There probably won’t be another Liam Neeson Taken joint, for a number of reasons. But the high-pitched kidnaping trilogy tapped a potent if at times irrational vein of revenge that’s evergreen and universal—and in Furie, it’s back, this time in Vietnam. With a charismatic, kick-ass action star who has decades on Neeson, this might be the beginning of a beautiful franchise.
Hai Phuong (Veronica Ngo) is as protective of her daughter Mai (Cat Vi) as any struggling single mother. When Mai’s classmates bully her and call her names because she doesn’t know who her father is, mom steps in to chase them away. But mom’s violent line of work also puts her daughter in danger. Hai Phuong is a hard-boiled debt collector and a former strip-club gang leader. She has a colorful past. God help anyone who thinks it’s a good idea to kidnap her daughter.
Ngo, who also co-produced, may be familiar to fans of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which was as limited a showcase for her talents as Rogue One was for Donnie Yen. Furie proves Ngo’s seemingly effortless ability to command the screen, making this predictable thriller completely watchable. From her steely thousand-yard stare to her maternal desperation to get her daughter back, Ngo is an unstoppable force who’s in nearly every shot.
This is writer-director Le-Van Kiet’s second genre picture with Ngo. She played a young mother in his ambitious 2012 horror film House in the Alley, which was heavy on atmosphere but didn’t quite sell its domestic tension. Furie is far more focused, thanks in large part to Ngo’s presence and furious stunt coordination (the editing could have been a little less choppy, but as 21st century action editing goes, it could have been much worse). But Kiet’s script also hones in on a conflict that goes deeper than a simple revenge plot. Hai Phuong and her daughter are both stigmatized for her mother’s sins. Whether in the small village where the movie begins or the overwhelming bustle of Saigon where a trafficking plot leads Hai Phuong, society sees her and her daughter’s lives as disposable—or worse, as commodities, mere bodies (and body parts) to sell.
Social commentary aside, a revenge thriller lives and dies by its set pieces, and Furie makes the most of its varied locations, from a riverside boat chase in the countryside to a cargo train pulling out of a busy metropolis. That contrast between country life and city life tells part of the Hai Phuong’s story too. Anyone viewing from the comfort of their familiar American city will be disoriented by the transition from the remote village to the clogged streets of Saigon. How could anyone possibly find a lost child in that sea of motorcycles and crowded market stalls? In this urban delirium, Hai Phuong is at home. And when that home threatens to consume the most important person in her life, watch out.
The post Furie appeared first on Spectrum Culture.