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Havoc has been in development for quite a while, and it finally dropped on Netflix recently. But did this Tom Hardy-led, Gareth Evans-directed film, which went through multiple reshoots, actually live up to the hype? According to Popcorn Meter, the audience rating system scored just 38%, so… not really. Funny thing is that it somehow got a much better score on the Tomatometer, 64%! How does that happen? Aren’t critics supposed to be the tougher crowd to impress? Let’s dig into this weird little twist in the rest of the article.
The film runs on a pretty familiar setup; we’ve seen this kind of storyline countless times. The lead character is your typical saviour figure, but the problem is, the story doesn’t give us much reason to actually care about him, or anyone else, for that matter. There’s hardly any effort put into building real emotional depth or background for the characters.
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Take Tom Hardy’s role, for instance: we’re told he’s haunted by his past, but we never get to see any of that past, no warm moments with his family, no clear reason why he’s supposed to be a good guy who just got caught up in the wrong situation. The same goes for the rest of the cast, none of them are fleshed out enough for us to feel anything if they die or disappear. That lack of emotional connection holds the film back.
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Now let’s talk about the visuals. The film is pretty heavy on the gore, there’s definitely no shortage of violence. Some of the wide outdoor shots and the early police chase involving the truck felt like scenes from an AAA video game rather than a movie. Unfortunately, the CGI doesn’t quite hold up. The fight scenes are solid in terms of choreography, but there’s an overuse of quick cuts, constant camera angle changes, and POV shifts that make the action harder to follow and less satisfying to watch.
And then there are the night scenes, which are full of grain, like what you’d expect in old films or certain video games. Maybe it was a stylistic choice? Either way, it doesn’t really work. So while the film does have its visual moments, the editing and weak CGI bring the overall quality down.
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Tom Hardy does a solid job as Detective Walker, though you can’t help but notice a few familiar mannerisms that feel borrowed straight from his Venom days. Jessie Mei Li plays Ellie, Walker’s partner, though she’s a uniformed cop, not a detective, and she holds her own pretty well. But the real standout here is Yeo Yann Yann. She absolutely nails it as the Triad boss and grieving mother out for revenge. Her presence on screen is intense, she’s genuinely menacing, and brings a sharp edge to the role.
At the end of the day, what really counts is how many people are watching, and Havoc pulled in a solid 2.98 million views globally just this week. It’s currently the number one film on Netflix worldwide, topping the charts in 40 countries and landing in the top 10 in 93. It’s holding the top spot in places like the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. However, in India, it only reached the seventh position.
For more such updates, check out Hollywood
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