Havoc

writer and director Gareth Evans explains how his upcoming Netflix action movie features Tom Hardy in “f*cking beast mode.” Known for directing action movies like The Raid: Redemption (2011) and The Raid 2 (2014), Evans’ new movie follows Hardy’s Walker, a detective who must fight his way through the criminal underworld to rescue a kidnapped politician’s son. In addition to Hardy, the Havoc cast features Forest Whitaker, Timothy Olyphant, and Luiz Guzmán, with the initial teaser trailer promising that the film will be a violent ride for audiences.

In a recent interview with Empire ahead of the Havoc release on Netflix on April 25, Evans previews some of what’s to come from the film. The movie will mark a subtle shift away from something like The Raid 2 in the sense that Evans says, “It was never going to be a martial-arts film.” Instead, he explains, “I wanted this to feel like the gunplay stuff that I love watching.” As for Hardy, Evans says that he arrived on set ready for action:

“Tom came to us in f*cking beast mode. I tapped him on the shoulder and it was just like granite. He came fully physically prepared. Walker is not silky-smooth. He’s gonna cause as much carnage and as much mayhem as possible. 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.”

Evans also previews one sequence in Havoc in which enemies besiege a fishing shack, and the fight involves a number of unique weapons, including guns, harpoons, and fishing hooks:

“There’s a sequence in a fishing shack where it’s like an onslaught, a relentless attack. 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.”

Check out a new image of Hardy firing a sH๏τgun in Havoc below:

What Gareth Evans’ Tease Means For Havoc

This Is A New Kind Of Tom Hardy Action Movie

Hardy is no stranger to the action genre. In addition to appearing in three Venom movies, he’s also appeared in action or action-adjacent flicks like Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Warrior (2011), Inception (2010), and Bronson (2008), among others. Havoc, however, looks like it will mark an interesting first for Hardy, making use of his action hero skills like no other movie in his filmography.

Even if Havoc may not be as martial-arts-oriented as something like The Raid 2, the trailer has suggested that it will be a very physically demanding film with plenty of close-quarters brawls. Evans is known for shooting very violent action scenes with wider takes and fewer cuts, relying on trained actors and stunt performers, and complex choreography. Even though Hardy has had plenty of fight scenes in past projects, the fact that Evans is directing Havoc means it could show Hardy’s raw physicality in a way audiences haven’t seen before.

Our Take On Tom Hardy’s “Beast Mode” In Havoc

Hardy Is No Stranger To Physical Transformations

If there’s one thing that’s true of all Hardy performances, it’s that he truly gives himself over to every role he takes on. Many Hardy movies involve the actor using unique voices or altering his body in some way. To play Bane, for example, Hardy put on thirty pounds of muscle. In order to play a detective who can take down scores of enemies, then, it’s likely that Hardy underwent some training to be able to convincingly pull this off in Havoc.

Evans’ last project as a director was Apostle (2018), a horror film. Havoc will mark a return to the director’s action movie roots, though he has also directed several episodes of the violent Gangs of London TV show over the past few years. It’s unclear if Havoc will end up matching The Raid in terms of its violence and intensity, but it’s certainly shaping up to be a standout Hardy movie.

Source: Empire