Veronica Ngo may be best known to U.S. audiences as Paige Tico, the older sister of Rose Tico (played by Kelly Marie Tran) in Star Wars: The Last Jedi or as the Inferni elf enforcer in the Will Smith Netflix film Bright. With Furie, she takes the lead and proves to the world she’s going to be a force to be reckoned with in this martial arts action thriller from Vietnam.
Hai Phuong (Ngo) is an enforcer for the mob, going around town and collecting debts. She’s feared and talked about by all the locals but deep down, she’s just a mother trying to take care of her young daughter Mai (Cat Vy). Her line of work isn’t exactly safe and she tends to make enemies. One such enemy, in the light of day, kidnaps Mai with the intention of harvesting her organs on the black market along with all the other children who go missing each year. She’s a witness to the abduction but despite her best efforts, they get away with her child. She tries going to the police but time is running out. Det. Luong (Phan Thanh Nhien) is head of the child trafficking case, but his efforts are not moving along fast enough. Phuong decides to take matters into her own hands and do whatever it takes to locate Mai and destroy anyone who may get in her way.
As far as story goes, Furie, aka Hai Phuong, doesn’t really break new ground. It basically boils down to a kid gets kidnapped and their parent attempts to save them on their own. We’ve seen it a million times, and I’m sure we will see it a million more, but there’s something going on in this film setting it apart from all the others- and it’s Veronica Ngo. Her performance is like nothing I’ve ever seen before and she gives the character of Hai Phuong multiple layers. Her character is given this balance of ferociousness and vulnerability that’s almost unheard of in action cinema. Ngo is absolutely brilliant in her portrayal, snapping limbs in one instant, then breaking down in tears the next. Everyone else is secondary, the other characters are just there to move her story along and, aside from her daughter, you don’t really get to know anyone else. There are enough story beats and flashbacks to fill in gaps and get a feel for who she is and that’s all you’ll need.
The action team led by Kefi Abrikh and Yannick Ben really go the extra distance to fashion some amazing se tpieces to showcase Ngo’s abilities. Each fight seems to build off the next. She’s not bulletproof and her actions do have consequences. There’s a brilliant fight on a train with the main villainess (played by Thanh Hoa) that will make you jump out of your seat with excitement. The thing many American action films tend to do is show the action in a way it’s difficult to follow or appreciate what’s happening. Director Le-Vien Kiet knows the audience will appreciate it all more by opening up the playing field and allowing the camera to smoothly follow the action so nothing is missed. Kiet maintains the balance between action and emotion with an expert ease.
Furie may be generic from a story standpoint, but the way it’s able to maintain self-control between emotional and action elevates it above everything else. As for Veronica Ngo, well there’s no one else like her and nothing else I say can do her performance justice, you’ll just have to see for yourself. Furie is out now on VOD, DVD, and Blu-ray from WellGo USA.
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