Veteran stunt coordinator turned director Kenji Tanigaki brings the energy of Hong Kong action cinema to his explosive new movie that fully and unapologetically lives up to its name. “The Furious” is a kinetic, no-holds-barred action thriller in the vein of 2011’s “The Raid”. It’s a ballet of brutality that takes the simplest of stories and turns it into something you can’t take your eyes off of. It’s hands-down the best action movie of the year so far.

Written by Mak Tin-shu, Lei Zhilong, Shum Kwan-sin, and Frank Hui, the story driving “The Furious” does little besides presenting an emotional core and speeding us along from one action sequence to the next. Set “somewhere in Southeast Asia”, the film follows a humble handyman named Wang Wei (Xie Miao). Little is revealed about Wang’s past other than he is mute, his wife died tragically, and his martial arts skills are off the charts.

The one true joy in Wang’s life is his young daughter Rainy (Yang Enyou), who is reluctantly about to head back to her grandma in China after spending her summer vacation with her father. There’s clearly a heartfelt story somewhere involving their mutual grieving over the loss of his wife and her mother. But Tanigaki alludes to it more than explores it. Instead he sets his sights on the film’s bread an butter – bone-cracking and blood-spraying action.

It kicks into gear after Rainy is snatched off the street by a group of thugs. Wang gives chase but is unable to catch them. Frantic, he seeks the help of the local police, only to find them too bogged down in “procedure”. So he sets out on his own, eventually crossing paths with a man named Navin (Joe Taslim), who is searching for his wife Matia (JeeJa Yanin) after she disappeared while investigating area child abductions.

Through Navin, Wang learns that a sex trafficking outfit has been snatching children from some of the poorest communities. Together the two set out to find their lost loved ones. To no surprise, they will have to fight their way through an entire underground criminal empire to do so. And they will use anything at their disposal including blades, hammers, wood pallets, ladders, and bicycles (yes, bicycles).

Wang and Navin’s investigation takes them from one exhilarating fight scene to the next, with each as expertly choreographed as the most detailed musical number. The fight scenes rely heavily on practical martial arts combat with very little in the way of digital effects. And Tanigaki wisely stays away from disorienting shaky cams and annoying quick cuts. Instead the action plays out with such brutal clarity that you can’t help but admire the incredible skill onscreen.

“The Furious” does a good job balancing weighty subject matter with sheer genre spectacle. It doesn’t pull punches in showing the horror of child trafficking. At the same time, you’ll lose count of the times you let out an audible “OHHH” when watching Miao and Taslim in action. And it only escalates when they’re joined by baddies Joey Iwanaga, Yayan Ruhian, and Brian Le for a relentless and intense final 20 minutes that impresses on an entirely different level.