Film Review: HAVOC (2025): Tom Hardy is in Fine Form in a Relentless Action-Packed Thriller with an Abundance of Violence

Havoc Review

Havoc (2025) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Gareth Evans and starring Tom Hardy, Timothy Olyphant, Forest Whitaker, Jessie Mei Li, Justin Cornwell, Sunny Pang, Yeo Yann Yann, Quelin Sepulveda, Lockhart Ogilvie, Jim Caesar, Xelia Mendes-Jones, Richard Harrington, Serhat Metin, Luis Guzman, Gordon Alexander, John Cummins, Megan Lockhurst and Jack Morris.

Tom Hardy is perfect in director Gareth Evans’ new blood-soaked Netflix action film, Havoc, as a heroic cop with a conscience called Walker. Hardy doesn’t do more than what is required for the role, but he’s such a fine actor that his intense performance is enough to suit the logistics of the film’s violence-heavy plot. Hardy is wired in every scene he’s in and it’s virtually impossible for his fans not to relish in his tremendously on-point performance as the cop on a mission here. Evans is not a director to be taken lightly and he goes all out with shoot-outs and violent set pieces that rank among the best action sequences you’ll see in the movies this year.

This film opens with a washing machine being thrown out of a truck during a car chase. The monster-sized washing machine breaks onto the cop car’s window that it’s thrown upon and puts the police officer that the machine punctures in the ICU. I thought that was a little graphic, but then again I’ve never seen a Gareth Evans movie before in its entirety. That will soon change as Havoc proves Evans was barely getting warmed up with the use of the washing machine. I’m going to excitedly visit this filmmaker’s previous work soon.

Then, the new movie shows a domestic dispute that Walker’s fellow officer, Ellie (the likable Jessie Mei Li), is dealing with as Walker tries to get his daughter a birthday gift at the local bodega. Walker is the typical cop who lives on the edge and Hardy seems to know this character like the back of his hand and makes him instantly easy to like. Walker cares about his kid which automatically gives him a certain level of charm whether Hardy, the actor, possessed it or not. Luckily, Hardy has more than enough charisma to spare in this part.

Forest Whitaker plays a politician named Lawrence Beaumont and the Oscar-winning Whitaker has just the right amount of sophistication to make the role work in his favor. Lawrence’s son, Charlie (Justin Cornwell), and the story surrounding his situation is a large chunk of what drives the plot of Havoc. Walker must protect Charlie and his girlfriend, Mia (Quelin Sepulveda), from a series of Chinese crime lords instructed to obtain vengeance for a key character’s death by that murdered person’s mom (Yeo Yann Yann). Sunny Pang plays another violent and suspicious character, but nobody is as threatening to Walker’s future as the crooked cop, Vincent, who’s played with tremendous ferocity by the always reliable Timothy Olyphant.

There are many scenes where the movie goes all out with wall-to-wall violence. Axes and guns are used to injure characters or kill people off, and pretty much anything that can become a weapon will become a weapon; hence that aforementioned washer machine that was thrown off the truck at the outset of the movie. One sequence in a nightclub felt like it was going to be the piece de resistance of this film, but the movie soon goes outside of the club as violence erupts on the streets and then progresses to a hideaway cabin where our heroes (Walker, Charlie and Mia), must fight for their survival against all odds. This picture never lets up and feels like a continuous take of action even if scenes are punctuated by spurts of plot developments in-between.

In support, Luis Guzman appears in a sequence that reminds actors that he’s always been one of our most interesting character actors even if he’s given little to do here other than become a participant in the action. It is Hardy, however, who makes Havoc a winner. It’s not that his character is fully developed, but he’s about as well-realized as it could be in a picture on this level. Evans is certainly a director that is not to be underestimated either. Olyphant is utilized to perfection, but the whole series of criminals who go after Walker are memorable. They seem threatening even if Walker and company take them out rather quickly thanks to their particular set of skills which they possess. Whitaker also does decent work, too, as the protective dad who’d take a bullet for his son if he had to. Li is a reliable sidekick for Walker as she takes matters into her own hands at one key point in a scene which will keep audiences in suspense.

Look, Havoc is over-the-top. Director Gareth Evans is a true original, though. Tony Scott and Renny Harlin made great action-packed pictures in the 1990’s then we had a drought of them for as long as I can remember. I haven’t seen one this well crafted since the prime days of Scott and Harlin. This movie isn’t on the level of masterpieces like Scott’s True Romance or Harlin’s The Long Kiss Goodnight, but it’s good at what it does. Havoc more than fills the void of violent action pictures that audiences may be missing out on these days. Hardy is such a super actor. He leaves his character’s final decisions here ambiguous at the picture’s conclusion suggesting a sequel very much could happen. I wouldn’t mind if it does.

Rating: 7/10

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