No lie, when this Netflix film opened, I thought it was actually going to be an animated film with how egregious and unconvict the CGI was. But no… instead of renting out a couple of cop cars and a truck, they decided it was a better use of their time and money to poorly CGI up an entire chase scene through a CGI city. It didn’t bode well for Gareth Evans’ latest splat-fest actioner. Nor did a title so generic you’ll be saying “Havoc? Which one was that now?” in a few weeks.

It stars Tom Hardy as a corrupt cop who must help save corrupt mayor Forest Whitaker’s son after he’s implicated in a mob hit. Can Hardy and his accent track the young man down amidst a whole city full of even more corrupt cops and crooks?

Havoc turns out to be a very generic crime thriller peppered with wild action and gore. The generic cops ‘n robbers storyline plays out reasonably well for awhile… but eventually gets a little tired and trite. If it weren’t for the action, It’d easily get a lower rating… but happily the action (once it hits) is great.

But it kind of takes an hour to get into some really good gunplay and face smashing. It’s fast-paced overkill even with actors not experts in martial arts. It’s gory in an “ooh that’s gotta hurt” way. The kind of overkill that, when they say “riddled with bullets”, they mean it. Automatic weapon fire to the chest and face from about a foot away? Absolutely. Blood splatter enough to make crime scene investigators cry? Covered!

It’s a close one, but the visceral carnage is enough to keep this rather lazy story in the green. If you unabashedly love Hardy, his mope of a cop might help you enjoy it more. It’s a pretty tepid crime thriller full of actors and action better than the material.

Score: 76