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Released by: Well Go USA
Released on: June 25th, 2019.
Director: Le-Van Kiet
Cast: Veronica Ngo, Le-Van Kiet, Van Kiet Le, Mai Cat Vi
Year: 2019
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Furie - Movie Review:
Hai Phuong (Veronica Ngo) has gang ties. She works as a debt collector, paying visits to those late on their loan payments where she uses her martial arts abilities - as a child she was taught vovinam by her father - to coerce them to pay up. She also has a daughter, young Mai (Mai Cat Vi), whose relationship with her mother is strained. Mai's father is out of the picture all together. Given Hai's connections, Mai understandably has trouble connecting to the other kids at school. When she gets in trouble for something she didn't do at school and her mom doesn't come to her aid, Mai, through a series of events, winds up getting kidnapped by some men involved in an organ harvesting racket.
Understandably concerned about her daughter even if their relationship is less than perfect, Hai wastes not a second in the pursuit of her child's captors. She comes remarkably close to saving her before they really make off with her, but not quite close enough and the rest of the film is essentially Hai hunting down and violently dealing with those who would take from her what matters the most.
Furie is basically Taken, but better in that the film actually takes the time to establish a proper, and very human, relationship between parent and child before then launching into the action. This isn't super high drama or anything, but we can believe that despite their issues, Mai and Hai care for one another and we get enough information, via flashbacks, on Hai's upbringing to understand why she is the way she is. There's decent, if never groundbreaking, characterization here and both Veronica Ngo and Mai Cat Vi pull it off rather well. The acting in this one is more than solid.
The highlights, however, are the action set pieces. Ngo really shines here and while some more creativity in some of the fight choreography might have helped this stand out from the pack a bit more, the film still delivers on the action front. There's an impressive set piece where Ngo goes head to head against some bad guys while riding a motorbike that leads into some good chase work and plenty of hang to hang action throughout the film. Ngo, who played Paige Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Tien opposite Will Smith in Bright, gets a lot of screen time here and director Le-Van Kiet is savvy enough to let the film focus on her both as an actress - where she's more than decent - and as an action hero - where she's excellent. The fact that she's particularly attractive certainly doesn't hurt things either, but her fighting skills are legitimate and she really shines in this part, particularly in the film's big finish where the film pulls out all the stops and really goes for it.
This wasn't made on a massive budget and there are areas where it shows. There is some unevenness in the tone and some unusual moments of comedy injected into the proceedings that don't help so much as they hurt. Despite this, Furie delivers pretty much exactly what you want from it - a quickly paced, tense film with plenty of action and Veronica Ngo kicking a whole lot of ass.
Furie - Blu-ray Review:
Furie looks great on a 25GB Blu-ray disc in this AVC encoded 2.39.1 widescreen 1080p high definition transfer from Well Go USA. Depth is impressive here as is the color reproduction. There are no problems with compression artifacts and detail is generally strong throughout. Skin tones look lifelike and natural, black levels are strong and there are no noticeable problems with compression artifacts even if the disc is single layered. Texture is great, you can really soak up a lot of the intricacies of the costumes and sets used in the movie, and all in all the movie looks very good in high definition on this release.
The primary audio option on this disc is a Vietnamese language DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio track, though an English language dubbed option is also available in the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. Dolby Digital Stereo tracks are also provided in English and Vietnamese. Subtitles are provided in English only. Getting back to that Vietnamese language lossless track, it sounds excellent. The film makes great use of the surround channels, especially during the action scenes, fights and shoot outs, so expect a good amount of sound effects to zip past you fairly often. Dialogue stays clean and clear, the subtitles are easy to read and free of any typographical errors, and the levels are properly balanced throughout. All in all, this is a very lively and active mix and a very enjoyable one at that.
Extras are mainly comprised of four short featurettes, each running between two and four minutes - Difficult Action Scenes, French Action Team, Mai Cat Vi and Phan Thanh Nhien. These focus on the fight choreography and action sequences as well as on what actors Mai Cat Vi and Phan Thanh Nhien brought to their specific parts in the production. Interesting enough to watch once but very EPK-style in delivery. Still, some of the behind the scenes footage is quite cool to see.
Menus and chapter selection are also included and trailers for a few other Well Go USA properties play before the main menu loads. As this is a combo pack release, a DVD version of the movie is also included inside the Blu-ray case.
Furie - The Final Word:
Furie isn't very original at all but it does delivery some seriously kick-ass action scenes. Veronica Ngo is a force to be reckoned with and deserves all of the accolades she's received for her work in this picture. Well Go USA's Blu-ray release is light on extras but it looks and sounds excellent. Recommended for action movie junkies and martial arts film fans.
Click on the images below for full sized Furie Blu-ray screen caps!
