‘The Furious:’ Navin Brings Back the Everyman with Hands and No Military Training

When watching an action movie, tv show, or anime, I am hoping for one thing and one thing only: that somebody is going to be throwing hands. The Black Nerd Problems members know, if you suggesting any piece of media, if they dukes ain’t up at any point, don’t suggest it to Omar. If there isn’t physical violence, don’t tell Omar about it. If they ain’t doing real rap graps (wrestling), then it’s a wrap as far as I’m concerned. I love seeing fights and analyzing fight choreography, so when I heard the team that made The Raid was back with a new movie called The Furious? I. Was. Front. Row. In. Theaters.

*Spoilers ahead*

Off the strength, The Furious took hand to hand combat to heights it ain’t ever seen before in movies. The fight choreography was both gritty and clean. Wasn’t nothing nice or polite about how they were getting down. Yet, among all these characters going crazy with throwing them thangs, for me, it was the character Navin that held the film together. We’re introduced to Navin (Joe Taslim) as a journalist getting into the seedy underworld through disguises to bring down the children being forced into human trafficking and, hopefully, find his wife who was investigating the matter first. My favorite thing about Navin’s story was that his wife, Matia, was the one uncovering the story of the kids’ disappearance first.

Matia wasn’t a helpless wife. She kicks the movie off by taking it to these human traffickers something nasty. She was a great fighter that knew she was in over her head but proceeded anyway. It’s easy to see why Navin married her and hoped she was alive throughout the film, because he’s got the exact same mentality as Matia. Navin was on doing real rap graps (Judo) against the ops. He loves to get in close to tie them up, trip them up, or choke them out. He was throwing hands, but he came here to get them graps in. It was working too until we saw him against Wang Wei (Miao Xie).

Wei showed us that he is nasty when it comes to hand-to-hand. He whooped multiple people’s asses one on one and royal rumble style with no problems. So when he stepped to Navin thinking he was another op, we got to see how far apart the skill gap was between the two. Navin was able to get in close with Wei, but Wei’s ability to counter maneuvers, reset positioning, and create space kept Navin looking for an angle.

Wei was working that man Navin down, but that man was scrappy. However, once they realized they were on the same side, they became a powerhouse tag team. They were putting foot to ass for the entirety of that movie. Now just because Wei was a better fighter than Navin doesn’t make Navin the weak link. There are so many times in this movie where this man is just tossing folks left and right. This man was a scrapper that earned the audience’s respect. A huge part of that was that, we don’t know what his training is. We are shown, not told. With Wei, we see he’s got some scars and an entirely redacted past which makes it seem as if he was some type of special forces that went off the grid. With Navin, what we can tell is that he practices Judo (making him a judoka) and a grappler. There’s no trace of military, police, or special forces training that explains his fighting prowess. This man is an investigative journalist that knows his way around a judo throw. That’s it. Which is exactly why I loved him so much. The Furious gave us an Everyman moving off of what little skill he had and tons of hope.

So often we see in action movies now that the lead protagonist or side characters are able to fight due to military background or experience. You see it in Marvel movies. In the comic books, Sam Wilson is a social worker and community leader. For his MCU debut in Captain America: Winter Soldier, he’s Air Force first then become a social worker. In Green Lantern Comics, John Stewart was an architect. In the Justice League cartoon, he’s given a military background that then comes into the comic books. Over the past 11 years, that sniper background of John Stewart has become a major part of his character so much that it overshadows his origins as an architect.

Navin being a journalist trying to take down this human trafficking ring adds so much to his character as a man that is trying to continue the good his wife was doing. It’s much more entertaining to me seeing an everyman trying to fight their way out of impossible situations. Navin represents a return to that specific type of Everyman. One that has to use what little or expanded fighting abilities they can and their wits against opponents and odds outside of their norm. That man Navin was moving round furious af in The Furious! He may not be as seasoned a fighter as Wei, but he had no problem throwing motherfuckers round the room!

