Movie Review: Havoc (2025), the action crime thriller masterpiece.
- Vuyelo Praise Nkwinika
- May 5
- 6 min read
By Nkwinika Vuyelo Praise
03 May 2025
Introduction
Title, genre, setting, and main characters.
Havoc is an action thriller which includes crime, it was released by the popular streaming platform “Netflix” on 25 April, 20205. The movie was written and directed by Gareth Evans and stars very well-known cast members, including Tom Hardy, Justin Cornwell, Justin Mei Li, Timothy Olyphant, Quelin Sepulveda, Forest Whitaker, and more. The movie is set after a failed drug deal, in vibrant locations in Wales, when a detective called Walker (Tom Hardy) finds himself fighting his way through the criminal underworld to rescue the estranged son of a politician. His journey to rescue the politician’s son reveals a deep trail of corruption and conspiracy that affects his entire city.
Synopsis
Opening scene
The movie begins with a scene of a truck being chased by police vehicles. A group of thieves, Mia, Charlie, Wes, and Johnny, are on the truck. The truck is loaded with a batch of washing machines with cocaine inside them. One of the detectives (Cortez) gets badly injured and hospitalized because of Johnny and Wes throwing a mashing machine on the police vehicle he was driving.
Tragedy, betrayal, and conflict.
Later, Mia and Charlie take the cocaine to a local Triad leader (Tsui). Mia stole Tsui’s car and paid off her debt by working for Tsui. Unexpectedly, 3 masked gunmen appear and kill Tsui, including followers. Mia and Charli manage to run, so as Tsui’s uncle, Mr. Ching. It’s clear Tsui’s uncle knows the 3 masked men as he was alerted to leave the place before the attack. A homicide detective named Patrick Walker leads the investigation of the attack, only to see Charlie on CCTV labeled as a suspect. Walker knows Charlie and his father, Lawrence, a famous politician.
Walker then keeps the information to himself and goes straight to inform Lawrence, who begs Walker to track down his son and protect him, since they both believe he’s innocent. A Chinese Triad boss lady, known as “Mother”, arrives in the city with her guards, she’s a mother to Tsui, the local Triad leader who was killed in the attack. Mother believes Charlie killed her son. She kidnap Lawrence while hunting Charlie, seeking revenge. Mia and Charlie are on the run, helped by Mia’s uncle (Raul) to escape using fake passports.
Plot
Walker finds Mia’s uncle, who hardly agrees to provide information about Mia and Charlie’s whereabouts. He eventually gets Mia and Charlie, only to learn that 3 of his colleagues are dirty cops and were the ones who killed Tsui and his men with the help of Tsui’s uncle. They wanted to take control and the cocaine. With the help of his partner (Ellie), Walker tries to save Cortez, who’s in the hospital, as he knows secrets about the dirty cops. Ching, Tsui’s uncle, kills Cortez and his wife in the hospital, but Ellie manages to capture him and use him to get to the dirty cops who are her colleagues.
On the other side, Walker hides Charlie and Mia in a cabin, but they are quickly found by Mother and her man, with Lawrence as a hostage. Mia and Charlie are then captured after a big fight, Walker is unconscious inside the cabin. Mother still believes Charlie killed her son? She then asks Lawrence to kill Mia, so Charlie can feel the pain of losing someone he cares about, just like she felt about her son.
Resolution
Ellie arrives right in time with Ching, Vicent, and Jake, pointing a gun at them. Another fight breaks out as Charlie’s innocence is proven. Jake tries to kill Charlie but Lawrence takes a bullet for him. Ching and Mother dies, Vincent runs with a bag of cocaine while wounded. Walker chases Vincent and kills him. Ellie kills Jake, with Charlie finishing him off. Ellie let Mia and Charlie go as they’re still wanted.
Walker is shot as well, but still alive, he asks to be arrested by Ellie but she refuses, waiting for the police to arrive. I’m a very big fan of action, crime, and horror movies, hence I chose Havoc as my choice to review. I knew instantly that it would be easier for me to understand the movie, which will make it easier to review it as well.
