High-Octane
Summary
Furies has a brutal opening 15 minutes that will likely put many viewers off but if you can get past that then the rest of the film has some impressive and vicious fight scenes making for a satisfying and well paced revenge extravaganza.
Plot: A mysterious woman trains a trio of girls to take revenge on a criminal gang that abuses females. The three lady warriors risk everything to challenge this corrupt empire.
Review: I nearly turned Furies off in the first ten minutes as the sexual violence scenes are horrible and I can’t stand seeing that kind of stuff on screen however, it is integral to the story of this movie and sadly it’s the kind of thing that happens on a daily basis. It’s grueling stuff but thankfully after the opening 15 minutes there isn’t any more of that and it becomes more of a straightforward revenge flick. Furies is packed with brutal fight scenes all drenched in green and red neon creating a nightmare inducing world that you feel like you’ll never escape from.
It’s not a film I’d watch again but if you can get through that opening then the fight scenes are nicely done and it’s well paced giving us characters we actually care about. Bi (Dong Anh Quynh) is our lead who is assaulted in the early part of the film and after her mother is murdered she ends up on the streets but is eventually taken in by Jacqueline (Veronica Ngo) and taught to defend herself. She joins a group of girls – Thanh (Toc Tien), Hong (Rima Thanh Vy) led by Jacqueline and they take on the group of men who kidnap and abuse women and sell them into the sex trade. You are 100% behind them in their quest and no matter what they do to the bad guys you’ll never feel sympathy for them and it’s satisfying seeing them get what they deserve.
There are a few twists in the story too which I didn’t see coming and the relationships between the girls gives it some heart and you genuinely believe they have gone through Hell and come out the other side.
It is let down by some really crappy CG during the motorcycle chase with a few clearly animated explosions too but the rest of the fights and action scenes are first rate.
Overall, Furies is brutal stuff and the first 15 minutes may put many viewers off but if you can get through that then the rest of the movie is a satisfying rampage of revenge with an action-packed final half hour.
