organization behind this criminal enterprise. Meanwhile, Wang Wei (Miao Xie) is a father desperate to find his daughter Matia (JeeJa Yanin) who’s been kidnapped and is on the verge of being lost among the hundreds of other young victims.
Plots don’t get much simpler than that and why there are three writers given credit on the screenplay is beyond me. No matter; the real workhorses here are the members of the stunt crew and choreographers who obviously put in hundreds of manhours in executing the elaborate fight sequences. There are far too many highlights to mention though a foot chase that finds Wang Wei pursuing a truck containing his unconscious daughter comes to mind. In, on and around the truck as it careens through the streets, Miao Xie is an athletic marvel, seemingly defying gravity at times with his fluid, flexible movements.
He, Talsim and the other performers don’t just jump, kick and chop in trying to break each other’s bones. They twist and turn in mid-air, crawl, scuttle, skip, shuffle and slide in, around and under each other with a precision you can’t help but wonder at. If my mouth wasn’t agape, I was chuckling at the sheer audacity of what was on display. A sequence in which a ladder becomes an instrument of death is particularly impressive, it being one of many unconventional objects used as weapons or shields. (Personally, once they started fighting with bicycles, I think they went a bit too far.)
Thankfully, a dose of meta-humor is employed throughout, Tanigaki not averse to poking fun at the ludicrous nature of all that’s occurring. An extended fight scene involving our two heroes and a rather pudgy, seemingly unstoppable hammer-wielding adversary becomes a comical slapstick affair, as does a later sequence involving a runway motorcycle in a rundown tenement. However, the funniest moment is a parody of the elaborate outfitting action film scenes in which we see the steroid-laden hero strap on numerous ammo belts, knives and guns to save the day. Here, all we see Wang Wei do is put on a knit cap, lace up his steel-toed boots, grab a hammer and head out.
That Tanigaki blows past an obvious ending point and delivers another half hour of exhausting action is overkill in more ways than one. Though I had had my fill of bone-breaking, eye-gouging and limb-rending sights, I’m sure fans will likely have no objection to the film’s length. In the end, despite its many flaws, credit must be given where it’s due regarding the physical skill and filmmaking chops on display in The Furious. In Theaters.
Crass approach sinks Romance
There’s a solid premise at the core of Ol Parker’s Office Romance, an attempt to rekindle the sort of lighthearted, zany romance a la It Happened One Night for the 21st century. The setting is appropriate, ripe with many potential comic complications and the two leads are appropriately attractive and charming. Yet, it’s the film’s ancillary elements that wind up sinking it, tiny moments here and there, an unconvincing supporting character or three that ultimately sink this ship, while a lack of chemistry between its two stars certainly doesn’t help.
Jackie Cruz (Jennifer Lopez) is the domineering head of Cruz Airlines. Except for her overly protective assistant Sydney (Betty Gilpin), all her other employees are intimidated by her. However, her imposing demeanor is a façade, a haughty persona she’s adopted in an effort to appear imposing and in control. Having been given the company to run by her father (Edward James Olmos), she’s always gone out of her way to overcome the whispers regarding nepotism she knows are spoken behind her back.
Daniel Blanchflower (Brett Goldstein), an attorney from England who’s just been hired in the corporation’s legal department, is unaware of all of this. So, when he’s called in at the last minute to attend a deposition with Cruz, he’s ill-prepared both in dealing with his boss and the case. Thankfully, it’s a frivolous matter, he handles it with aplomb, she’s impressed and the stage is set for sparks to fly between them.
The romantic path the two characters follow is predictable, but that’s to be expected in films of this sort. Where Goldstein and his co-writer Joe Kelly err is by including so many raunchy moments along the way. Instances of crude humor again and again clash with the rom-com vibe. Cruz and Blanchflower’s first handshake results in an embarrassing physical reaction for him that’s cringy rather than funny, while other lewd comments throughout might make you wonder if you’ve wandered into a men’s locker room. While a few scenes with an HR rep played by Tony Hale are effective, due to the actor’s hilarious responses to the egregious breaches in company policy, a post credits sequence involving a series of increasingly crass visits to his office takes the gag too far, leaving a bad taste. I’m not even going to mention the quick shot of a crowning baby during an inconvenient office birth involving Sydney.
There’s a sense throughout that everyone is trying a bit too hard to make all this work. The ribald humor is over the top, many of the other “funny” moments are forced and most of the supporting characters are broadly rendered, coming off as caricatures rather than genuine people. While this may have worked in a bygone age, it all comes off as a calculated exercise that falls woefully short of being either funny or romantic.