Analysis
Havoc carries out an interesting cinematography. The shots are clear with all angles to showcase what’s happening on the scene. For example, the beginning scene of a police chase. The angle from outside the truck shows us the drivers inside, a shot of Johnny and Wes at the back of the truck, throwing a washing machine at the police vehicle. The camera tracks down the truck and the police vehicles using different angles. The lighting, sound, and editing blend well with the characters and the environment or locations they are in. The visuals are stunning and genuine, fight scenes are captured, styled, and choreographed well.
Thoughts and experience
Each scene felt realistic. The fights, the chase, and the shootings felt real. Most films exaggerate most stuff, but for “Havoc,” it’s hard to spot that. The characters also carry out their roles very well. They are active, dedicated, and accurate. They know how to match a situation, either playing dead, emotional, or hurt. As much as Havoc is good, it might not be a good choice for sensitive people. The killings or shootings seem too violent or brutal. It’s a trigger warning for those who are too sensitive to violence and seeing blood.
Although the movie is a masterpiece, it’s hard to spot the main characterseeing. Walker’s character does overshadow others, making us assume that he’s the top main character, but his face is not shown enough to center him as the top one. Also, Charlie’s character was hyped, but he was shown less on the screen. It felt a little hard understand the type of person he is. We were also shown little to no context about his relationship with Mia, we know that they are a couple, but nothing much proves they are. No acts of intimacy as couples do, making their relationship feel less genuine. But it seems like “Havoc” had a lot of cast members, which resulted in the movie being overcrowded.
Themes
Betrayal is the core theme in “Havoc.” Family, partners, and friends betrayed each other, especially for selfish acts. For example, Ching betrayed Tsui by getting him killed. Vincent, Jake, and Hayes betrayed their friends or colleagues corruption and fraud. They also betrayed Cortez, who was a colleague and a friend, by getting him and his wife killed. Walker also felt betrayed by Vincent, Jake, and Hayes, as his colleagues and friends.
I also feel like “Havoc” highlights what most societies are currently facing. Corruption and crime are what most nations are facing in our contemporary society. Businesses and government institutions are occupied by corruption and fraud. Individuals commit crimes almost every day for various reasons. It’s easy to understand “Havoc” since what it portrays isn’t something new to most people. We’re aware of drug activities and dirty cops. People on the run and some arrested for crimes they didn’t commit, it’s not new at all.
Conclusion
The movie is an active action crime thriller set in a vibrant environment. It captures audience attention through its use of clear, stunning visuals, great shots and angles, active characters, good lighting, sound, and enforced genuine acting. At the end, I felt like re-watching the movie. At the end scene, we were not shown what really happened to Walker as the police approached the cabin. I feel like we should’ve been shown whether he was arrested or not. At the end of the day, he didn’t do anything wrong but to seek and stick to the truth.
He knew Charlie was innocent all along, and he wanted to prove that. Which wasn’t easy because of his corrupt colleagues, who were involved, making it hard to label Charlie out as the suspect on the attack. Havoc has just been recently released, but it’s receiving a high volume of recognition. As far as I know, it hasn’t received any awards yet, but it’s highly possible it’ll happen soon due to its recognition in the film or entertainment industry. Also, it was released on a very popular film and series streaming platform, the best strategy to reach a large audience. I highly recommend watching Havoc (2025).
5 keywords
Betrayal
Crime
Corruption
Violence
Drugs
Relevant links
Lambie, R. (2025). Havoc- Director Gareth Evans on his Netflix action thriller’s reshoots (exclusive). Film Stories. Available at:
Miles, R. and Bryer, G. (2025). Tom Hardy's Netflix thriller ‘put Wales on world map’. BBC News. Availability at:
Bucketful Read. (2025). Havoc (2025) Review: Tom Hardy's Brutal Action Masterpiece. Medium. Available at:
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