Havoc review: Tom Hardy vehicle comes alive with blood-spattering action

It's no surprise, then, that Havoc is brimming with both complex, ultra-violent action sequences and an impressively grimy aesthetic – giving the film a weight and texture that instantly sets it apart from the bulk of made-for-streaming action fare.

As for the narrative, it's compelling enough but not exactly original. Largely trading in action movie clichés and replete with mostly stock characters, it unfolds in a nameless American city rife with vice and corruption, where we are introduced to Hardy's Walker – a downtrodden detective in the pocket of crooked politicians and clearly haunted by demons.

When we meet him, he's in the process of buying a last-minute Christmas gift for his estranged daughter, but before he has the chance to play Santa Claus he finds himself caught up in a fast-moving plot involving Charlie (Justin Cornwell), the son of a corrupt Mayoral candidate (Forest Whittaker).

Charlie and his girlfriend Mia (Quelin Sepulveda) have been involved in a drugs deal that has gone disastrously wrong and are now hunted not just by the vengeful, high-ranking members of a deadly Chinese crime syndicate, but also by a bunch of narcotic cops led by Timothy Olyphant's Vincent – former colleagues of Walker who are linked to him by a traumatic, seemingly illegal act in their past.

Also on the scene is Ellie, a rookie cop played by Jessie Mei Li of Netflix fantasy series Shadow and Bone, who has been paired up with Walker and serves as more or less the only moral compass in the film.

Most of these aspects – from the generic, crime-infested city to the flawed, redemption-seeking cop – have been done countless times before in more memorable ways, and indeed few elements of the plot will linger long in your memory after viewing. The emotional through-line concerning Hardy's daughter feels especially tacked on, bookending the film to raise the stakes but rarely mentioned beyond that.

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But where the film comes alive is in its kinetic, bone-crunching, blood-spattering action sequences, with Evans citing the work of legendary Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo as a key influence. A breathless car chase that sees a washing machine used as an unlikely weapon is an early highlight, while a brutal brawl that culminates in a vicious scene of hand-to-hand combat between Hardy and a Triad assassin played by former MMA fighter Michelle Waterson is also expertly done.

But the highlight is undoubtedly the dizzying centrepiece scene set within a two-storey nightclub, a sequence Evans told RadioTimes.com took three weeks to map out and another three to shoot. Unfolding against a backdrop of thumping techno music, there are so many moving parts and the pace is so relentless that you can only marvel at Evans's mastery of choreography, as Walker dispatches enemy after deadly enemy amid the mayhem.

There are other merits too: in a solid cast, Hardy is reliably watchable as Walker, while it's impressive just how convincingly the film's South Wales location has been transformed into a US city with largely seamless effects work. But it's those brilliant action scenes which ensure the film is just about worth that four year wait.

Havoc is streaming on Netflix from Friday 25th August 2025. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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