The Furious is a balls-to-the-wall actioner that is outrageously over-the-top but incredibly crowd-pleasing in its violence and action beats.

Having said that, the ADR in the film is terrible, and I honestly think the entire film should just be subtitled. The film has a strong enough appeal that I don’t think it needed to have any dubbing/ADR in English.

It didn’t detract from the action but it would jar me out of the film a little bit. But the violence brought me right back in.

Wei (Xie Miao) is a mute handyman who loves his daughter, Rainy (Yang Enyou). When she’s kidnapped with the intention of being trafficked, no one is going to stop Wei from tracking her down and beating senseless anyone who is in his way.

He finds himself pairing up with a journalist Navin (Joe Taslim) who is hunting for his missing wife, who was working on an investigative piece on the trafficking ring. And even working together, they are going to have their hands full, as the fists, feet, and found objects keep coming in physical clash after another.

And you know there’s going to be trouble when the baddies have Yayan Ruhian on their side. This guy gets all the villain roles, and he’s just so good at them!

The violence is insane, brazen, excessive, and walks the edge of cartoonish, but damn if it isn’t fun. The film is frenetic and brutal in its staging of action pieces. The fights are perfectly choreographed, and the last big showdown has three parties, each with their own goal, and the fight telegraphs that as they all seek their goal.

The audience was groaning in sympathy, and cheering in triumph, and it all works really well. Except for the ADR. Dammit.

This film was a sure winner for Midnight Madness, but there is one more screening to check out at TIFF. The Furious screens at Scotiabank on Saturday at 6:30pm.