If there's one universal truth we can all agree on in our divisive era, it's that child traffickers are the dregs of society, making them perfect as cannon fodder in a modern action movie.
Thus the premise of Kenji Tanigaki's new film, Fury: When mute merchant Wang Wei's (Xie Miao) daughter, Rainie (Yang Enyu), is kidnapped in broad daylight by members of a similar organization, he embarks on a chase through Bangkok's criminal underworld to rescue her, brutally dispatching anyone who dares stand in his way with his honed martial arts (and his trusty claw hammer).
The film makes no bones about mocking people, especially after Wei teams up with Navin (Joe Taslim), a journalist also pursuing his missing love: his wife, an investigative reporter who vanished while tracking a criminal organization. Fury feels like an action thriller of its time, as details of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes were published intermittently throughout 2026, revealing not only the depths of his and his backers' depravity but also the levers and mechanisms that allowed him to manipulate the American justice system. Viewers can expect catharsis in the wake of these grisly revelations.
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However, to put it bluntly, "The Furious" is not a modern film. Epstein's notoriety is not, so to speak, a nucleotide in the film's DNA, because Tanigaki wanted to create a villain for his story that any viewer would find repugnant, no matter where in the world they live.
«"It's kind of a coincidence," Tanigaki told IndieWire, referring to the timing of the release of "Fast and Furious" with the recent revelations about Epstein's crimes. "There's actually a lot of crime going on in Southeast Asia, like Cambodia or parts of Thailand. As an action movie, we obviously need good people and bad people, and if we're talking about the backstory, the bad people have to be really bad. I can't touch on local issues because that wouldn't apply to everyone worldwide. But human trafficking, especially child trafficking—we All We know it's terrible!"»
In a separate conversation, Xie echoed Tanigaki's sentiments. "For me, this film is about a father who lost his daughter," he said. "There are many films that would choose a similar plot; I think saving a daughter is something that evokes the same emotions in people all over the world.".
True to his words, the screenplay by the quartet of Mak Ting-shu, Lei Zhi-long, Shum Kwang-sin, and Frank Hui deeply engages the film's emotional core. In a brawl scene in a seedy nightclub, Wei takes on a whole crowd of thugs and delivers a brutal frontal kick that sends one of them flying; a close-up of Wei's feet reveals that he's wearing the very steel-toed boots Rainey gave him earlier in the film. With one breathtaking stunt after another, "Fury" brings tears to your eyes as quickly as a kick to the jaw.
The film's close commercial debut to the January revelations about Epstein only creates a sense of urgency, though its subject matter is truly timeless. In any year, in any culture, there are no antagonists (except Nazis) more suited to the role of action movie villains; rooting against the scum of child trafficking is moral, easy, and, most importantly, completely unabashedly satisfying. "I hope audiences feel the same way," Tanigaki said. "'Beat him! Beat him!' That's very important to this film. Maybe it's different for other films.".
Fury builds on a gradual narrative buildup. Wei and Navin are the central figures of the story, but the focus also falls on the primary and secondary antagonists: Paklung (Joey Iwanaga), a sleek businessman in a suit behind a human trafficking operation, and Ho (Brian Le), the headstrong son of one of Paklung's subordinates. When these four collide in the film's climactic showdown, each has their own motivation and reason for experiencing a violent, searing rage. Wei wants to save his daughter, Navin wants to avenge his wife, Ho wants to avenge his father, whom Paklung executes earlier in the film, and Paklung wants to avenge his pregnant wife, whom he accidentally kills during what can best be described as a business meeting gone wrong. (In a classic example of villainous logic, Paklung blames Wei and Navin for her death instead of taking responsibility. This is projection at its finest.)
For Tanigaki, this is the conclusion to the film's core idea. "At the end, everyone is furious for their own reasons, and we need that energy," Tanigaki said. "We can make all kinds of action films, but our type of action film requires energy and anger. When you watch a Bruce Lee film, you want to be like Bruce Lee when you leave the theater, or when you watch a Tom Cruise film.".
In other words, after watching "Fury," you might want to be like Wei, a man willing to go through hell to protect his child. However, Tanigaki doesn't strive for banal reactions, and his goal isn't to inspire viewers to chase criminals. In "Fury," he focuses more on emotional action than shock, because the action stems from the emotional experiences of all his characters.
Xie weaves this dynamic into his performance. He's a father himself; he understands Wei's pain over Rainey's kidnapping. However, the way he conveys it is inextricably linked to the choreography and the action. "It's very easy to understand how painful it is for a father who has lost his daughter," Xie said. "It's more difficult to determine the depth of suffering in someone who can't speak, because this character can't express his anger verbally. Therefore, his actions will be more extreme than those of ordinary people.".
As Xie rightly noted, Wei shows virtually no mercy to his opponents, whether they are ordinary members of the sprawling Paklung empire or those holding power within its hierarchy. He cannot, for example, verbally express what Naveen can, whose grief for his wife is expressed through dialogue. Therefore, Wei conveys his feelings through battered bodies and broken bones.
«"This is the starting point for our choreography," Tanigaki said. "The choreography is the dialogue in the action scenes. The actors remember their dialogue and rephrase it; they conceptualize it themselves. The same process happens in the action scenes. Since we have one and a half to two months for rehearsals, we discuss not only the choreography every day, but also the characters, the emotions, and how old or fresh the energy is.".
He added: "It's an artistic film, but it also has to be emotional . "Most fights happen at the height of emotion. That's why emotion is so important.".
You might think that Xie, as an actor and martial artist, would place more emphasis on choreography; but you'd be partly mistaken. For him, the value of polished choreography is determined on a case-by-case basis.
«"We have different choreography in many scenes," Xie said. "We want to show the audience something new with each take. In the final five-person battle, we need to show the audience absolutely spectacular action scenes; the bicycle fight (between Wei and Paklung) has an emotional component. The choreography and the movements aren't that important. It's just two extremely angry people fighting each other like animals.".
In Fury, Wei is in this "spectacular" mode until he engages in hand-to-hand combat with Paklung in the pouring rain. Until then, Paklung functions as a martial arts machine, effortlessly countering Wei and Navin's every move—a seemingly invincible opponent. But his one-on-one fight with Wei is pure thrill. Here, impeccable choreography matters far less than raw, unabashed performances.
The emotional openness of both characters underscores a key theme of Fury: justice and how it is achieved in a society where power is easily corrupted. Paklung holds the Bangkok police chief in his hands. No one with the legal responsibility or authority to bring Rainey back lifts a finger to do so; Wei takes on this mission partly because that's what a father would do for his daughter, and partly because if he doesn't, who will?
«"In this type of human trafficking, especially with children, no one has justice on their side," Tanigaki said. "Perhaps opening the way to justice is another form of justice." If there are different types of action films, then it's logical to assume there are also different types of justice, a concept close to the essence of action cinema in general.
«"Justice is a very important part [of an action movie]," Xie said. "If you pay attention, even if the characters [in 'Fury'] don't have great martial arts skills at first, they're on the side of justice—and eventually that side continues to grow until they're able to defeat evil.".
Lionsgate's "Fury" is now in theaters.