Gareth Evans' uber-violent Netflix effort "Havoc" is the streaming service's movie of the moment.
I can see why, on the surface: It features a popular leading man in Tom Hardy, and comes from the director of "The Raid," one of the 21st century's best action movies.
Since its debut on the streaming service on April 25, "Havoc" has been sitting right at the No. 1 spot in the Netflix top 10 movies chart, and it has earned some decent enough praise ... from reviewers, at least.
But while lots of viewers are tuning in and streaming "Havoc," I'm not sure everyone's enjoying it. Judging by the reactions we've seen online, it seems many action movie fans aren't all that fond of the new Netflix original at all.
What are fans saying about 'Havoc'?
While "Havoc" has performed OK with movie critics— it's currently 64% on Rotten Tomatoes — viewers are far less enthused.
At the time of writing, Netflix's latest original movie holds a measly 38% score on the Popcornmeter, aggregated from a total of over 500 ratings. And if you read through some of the viewer reactions hosted on RT, you'll see some very negative comments.
Case in point, in a half-star review, one viewer called "Havoc" both "one of the most ridiculous" and "one of the worst films" they had ever seen.
"I love "Raid" 1&2. I like Tom Hardy. I hated this movie. There really was very little to like", wrote another, with a third simply calling it "unwatchable" and another still calling it "comically bad".
Fellow TG writer Rory Mellon labelled "Havoc" "the best original movie of 2025 so far," calling it "a relentless thrill ride" and "Netflix's best original movie in flippin' ages".
Judging by the comments on that article, it's clear that most of our readers fall very much into the "disappointed" camp, too.
Take a look through the 40-plus comments and you'll see words like "ridiculous," "boring" and just plain "bad." Several fans also point to Paramount Plus' "MobLand" as a recent example of Hardy's acting talents.
My take: Skip 'Havoc' and stream something else
Before I get into it, I want to make it clear I'm no action snob, and have plenty of space in my streaming diet for blood-soaked action efforts.
I'm also a big advocate of things like Evans' "Gangs of London," "The Raid" and the gun kata brawls from the likes of "John Wick" and "Equilibrium".
Likewise, I think "Mad Max: Fury Road" is about as brilliantly bombastic as cinema can get, and I've even got a big soft spot for the MonsterVerse's kaiju-sized punch-ups. And I say all this before typing up my take: "Havoc" did not work for me.
The scrambling, chaotic nightclub scrap about an hour in was a highlight, but it came after a ploddy start, and I found the action kind of cartoonish elsewhere.
Plus, the movie featured a distracting mash of sub-par CGI and a grimy "realist" aesthetic, and it was juggling too many players and rehashed character tropes — it all just washed over me.
I didn't go in expecting "Havoc" to be the next "Citizen Kane," nor did I hope for a killer story, but "Havoc" was nevertheless a big disappointment. I'd suggest you save yourself 100 minutes and instead stream something else for your next movie night.
Need some inspiration? Check out our round-up of the best Netflix action movies or our overall guide to the best movies on Netflix for tons of recommendations.
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