Again, Navin was such an amazing character to have beside Wei. I loved seeing them together. Wei just wanted his daughter back. Navin was fighting to complete his wife’s work while also hoping that she was alive. It’s safe to say, he knew she wasn’t, but my man just needed that confirmation. When Wei got his daughter free, it was Navin that told him to go, that his part was done. However, Rainy (Wei’s daughter) couldn’t leave them kids either. Which is what made Wei get active again and rejoin Navin. That shit– had my heart, man. Navin knew he’d probably die saving them kids. That he had a better shot with Wei there with him, but he ain’t hold’em. Navin was willing to go save them kids dolo against an entire city of gangsters and crooked cops on pay roll. That’s what the fuck I’m talking about. That’s how you Everyman, fam!

Seeing the impact he had on Wei, who wasn’t the type to get involved until it affected his people, was heart-warming. I loved seeing them together in the jail cell where Navin reveals that he was much like Wei. He was trying to get the fuck outta this crooked town which led to a fight with Matia. Matia wanted to stay and had made too many strides in the human trafficking case to leave. Navin wanted to run from the issue originally, now he’s here to finish what his wife started. There’s a certain mentality that comes with what Navin was doing. At first, it looks like he’s just doing what’s right.

However, looking deeper. This is a man that lost his wife and signed his life away to do her will. Navin was moving like a man ready to die at any moment. When we get towards the end of the film and the final fight, we get a vastly different Navin. My man was fighting alongside Wei against Tak (Yayan Ruhian) and Pak Lung (Joey Iwanaga), two final bosses (that were working them men overtime with no pay), we see Navin trying his damnedest to keep up.

Navin was fighting by Wei’s side while fighting his ass off. Tak and Pak Lung were packing them boys up. We ain’t seen the team struggle this bad the entire movie. Navin was doing the best he could to keep the ops at bay while backing up Wei. Pak Lung was stuntin’ on him, and my immediate thought was he needed to switch opponent with Wei cause Tak was tagging Wei all day. Once they did switch and get separated, I thought, okay my man can survive this. Tak was cutting Navin up like he was wedding cake, but Navin was still in it. Tak had this man’s health bar blinking red tho. Navin was cut, stabbed, and losing blood. My guy was fading and fading fast, However, once he discovered that Tak was the one that took his wife’s life? Navin became an entirely different fighter.

This was no longer about surviving or finding angles. This man Navin was fighting for his life before. Now, he’s giving his life to get the fade. Navin didn’t care about technique, he didn’t care about pace angles or distancing. All he wanted was to get close to Tak. Once he had Tak in range, he could take it from there. Navin was trying to catch hold of Tak’s arms, clothing, anything he possibly could. It didn’t matter that Tak was cutting him up for each miss, Navin kept going. Once he got hold of Tak and tried to throw him, Tak blocked that shit beautifully, took Navin’s back and stabbed him fatally. Navin was on that adrenaline like Gavin Rossdale though. Flipped onto Tak and even though Tak was stabbing and cutting Navin fatally, Navin was mounted on top of Tak. This man Navin got his wife’s ring off Tak’s finger, plunged Tak’s sword even further into himself, so he could get face to face wit Tak, then bit that man’s throat clean off.

Yo, you ain’t hear me. I said this man Navin bit off Tak’s throat. This was some dark sinister shit right here that Navin was on. He was ready to throw his life away, all he needed was a reason. There was no staying alive and living on with his life. Nah, he was always ready to join his wife and go down fighting just like she did should the need arise. I was heartbroken seeing him die in Wei’s arms, happy that he reunited with his wife as he dropped her ring. We see Wei pick the ring back up and close it in Navin’s hand. Come on, man. We talking cinema right now. We talking real “my watch has ended” right here. Navin was never here for a good time or a long time. My man had a mission to complete then told his boy “bury me a G!” I was sad to see my guy go out like that but so proud of him for doing what he felt he had to do.

Navin’s character is one I hope to see more of in action movies. Someone using hands the best they can with no military or tactical training to do the right thing, get revenge, or go out on their own terms.

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