Gareth Evans’ HAVOC Isn’t A Martial Arts Film, But Has Tom Hardy In ‘Fucking Beast Mode’

Gareth Evans is undeniably one of the greatest action directors working today. And now, over a decade after he delivered The Raid 2, he’s back with his first action movie since that head-exploding sequel. Make way for HAVOC, a bruising crime thriller packed with wince-worthy action – this time with Tom Hardy in the leading role. And where The Raid and its follow-up leaned into the martial arts prowess of Evans’ regular collaborator Iko Uwais, the brawls in HAVOC are tailored to Hardy’s hulking physique.

“It was never going to be a martial-arts film,” Evans tells Empire, speaking to a subtle shift in action sub-genres. “I wanted this to feel like the gunplay stuff that I love watching.” You’ll see Hardy blasting a shotgun above, but HAVOC also makes use of the A-lister’s sheer heft. “Tom came to us in fucking beast mode,” says Evans. “I tapped him on the shoulder and it was just like granite. He came fully physically prepared.” All of that is channelled into Walker, a detective having a very, very bad night. “Walker is not silky-smooth. He’s gonna cause as much carnage and as much mayhem as possible,” Evans promises. “He’s not grabbing your wrist and turning you into an arm lock. He’s grabbing you by the scruff of the neck and driving your face into the nearest heavy object.” Ooft.

Expect more of Evans’ propensity for turning everyday objects into objects of terror in the middle of a do-or-die showdown. “There’s a sequence in a fishing shack where it’s like an onslaught, a relentless attack,” the director teases, promising guns, hooks, and harpoons galore. “Every corner of this place someone’s going to pop up with a gun, someone’s going to pop up with a knife, and they’re going to come from under the floorboards, around the corners, through this window, through that window.” Sounds like pure havoc.

Read Empire’s HAVOC feature in the Thunderbolts* issue – on sale Thursday 13 March. Pre-order a copy online here. HAVOC comes to Netflix from 25 April.