James Gunn says audiences just skipped one of the year's best action movies
James Gunn is beating the drum for a brutally good action flick that many skipped this weekend, hailing it as a major achievement after taking his Man of Tomorrow crew to a theater to see it. Consider this your heads-up on the hard-hitting release most people missed.
If you blinked, you might have missed 'The Furious' hitting UK cinemas. And to be honest, most people did. Despite a tidal wave of critical love and some serious action pedigree behind the camera, this one’s struggling to pull crowds – but it seems the film has found a proper fan in James Gunn, who isn’t exactly a stranger to big-budget mayhem himself.
James Gunn: Not Just Superman, Also Supporting Underdogs
James Gunn, who’s co-boss of DC Studios these days and, just to be clear, the fella making the Superman follow-up 'Man of Tomorrow', decided to do a bit of movie night team bonding. Instead of another superhero rewatch, he rounded up a bunch of his cast and crew and took them to see 'The Furious' for a night out at the pictures.
Afterwards, Gunn took to X (the artist formerly known as Twitter) to gush about the film:
"Oh boy! Just went with a bunch of #ManofTommorrow cast & crew to see #TheFurious. I didn’t think Kenji Tanigaki could outdo himself after the spectacular Walled In, but man The Furious really showed him as one of the best action filmmakers working. We all loved it!"
That’s not faint praise coming from someone who spends half his week blowing up planets. Gunn previously called director Kenji Tanigaki’s earlier film, 'Walled In', “spectacular”, and now reckons 'The Furious' is in a league of its own.
The Film: Critic-Proof, Crowd-Resistant
Here’s the odd bit. Despite having had a buzzy premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and being hailed as a new genre benchmark – 'The Raid' and 'John Wick' are the obvious touchstones – 'The Furious' limped into North American cinemas on June 12. Box office takings for its first weekend: about $2.75 million across 1,251 screens. Not exactly a stampede, is it?
- Box Office: $2.75m opening weekend (US/Canada), 1,251 screens
- Festival Debut: Toronto International Film Festival, last autumn
- Critical Response: 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, 95% audience score (Popcornmeter)
- UK Release: Quiet, hardly noticed
Why All the Fuss?
If you like your action bone-rattling and relentless, this is apparently catnip. The plot is plain: Miao Xie stars as Wang Wei, a father who goes full wrecking ball on a child trafficking ring after his daughter is snatched. Not subtle, but it does the job – it gets you from set piece to set piece without fuss.
Kenji Tanigaki, who’s spent three decades designing mayhem for countless Eastern action films, ups the ante with brutal fight scenes where combatants improvise with whatever’s nearby. It also throws martial artists Joe Taslim and Brian Le into the mix, letting them go at it with wildly different fighting styles – which, if you know your action choreography, usually means a proper adrenaline rush on screen.
So, if you’re wondering why a director like Gunn is talking up a film half the world has overlooked, there you go. Chalk this up as one of those times where the critics are cheering, the box office isn’t, and anyone actually paying attention is in for a bit of a treat.