I’ve been itching for a film to give me that old visceral The Raid thrill. As much as I love John Wick, those movies are a bit too polished for my tastes. It’s the sharp edges of thrown elbows and knees that have been missing from my cinematic life. Much to my surprise, it’s French filmmaker Xavier Gens who scratches the itch with Mayhem!, a down ‘n dirty revenge movie that draws its inspiration from loads of different action flicks. But the choices made by Gens, who also co-wrote the script, are good ones, including the choice of star Nassim Lyes.
The film’s original title is “Farang”, which in Thai means a foreigner of Western ancestry. In a way it makes sense to have Gens behind the camera; a French director on a film set in Thailand and centering on an Algerian protagonist. There is culture clash everywhere from top to bottom. Lyes plays Samir, who we first meet behind bars as he’s trying to avoid trouble in order to get paroled. He keeps on an even keel by practicing muay thai, skills we already know will be put to the test sometime soon. After his release on good behavior, Samir walks the straight and narrow path, but his criminal past just won’t let him be. When one encounter ends with a prominent crimelord dead, Samir flees France for Thailand to start anew.
Elements of Western action and revenge thrillers play prominent roles in Mayhem!. You see aspects of Taken, Death Wish, and more, while you also get the “one last job” trope and the brual violence of Gareth Evans’ The Raid movies. Gens directed episodes of Evans’ crime series Gangs of London, once again making him a nice fit for the material. Samir manages to stay out of trouble for a few years, getting a job as a tourist driver that doesn’t pay much, but it’s honest work that his wife Mia (Loryn Nounay), a half-French, half-Thai woman with a daughter of her own, can respect. Sure, Samir still throws a fight or two to help out his shady friend Sombat (Sahajak Boonthanakit) and make some extra cash, but he’s living right for the most part. There’s just that little problem of money. Mia wants to buy land to open her own bar, and Samir promises French gangster Narong (Olivier Gourmet) to do a job that will get it for her. When that goes badly, it’s Samir’s family that pays the price, and he must use those fighting skills to get payback and exact a rescue.
This is pretty straight-forward stuff, not too far from what you might find in any early Steven Seagal movie, at least in terms of plot. Mayhem! is a little slow to get going, though. It’s not that Samir’s plight is uninteresting as things build to a head, but if you’re coming in expecting balls-to-the-wall action right from jump, you might be disappointed. However, if you’re patient, the wait is more than worth it. The always-great Thai legend Vithaya Pansringram, of Only God Forgives fame, gets in on the bloody fun, too, and that’s definitely worth sticking around for.
Lyes shows dramatic skills and physical gifts as he unleashes a torrent of violence as Samir. Driving his unrelenting force is the fear and anger of a husband and father doing what he needs to do to protect his family. At the same time, Samir has been on this endless quest to build a better life, and it seems he’s always drawn back into bloodshed and criminality. The only way it seems that he can get past it is to pound his past into a bloody pulp, which is what he does. There are some gruesome edged kills, with men and women butchered in equal measure. You also get the now-standard hallway battle against a seemingly impenetrable wave of attackers. It’s all very familar and well-done by Gens and fight choreographer Jude Poyer.
Mayhem! isn’t exactly trying to break the mold. But I’ll be honest; for me, I wasn’t looking for it to do anything like that. I wanted meat and potatoes martial arts ferocity, and Gens delivered it. While it might take a while to get there, action fans will find that Mayhem! delivers a knockout blow and I hope it’s the start of a potential franchise.
Mayhem! opens on January 5th in theaters and anywhere you rent movies.
