Longtime stunt performer and action choreographer Kenji Tanigaki is the director of the new brawler film The Furious. Tanigaki joins this segment of EoM Presents to break down how the propulsive action was constructed with a combination of distinct sound design, modern environments, and cinematography that keeps the fights in the center of the frame.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Thomas Manning: I want to start off by talking about the emotional core of the film. You care about every fight in this movie because of the emotional foundation with our two protagonists, played by Xie Miao and Joe Taslim. I’m wondering if you can speak to the significance of creating those two central characters that you built your film around.
Kenji Tanigaki: Making this action movie, I want to let the audience get into the story as soon as possible. So, we chose the theme of human trafficking, because all of the audience believes, “Oh, they are the bad guy. They must be beaten up.”
[Xie Miao’s character’s] father-daughter story, and then [Joe Taslim’s character], his fiancé, that story – it’s very easy to get emotional. Because if you are the father of the daughter kidnapped, you must run fast. Everybody understands. And then everybody wants to say, “Hey, run fast.” Even in flip-flops, even barefoot, you must run fast. So that’s the easiest way to get the people into it. The two protagonists Joe Taslim and Xie Miao have the same situation and team up, so it’s easy to understand.
Xie Miao as Wang Wei in THE FURIOUS. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
Manning: I really loved the young actress [Yang Enyou] that you cast as Rainy, the daughter character. I thought she was just so wonderful. I know that casting child actors can sometimes be a bit difficult to find exactly the right person, but I’m curious how you found her and why she was the right person for the role.
Tanigaki: She was a great actor. We treated her not as a child actor, but as a [professional] actor. We met a lot of child actors in China, and everybody said, “Oh, I can cry in 10 seconds.” And then their acting is good, but sometimes I didn’t feel… yeah, they can cry in 10 seconds, but it doesn’t mean anything to me. But Yang Enyou, the actor who played Rainy – she cries like this [Tanigaki imitates Enyou’s covering her face and turning away]. She doesn’t want to show us. That’s so organic, right? Not like this, “Show to us how you cry.” No, not that kind of thing. She has a skill, but she didn’t use the skill. She used her heart to act. So it takes time. It took time on the set. But yeah, we must wait. We must wait for her [to be] ready. And as a result, we got the great shot.
Manning: We talked a bit about the characters and the actors, but I definitely do want to talk about the action as well. And first, I want to talk about the sound design, which I thought was quite phenomenal. You feel the impact of every punch and every kick because of the sound, and that really brings the audience into it. How did you collaborate with your sound team to develop that?
Tanigaki: The Chinese sound team, I told them, “Because this movie is an action movie, I hope the audience can feel – the audience can hit, or get hit.” That kind of feeling. So we really needed good sound design. And sometimes balance-wise, in daily life, we cannot hear the sound like that. The sound effects, the music, and the dialogue are the same level [in daily life], because it should be. But in this movie, the sound effects, the balance is much more than the other tracks. So that’s our intention. And I’m so happy if you feel that [impact].
Manning: Talking about working with your cinematographer [Meteor Cheung] and your camera operators – I imagine that their movements have to be carefully choreographed as well in order to capture the fights on camera. When you’re crafting those action scenes, what does that relationship look like between you and your cinematographer?
Tanigaki: Meteor, our cinematographer, did a great job. But believe it or not, he has never shot an action movie before. I didn’t care because I knew he was great. So, he was curious if he could do it or not. But I didn’t mind, because I needed his look. I needed his atmosphere, and the lighting, and the color. How we work the action sequences, my request is very simple – like a George Miller approach when he shot Mad Max: Fury Road – just center the object. For example: I’m punching. Just put this punch on the center of the frame. That’s simple. The car is flying. Just put the car on the middle of the frame. Because it lets the audience recognize what’s going on. So that’s my request, and it’s very simple. And I asked our DP to join earlier, one month and a half before the production started. So we [brought] him to our stunt rehearsal room. So every stunt boy is moving around, and then he’s shooting around. It’s a good chance to have the crew work together. And then they discuss together. So they are [becoming friends]. So he knows how to shoot the action. And he knows all the choreography, because he’s watching how our stunt boys are making the choreography. So everything gets on the timing.
L-R: Xie Miao as Wang Wei and Joe Taslim as Navin in THE FURIOUS. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Manning: I was also struck by the way that pretty much every single object within any environment could be used as a means of violence. Hammers, ladders, glass bottles, bicycles. When you’re formulating the idea for these fight scenes, how do you decide that you want to bring in these extra materials to be used as weapons – these materials that wouldn’t traditionally be used as weapons?
Tanigaki: Because this is a modern movie, not a Wuxia movie… okay, in this room I don’t have any weapon, right? So it’s a normal thing. But in Asian filmmaking, we fight in narrow spaces. You know, not so many people have experienced being stabbed by a knife or hit by a gun, right? Not so many people. But you know the pain when you hit the corner of the table. You know that pain, right? So we just use this kind of atmosphere, these kinds of belongings – it’s more effective. For example, this bottle. You know how hard it is. But you don’t know how painful the gun hits. And then our style of choreography is not so good when we fight in the desert or flat space. We need more narrow space or more irregular [spaces].
A scene in THE FURIOUS. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
Manning: You also got to work with legendary producer William Kong on this film. What can you say about William as a collaborator on this project and his guidance on this production?
Tanigaki: He’s kind of a gambler! Otherwise, he wouldn’t make me the director, right? So he’s gambling. But before, I worked with him for three different movies. And we work together, and we are so happy. I’m so happy to work with him. And this time he would say, “Hey Kenji, let’s make the ultimate action movie!” And I said yes. He gets involved in every step of the storymaking – pre-production, production, post-production – he will join every step. At almost the end of production, when we shot the ending part, where five guys fight, he asked me, “Hey Kenji, how many more days do you need?” And I hated to say, “Oh, maybe two more days.” And he said, “Oh, two more days? Not enough. Maybe five more days.” Many producers try to reduce the budget in the end of the production, but he added to the budget to make this movie look good. So I think he is a very good producer. He’s a gambler!
A scene in THE FURIOUS. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
Official Synopsis:
After the daughter of Wang Wei (Xie Miao) is kidnapped by a criminal network and he receives no help from the corrupt police, Wei sets out on a rampage to find her himself. His only ally is Navin (Joe Taslim) – a relentless journalist whose wife has mysteriously disappeared. Fueled by a furious vengeance, the unlikely duo ruthlessly fights against the kidnappers in this explosive martial arts showdown.
In theaters June 12th, 2026.
For more information, head to the official Lionsgate The Furious webpage.
Thomas Manning is a member of the NCFCA, SEFCA, and CCA, and also the co-host of the television show and radio program Meet Me at the Movies. He has served as a production assistant and voting member on the Film Selection Committee for the Real to Reel Film Festival. Additionally, he manages his own film review and interview site, The Run-Down on Movies. Manning is a graduate of Gardner-Webb University with a double-major in Communications and English. His passion for cinema and storytelling is rivaled only by his love for the music of Taylor Swift.
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Categories: EoM Presents, Filmmaker Interviews, Publications
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