There’s an almost-not-quite feel where the two leads are concerned as well. Lopez’s off-screen domineering persona looms large here. While the actress was able to convey a sense of vulnerability while relatively unknown in Maid in Manhattan, it’s hard to accept her in a similar vein what with all we’ve come to know about her. To be sure, that’s not fair yet it’s an issue the film can’t get around. Meanwhile, Goldstein seems a bit out of his element here, a step behind his co-star throughout, never quite finding the groove to generate the kind of spark with Lopez necessary to put this over. In the end, Romance reveals itself to be nothing but a collection of ill-conceived ideas and awkward moments.
Streaming on Netflix.
Spielberg tells the wrong story with Disclosure
A miscalculation on multiple levels, Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” proves to be the biggest cinematic disappointment of the year so far. Granted, this reaction hinges on the high expectations generated by the director returning to the genre in which he’s made some of his finest films. Many of the director’s trademark narrative elements are in place and he hasn’t lost a step where putting together imaginative action sequences are concerned or effectively injecting life into a story with his often inconspicuous camera moves. Yet, the script by the usually reliable David Koepp is a burdensome beast, an incident-laden construct that’s bogged down by redundant action, all the while introducing intriguing thematic questions that are never fully developed or answered. The result is a tedious slog to a magical ending, the film’s final 15 minutes the sort of wonder-filled filmmaking we’ve come to expect from Spielberg, cropping up far too late.
The movie begins mid-action as we see Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) in a bit of a pickle. Having stolen sensitive information from a secret government agency, he’s confronted by his former boss, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth) and his many armed minions. Seems they’ve taken his girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson), hostage and are willing to free her as long as he returns what he’s taken. It would have been an awful short movie had Kellner complied so it comes as no surprise that he and Jane make their escape, setting up a chase that takes them halfway across the country.
Meanwhile, meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) is having issues of her own. While on the air at a Kansas City news station, she begins speaking an indecipherable language consisting of mostly clicking and clacking noises. Even more peculiar, she’s suddenly able to look at someone and see their past as well as tell what they’re thinking. Needless to say, this gets the attention of Scanlon, who sends out agents to bring her in. With her newfound abilities, she’s able to tell she’s in danger, so she and her boyfriend, Jackson (Wyatt Russell) – you guessed it – escape and they too are now on the run.
Structurally, there’s nothing inherently wrong with the chase film. Spielberg’s “Minority Report” is one of the best in this action sub-genre. But unlike that underrated classic, “Disclosure” does little in the way to keep us hooked. Repeated narrow escapes are rote exercises while far too many key elements are vaguely rendered. Just how Fairchild is able to do what she does – and so much more – is frustratingly ambiguous, the ultimate explanation offering little insight. Kellner’s intentions are sound but he’s a one-note character who desperately needs more of a back story or at least some shades of gray.
These flaws would be excusable were the movie simply more compelling. I would have never suspected tedium would set in during a Spielberg movie. The film spins its wheels, introducing ideas and then abandoning them. Whilst these parallel chases are occurring, World War III is about to break out as tensions rise between the United States, Russia and Korea. One would think this event would have a major impact on the story but here it’s just so much background noise.
Also overlooked are the ripple effects of Kellner’s actions. He stole video evidence showing the U.S. has had numerous interactions with extraterrestrials since the Roswell incident in 1947 with the intention of sharing it with the world. He and others mention the vast ramifications involving religious beliefs, societal interactions, man’s existential dilemma and a variety of other issues, if he succeeds. None of these vital issues are expanded upon.
And therein lies the film’s fatal flaw. Spielberg and Koepp tell the wrong story. Disclosure Day is simply one long slog to the inevitable that ends right where it should begin. Speculating how the world would change once this bombshell drops would have been far more interesting than the film’s two mundane chases and this is all the more frustrating thanks to Spielberg’s astonishingly moving climax. As the stolen clips are played for the world to see, we witness wondrous, peaceful interactions between humans and aliens, the end result being an aching hope that once these events actually occur, they will serve as a bridge toward greater understanding and compassion for others as well as those like us.
Perhaps the film’s most intriguing thought is Kellner believes that our decreasing lack of empathy as a species is preventing us from evolving. It’s a quaint notion yet it has merit and couldn’t be timelier. In this age of disinformation, Spielberg’s message is that it’s viral that we truly listen to one another, speak the truth without fear of reprisals and are able to accept it without suspicion. Had the film progressed to provide examples of this after Kellner’s revelations were made, Disclosure might have been, like the director’s best work, a vital message of hope. In Theaters.
This article appears in June 11-17, 2026.
