Tom Hardy is an actor with plenty of pedigree when it comes to intense action. From his roles as Max Rockatansky in 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” and Eddie Brock/Venom in the “Venom” film trilogy to his multiple collaborations with Christopher Nolan, he’s a reliable hand whenever a project calls for a glowering character with a nigh-endless capacity for violence. Meanwhile, thanks to his Indonesian martial arts crime thrillers “The Raid” and “The Raid 2,” Gareth Evans has established himself as a filmmaker who’s extremely adept at making glowering characters with a nigh-endless capacity for violence clash with each other in entertaining ways.
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Combine these two luminaries and Netflix, and you get “Havoc,” the hyper-violent shoot ’em up that the streaming platform dropped on April 25, 2025. The premise of a Hardy-Evans team-up seems like a promise for a good time, and its audience has clearly been ready for it. In fact, according to FlixPatrol, “Havoc” has come to dominate Netflix’s Top 10 list in the U.S. as of April 28, “Havoc.” It’s now sitting comfortably at the top spot above the likes of Charles Martin Smith’s doggy adventure “A Dog’s Way Home,” the Dutch Apple Store crime drama “iHostage,” and Clint Eastwood’s controversial 2014 biographical war drama “American Sniper.” Even Gru and the Minions are no match for Evans and Hardy, with “Despicable Me 4” having been knocked down to fifth place as it continues its longstanding run atop the Netflix charts.
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Havoc is a brutal movie with impressive action scenes that fit its title
Between its copious action scenes, “Havoc” tells the story of Patrick Walker (Tom Hardy), a dirty cop who’s working for the powerful Lawrence Beaumont (Forest Whitaker), whose son Charlie (Justin Cornwell) ends up in deep trouble with the Triads. The ensuing rescue mission is best described by the movie’s title, and the film is full of the kind of amazing action you’d expect from both Evans and Hardy … and even gives us a decent new entry on the ever-expanding list of weird Tom Hardy voices.
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The movie’s violent, decidedly un-silly action showers the viewer with truly impressive set pieces, as well as gunplay that Evans knows is unrealistic. At the same time, there’s a logic to how those scenes work, as the filmmaker explained in an exclusive interview with /Film’s Ben Pearson. Judging by the movie’s immediate streaming success, it seems Netflix viewers are happy with “Havoc” and the way its action plays out.
