Havoc (2025)

Release Date: April 25, 2025
Director: Gareth Evans
Starring: Tom Hardy, Forest Whitaker, Timothy Olyphant, Jessie Mei Li, Luis Guzmán

The Plot: Call of Duty Chaos Meets Hollywood Clichés

So, I finally gave Havoc a watch after putting it off for weeks—and honestly, it wasn’t half bad. If you’ve ever wondered what it’d feel like to sit through a Call of Duty cutscene stretched into a two-hour film, this is it. Gareth Evans doesn’t waste time with exposition or subtlety—the story kicks off fast and never lets up.

We follow Tom Hardy as Detective Walker, a gritty, corrupt cop caught in a relentless mission to rescue a politician’s son after a drug deal goes south. As Walker punches and shoots his way through the criminal underworld, the story unfolds through sheer brute force. There’s corruption at every level, rival gangs, and a spiraling mess of betrayals that feels more like a video game campaign than a traditional movie.

The plot isn’t groundbreaking—in fact, it’s downright far-fetched in parts—but it’s entertaining if you’re in the mood for non-stop action and don’t care much about logic. It’s a shoot-em-up fever dream where bullets fly more than dialogue and you never really stop to ask, “Wait, why is that happening?”

The Cast: Gun Skills Over Acting Chops

Tom Hardy basically plays Tom Hardy—as in, brooding, angry, and bulletproof. His version of Detective Walker is a tank of a man who barely flinches, even after being stabbed, shot, and thrown off buildings. While his performance wasn’t exactly nuanced, it didn’t need to be. This movie isn’t about emotions; it’s about mayhem. As long as you can shoot a gun and grunt through pain, you’re hired.

Forest Whitaker shows up in a small role as a crooked mayoral candidate, and to be honest, he’s criminally underused. Whitaker’s a top-tier actor, and yet here he’s reduced to a background piece in a world that doesn’t slow down long enough to let him act.

Jessie Mei Li plays a rookie detective, and while her energy adds a spark, she gets very little to do. Most of the characters are either getting shot, shooting, or plotting who to shoot next.

The Vibe: John Wick with Less Style, More Bruises

If you like John Wick-style shootouts and bone-crunching brawls, Havoc gives it to you in spades. It’s just not quite as stylish. What it lacks in sleek suits and slick choreography, it makes up for in pure, messy violence.

Director Gareth Evans (of The Raid fame) definitely knows how to stage a fight. There’s a certain rawness to the way Hardy crashes through doorways and unloads clips into goons. Some sequences are genuinely impressive in terms of scale and intensity. But after a while, it becomes exhausting—not because it’s boring, but because it’s nonstop. You don’t get a chance to breathe.

There’s hardly a moment where something isn’t exploding, someone isn’t bleeding, or another twist isn’t crammed into an already chaotic story. The atmosphere is dark, damp, and gritty, which fits the tone, but it’s all so relentless that you start to wonder if the film even knows what a quiet moment looks like.

As someone who loves gritty action, I was still craving some kind of emotional payoff or pause. But nope—just more bodies and more bullets. It’s fun in that primal, video-game kind of way, but lacks weight.

Public Feedback: Netflix’s Action Hit or Miss?

Havoc dropped on Netflix to a wave of mixed reactions. As of now, it holds a 58% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 72% audience score. On IMDb, it’s sitting at a 6.5/10. These numbers scream one thing: people are watching, but they’re divided.

Social media reactions have been all over the place. A lot of viewers praised Hardy’s full-tilt commitment to the chaos, calling the movie a “rollercoaster of blood and bullets.” Others called it mindless, saying, “It’s just Call of Duty in movie form—and not in a good way.”

Some fans appreciated Evans’ return to brutal hand-to-hand combat and long-take fight scenes. Others were frustrated by the lack of depth, underdeveloped characters, and repetitive sequences. There’s definitely a faction online that sees Havocas a cult favorite in the making, while others dropped out halfway.

Controversy: Why Wasn’t This in Theaters?

The big question surrounding Havoc isn’t the plot or characters—it’s the platform. Fans and critics alike are questioning why a movie this loaded with action wasn’t released in theaters. The scale, sound design, and fight choreography would’ve hit harder on the big screen.

Netflix reportedly acquired the distribution rights in early 2024, betting on Hardy’s star power and Evans’ action pedigree to drive viewership. While it performed well in terms of streams—reportedly topping global charts its first weekend—the decision to keep it digital has led to criticism. It feels like a missed opportunity for a true theatrical experience, especially considering the resurgence of action films at the box office.

Personally, I’d have loved to experience this in a Dolby cinema—where every bone crunch and explosion could rattle your seat. The decision to drop it straight to streaming almost undersells the scale of its action.

The Ending: Bullet Holes and Closure (Sort Of)

Without spoiling too much, the film ends with yet another shootout, bodies everywhere, and Hardy walking away with enough injuries to kill any normal man. The story wraps up with a half-hearted redemption arc, a crooked system partially exposed, and some vague justice handed out.

Is it satisfying? Kind of. It checks the necessary boxes but doesn’t leave much of an emotional imprint. You’ll remember the body count more than the character arcs.

Final Thoughts: A Guilty Pleasure with an Ammo Addiction

Havoc isn’t trying to be smart. It’s not interested in complex morality or layered storytelling. It’s about crooked cops, drug lords, and one very angry Tom Hardy tearing through a city like a human wrecking ball.

There’s definitely fun to be had here—if your idea of fun is watching a man survive 10 near-death experiences while everyone around him gets gunned down. It’s not a bad flick if you just want to chill and enjoy a mindless action film with no real need to think. But if you’re looking for substance, character arcs, or realism, this isn’t it.

As someone who enjoys brutal cinema when it’s earned, I found Havoc entertaining—but hollow. It’s the cinematic equivalent of a killstreak montage. Impressive in the moment, forgettable when it’s over.

Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (6/10)

Loud, violent, and totally over the top—Havoc is brain-off entertainment that delivers bullets, bruises, and not much else.

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