Let’s go to Poland and then undercover.
Furioza is a Polish crime thriller on Netflix. We follow several different characters as they become entangled in a criminal enterprise. Friends from childhood find themselves on opposite ends of a brutal gang conflict and investigation. Who will come out on top? Who will make it out alive? Will a Netflix exclusive be any good?
We follow a lot of white men with shaved heads who seem to settle criminal enterprise disputes with organized fights. A former member is dragged back in by the police who will let his brother go free if he helps bring down the crime boss.
Our undercover lead character is conflicted with what he is doing. He is reconnecting with old friends and now doesn’t know what to do. Everything is entangled and the gang’s crazy sub-leader seems suspicious of everything.
There is ample tension, I suppose. We watch our undercover man, who betrayed the club before (he chickened out during a fight) become oddly welcomed back. The world is inhabited only by criminals and cops here, and it doesn’t seem like one side has the moral high ground. Honestly, an issue with the film is that it makes Poland look like an absolute hellhole. I’m not sure if this was their intention or not, but it is the outcome.
The film looks fine. The directing works quite well and we have nice fight scenes. Everything is done well enough. The score works and drives the emotional points home. Nothing really stands out though. It is a gritty crime drama. Have you seen one of those before? Then you’ve basically seen this one. Nothing stands out here.
It is weird because there isn’t anything inherently wrong with the movie. Some of the drama seems forced, as is par for the genre, but it isn’t overly bad. I found myself somewhat bored with the development of the story. The film is long. At about two and a half hours long the film seems to have more time than it needs. We have about a dozen scenes where the gang leader acts like a psycho. Did we need all of those?
The final act heats things up nicely. We do still have a predictable ending to everything though. The people who you think will be the bad guys are the bad guys and the twists are telegraphed too strongly.
I didn’t dislike my time with this film, but it never elevated itself above basic entertainment. The characters are hard to keep straight, as are their loyalties. Why the people are so hardline loyal to things in this film isn’t elaborated enough. Nor is the entire criminal enterprise explained well enough to understand. It feels like a mini-series squished into a movie.
Overall, a decent genre flick, but really only for fans of crime thrillers.
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