The 2026 Summer Movie Season is already looking like one for the history books. Independent genre films are seeing a major surge at the box office, while major franchise blockbusters continue facing choppy waters in the theatrical market. As of writing this, the first theatrical Star Wars film in years, featuring an iconic character, has been knocked out of the Top 5 by the movie adaptation of an Australian cartoon web series.
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It’s not just the box office telling the tale: The same independent, creator-driven films cracking the box office are also getting rave reviews from critics. The latest is an action film that fans of the genre have been waiting on all year, and according to critics, the wait will have been well worth it.
The Furious Debuts With A Perfect Score On Rotten Tomatoes
According to Rotten Tomatoes, the new action film The Furious has debuted with, and is still holding (at the time of writing this) a perfect 100% critics’ score. That’s a truly impressive achievement, too: The Furious has been screening for critics since last fall, when it made its debut on the festival circuit at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival).
The very first early screenings resulted in similarly glowing reviews of The Furious. At the time, Roger Ebert critic Brian Tallerico wrote in his review that “The plotting of The Furious is just silly, and the dialogue sounds so poorly delivered at times that I first presumed it was dubbed, but none of that matters when this movie is in action mode. And it’s no exaggeration to say that roughly 3/4s of the film’s runtime consists of fighting. Not only is the action well-directed and choreographed—reminding one how great it is to see long, unbroken shots of ace stunt work—but the sound design deserves some flowers too. Every snap, crackle, and pop here sounds like it connects, often at the same time.”
What Is The Furious About?
In The Furious, “Wang Wei’s daughter is kidnapped by a criminal network, and his only ally is Navin, a journalist whose wife has mysteriously disappeared. Fueled by a furious vengeance, the unlikely duo finds themselves in an explosive martial-arts showdown against a relentless gang of thugs.
The Furious stars some of Asia’s best martial arts actors and stunt choreographers, including The Raid veterans Joe Taslim (as Navin) and Yayan Ruhian. The film is directed by Kenji Tanigaki, the renowned martial arts movie director/choreographer, whose credits include Blade II and Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins. The main character, Wand Wei, is played by former child actor and martial artist, Mo Tse (Jet Li’s The New Legend of Shaolin and My Father Is a Hero). The rest of the cast features martial artist stars like Jeeja Yanin, Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga, as well as a gang of stunt performers and fighters, with young actress Yang Enyu playing the daughter of Tse’s character, “Wang Wei.”
The Furious is now set to make its official theatrical debut on June 12th in Hong Kong and international markets.
Forum Conversation: What's the Biggest day for movie fans ever? (And Why It's June 8, 1984)
Go to ForumI can’t argue with that, though! Sounds like a blast
Not arguing it was a bigger day, and none of the following sparked franchises, but on August 6, 1999, I treated myself to a triple-play of Mystery Men, The Iron Giant, and The Sixth Sense. It wasn’t the greatest opening day in Hollywood history, but it was a fun and memorable day for me.
It will always, always be Barbenheimer for me. There was nothing quite like watching Oppenheimer on IMAX and then immediately going into Barbie (and then I am insane and went BACK into Oppenheimer for a second time.)