Furies

Dynamic Action Filmmaking Takes Center Stage in Furies, the Prequel to Furies

Furies, the prequel to the 2019 martial arts masterpiece Furie, showcases dynamic action filmmaking that elevates an otherwise uneven Vietnamese beat-em-up. Veronica Ngo, the star of Furie, makes her directorial debut in Furies, which explores the backstory of Thanh Soi, the scene-stealing villain from Furie, played by Thanh Hoa. While Furies does not follow Ngo’s character or storyline, it offers a compelling and gritty take on human trafficking through the story of Bi, a righteously angry orphan played by Dong Anh Quynh. The movie is centered around Bi and her vigilante squad, including Thanh (Toc Tien), Hong (Rima Thanh Vy), and their leader Jacqueline (Ngo Thanh Van), as they take on a group of sadistic traffickers.

Despite its powerful fight scenes, Furies falls short in comparison to the confident and memorable Furie in scenes where the characters have to interact with one another beyond action. While Samuel Kefi Abrikh, the action director and choreographer of Furie, delivers a few stand-out moments, the ensemble cast is not as memorable when they are not tearing up the screen.

In an unsettling opening scene, a young Bi loses her mother, a prostitute, to a drunken John, who accidentally sets their houseboat on fire. Fifteen years later, Bi is rescued and adopted by Jacqueline and her two pupils, Hong and Thanh. All four women have been raped or sexually assaulted, and the film directly addresses their intense bond. In one highlight, Bi returns from a brutal altercation with a fight-or-flight response triggered by memories of her mother, and Thanh cannot stop her without throwing some punches.

The villains in Furies, especially Thuan Nguyen’s portrayal of Mad Dog Hai, the reputedly demonic pimp, are not as memorable as they were in Furie. The other traffickers are only as threatening as the women they imperil. A last-minute twist adds some complexity to Jacqueline and her squad’s feud with Hai, but their mutual antagonism is not much more complicated than it first seems. They fight, and sometimes that’s cool to look at.

Abrikh’s choreography, while consistently solid, lacks the same spark of genius as Furie's. Ngo’s camera matches the concussive pace and wild movements of her performers, but some of the action scenes feel like hand-me-downs from Furie. However, when the moment calls for a truly unhinged and grisly spike of adrenaline, Abrikh and Ngo deliver some indelibly gnarly images. You know a fight will be good when it starts with one attacker wrenching a bloody syringe out of her neck.

The fights between Abrikh and Ngo are not only visually impressive, but also have a distinct rhythm and visceral impact that keeps the audience engaged, despite the characters themselves being less interesting than their physical altercations. The movie's elaborate, visual-effects-heavy motorcycle chase sequence delivers on its wild premise, thanks to its playful orchestration. However, the film's dialogue-focused scenes lack the same level of snappiness and back-and-forth banter, which reveals the movie's relatively indecisive melodramatic direction.

Ngo and her team of five screenwriters (excluding script consultant Nguyen Ngoc Lam) appear most at ease when the characters are at their lowest points. There are several poignant scenes where Bi, Thanh, and Hong try to comfort or show solidarity with each other after their intense fights. Unfortunately, Hong, the most upbeat and feminine of the four primary protagonists, is the least developed of the group. While she helps Bi with her makeup, styles her clothes, and even gets in some good hits during their brawls, she lacks the depth and complexity of Thanh and Bi, who form a formidable duo with a somewhat unstable third member. Even Bi's character, while intriguing, doesn't receive the same patient development as Ngo's character in "Furie," so we're never quite sure what she means when she confesses early on that she enjoys killing rapists: "I liked it. And I was afraid of myself...liking it...I could drown in my own darkness."

The fights in Furies have rhythm and visceral impact, even when the characters themselves are not as interesting as their brawling. However, the dialogue-focused scenes lack the same kind of snappiness and give-and-take as the action scenes, revealing the movie’s relatively indecisive melodramatic thrust.

Ngo and her team of screenwriters are most comfortable when their characters are at their lowest. There are a few scenes where Bi, Thanh, and Hong try to comfort or show solidarity with each other after they’ve finished kicking asses. However, the upbeat and femme-presenting Hong, who is the least developed co-lead, is not as compelling as Thanh and Bi, a solid duo with a wobbly third wheel. Even Bi’s character is not developed as patiently as Ngo’s in Furie, and we never fully understand what she means when she confesses that she enjoys killing rapists.