Furie

Hubby was still working away last night on his side project, so I decided to watch a movie and one, again, that he might enjoy if he caught any of it. So I decided to try Furie. It's a 2019 Vietnamese movie (and he clocked that right away, which is only fair as he's been to Vietnam twice) starring Veronica Ngo. I've actually seen her in a couple of things before -- she was very briefly in Star Wars: The Last Jedi as Rose Tico's sister (the one that sacrificed herself early in the movie) and in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny.

I gotta say, she kicks ass in Furie as Hai Phuong, a single mother with a shady past who saves her daughter from organ harvesting kidnappers. Well. That was a mouthful. 

So, Hai Phuong has had a hard life. She more or less ran away from home and fell in with the wrong crowd when she was young. But once she became pregnant (and we have no idea who the father is--it never figures in the story at all), she left Saigon and went to the countryside where she ekes out a living as a debt collector. When we meet her, Mai, her daughter, is maybe 9 or 10. They are a bit like pariahs in their neighbourhood between Hai's job, her standoffish attitude, and the fact that she's unmarried. 

She and Mai are close, though Mai wishes her mother would do something else as a job--something safe. When Mai is accused of thievery (falsely) and Hai doesn't immediately stand up for her daughter to the marketplace busybodies, Mai is crushed and runs off. Coincidentally, she's kidnapped soon thereafter. This is the one place where things do fall a bit apart plot-wise. There are hints that Mai is targeted because she's Hai's daughter and because of Hai's past, but it's never explained. But, as a viewer, the action sweeps you along so you don't notice too much. 

To be honest, plot isn't the thing that holds this movie together anyway. It's purely Veronica Ngo and the action sequences. And they are intense, man. Hai immediately gives chase and viewers get a breathtaking (if breakneck) look at the beauty of Vietnam as she chases them down a waterway and through a bamboo forest and then on to the big city. 

It's basically one big fight after another as Hai frantically claws her way through the underbelly of the city looking for her daughter. There are a few interesting (atypical) choices that the movie makes -- it's a very female led film. The men in it are either disposable (after tough fights...but not so tough that you think they have a hope of stopping this tiger mom) or minimally effective (the brother that doesn't help, the cop that's always a step behind). The big bad boss is another woman who is the only one that really puts up a big enough challenge to add tension to the film. And boy oh boy, she's seriously scary. A bit one note scary, but scary. 

I did like that Hai isn't just tough. She's also very vulnerable and desperate in her search. You get glimpses of her childhood that go towards explaining why she wound up the way she did as well. So even though the why of the main plot driver (i.e. the daughter being kidnapped) isn't really explained, it still works and has depth. 

Am I glad I watched it? Hmm, maybe glad isn't the word. It's too violent for that. But yes, I did enjoy the ride. Wait. That doesn't sound right either. You can't really say this is a movie that you enjoy. I appreciated it, perhaps. It was gritty. It wasn't one of those stylised fighting movies where you never feel that there's any real danger or the lead always looks freshly showered. Nah. This is a movie of desperation and trauma and while the fight sequences are fluid and elegant, they feel real. So, yeah, the movie works. And it's all on Veronica Ngo's shoulders that it does.

Also, mad respect to Veronica Ngo. She's 41 (born in 1979) and she could wipe the floor with just about anyone.