Cast: Nassim Lyes, Loryn Nounay, Olivier Gourmet, Chananticha Chaipa, Vithaya
Pansringarm
Screenplay: Xavier Gens
Running Length: 1:39
MPAA Classification: R (Violence, Language)
U.S Release Date: 1-06-24 (VOD)
Genre: Action/Thriller
For a movie called Mayhem!, it sure could have used more of it. Sure, there are action scenes — some of which can stand toe-to-toe with any of The Raid and John Wick films — but they come far too late. It takes almost an hour before the film delivers the gruesome goods. Maybe if the story had been more involving, it would have been worth the wait for the payoff, but there's not enough material to justify the drawn-out set-up.
The film begins in France where our protagonist, Sam (Nassim Lyes), a professional boxer, is being released from prison. Soon after, his past catches up with him and he is forced to flee the country. Five years later, he has rebuilt his life in Thailand with his wife Mia (Loryn Nounay) and her daughter Dara (Chananticha Chaipa). Their dream together is to buy a piece of land to build a restaurant. Things seem to be going well until Sam gets involved with local crime lord Narong (Olivier Gourmet) and when one of the jobs goes wrong, Narong and his gang retaliate by destroying everything Sam worked so hard to build. After surviving and being rescued, Sam has only two things on his mind: to save Dara, who was kidnapped during the carnage, and seek revenge.
I normally would welcome a film that takes its time to develop its characters and their situations, but there are too many stretches during the first hour when not much happens, causing some severe pacing issues. The cast tries their best, especially Nassim Lyes, who not only takes quite a few beatings, but has no problem giving it right back. With the wrong actors, it could have made the whole experience almost unbearable, but it's to their credit that I cared about anyone in this film.
Things finally kick into high-gear once Sam goes on his revenge quest. It's here that we finally get the Raid-esque action sequences, which are fast, brutal, and, of course, violent (I can't recall ever seeing someone use their own compound fracture as a weapon). They're well choreographed and give the film a much needed jolt. It's just a shame that the filmmakers decided to cram it all in the final half hour. Had they spread out the action more evenly, Mayhem! could have joined the ranks of The Raid and John Wick. As it stands, this is far better than The Beekeeper, but still well below the heavy hitters of the genre.
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