5 Brutal Martial Arts Movies to Watch Before The Furious, Ranked

The Furious is an upcoming martial arts revenge film that will invoke the classic fury and punches set by its predecessors in this genre. The movie is set to release in North America on June 12, 2026, following a duo taking on a relentless gang of thugs when members of their family are taken.

The Hong Kong film premiered at TIFF in 2025 to rave reviews and is currently sitting at a 100% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Before diving into this hard-hitting thriller, here are five essentials to warm you up for the showdown.

DetailInformation

Title	The Furious
Original title	Huo zhe yan (火遮眼)
Genre	Action, Crime, Mystery & Thriller
Logline	After the daughter of Wang Wei (Xie Miao) is kidnapped by a criminal network and the corrupt police refuse to help, he teams up with journalist Navin (Joe Taslim), whose wife has vanished, to wage a ruthless, all‑out war against the kidnappers.
Director	Kenji Tanigaki
Writers	Tin Shu Mak, Zhilong Lei, Kwan‑Sin Shum, Frank Hui
Main cast	Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Joey Iwanaga, Guo Junqing, Yang Enyou, Jeeja Yanin, Brian Le, Yayan Ruhian
IMDb score (as of May 30, 2026)	7.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes score (as of May 30, 2026)	100%

1 The Night Comes for Us (2018)

The hyper-violent Indonesian gangster story sees an elite enforcer turn on his mob boss to protect a young girl. The Night Comes for Us follows the consequences of this action, triggering an endless run of assassins out to get the protagonist.

With every action scene displaying broken bones and never-ending creative kills, the brutality just keeps escalating. As a warm-up film, it’s a testament to how far modern cinema will push itself in terms of gore and punishment, ideal for what The Furious has in store for us.

The Night Comes for Us is streaming on Netflix in the U.S.

2 Ip Man 2 (2010)

The Wing Chun master Ip Man continues his legacy of being a glorious martial artist as he relocates to Hong Kong in this sequel. Donnie Yen manages to outdo himself, delivering another fantastic movie in the franchise with strong fight choreography combined with clear-cut cinematography.

With fights on a bigger scale, the movie does not compromise on telling a powerful story about honour and pride. Ip Man 2 and the franchise have laid the groundwork for films like The Furious to soar, making it an ideal watch before the film launches.

Ip Man 2 is streaming on Prime Video, Disney+, and Hulu in the U.S.

3 Kill Zone (2005)

SPL: Sha Po Lang (or Kill Zone) is a 2005 gritty thriller set in Hong Kong surrounding cops and a criminal underworld. With corruption running amok, we get another stellar Donnie Yen performance with ruthless intensity in each fight.

The showdowns and duels remain iconic for their choreography, essential to hyping you up for The Furious. With close-quarters combat and drama storytelling, the two movies are akin in their action sensibilities from what we’ve seen so far.

Kill Zone is streaming on Prime Video in the U.S.

4 The Raid (2011)

The Raid is a rare example of a single location being used to its maximum extent in delivering a taut thriller that will have your jaw on the floor. The movie literally wastes no time in beginning the action, with a small intro that is tense while setting up the stakes. A SWAT team is trapped in a high-rise controlled by a crime lord as they force their way up floor by floor in a cramped environment.

The movie will have your eyes glued to the screen constantly, and each scene will have you gritting your teeth in anticipation. The Furious is poised to be a film with intense thriller moments that are impactful and brutal, and we hope that it lives up to the standard set by this film.

The Raid is available to rent or buy on Prime Video and Apple TV in the U.S.

5 The Raid 2 (2014)

As if The Raid was not enough, the sequel, The Raid 2, explodes into high-octane action that takes everything set up by its predecessor and expands it into nationwide territory. One would think that the success could not be replicated, but the creators somehow made an even better film with The Raid 2 that continues the epic crime saga of its protagonist.

There are scenes that make such creative use of its set-pieces that they are cleverly used to launch the plot into the next major action sequence. With iconic characters introduced and action that clearly inspired John Wick, this is an essential watch to warm you up for the Hong Kong underworld of crime in The Furious.

The Raid 2 is available to rent or buy on Prime Video and Apple TV in the U.S.

Here is a summary of the movies discussed here.

MoviePremiseIMDb (as of May 30, 2026)Rotten Tomatoes (as of May 30, 2026)

The Night Comes for Us (2018)	An elite enforcer turns on his mob boss to protect a young girl, triggering an endless run of assassins in this hyper-violent Indonesian gangster story	6.9/10	92% / 83%
Ip Man 2 (2010)	Wing Chun master Ip Man relocates to Hong Kong and continues his legacy with strong fight choreography and a powerful story about honour and pride	7.5/10	97% / 84%
Kill Zone (2005)	A gritty thriller set in Hong Kong, surrounding cops and a criminal underworld with corruption running amok	6.9/10	80% / 79%
The Raid (2011)	A SWAT team is trapped in a high-rise controlled by a crime lord as they force their way up floor by floor in a cramped environment	7.6/10	87% / 87%
The Raid 2 (2014)	The sequel expands into nationwide territory, continuing the epic crime saga with creative set-pieces and iconic characters	7.9/10	82% / 87%

Any one of these films is guaranteed to get your adrenaline pumping for The Furious. With the legendary Donnie Yen movies or The Raid ones, we’re sure that this list will make you want to watch one after the other to get you in the mood.

Which one do you plan to watch first? Let us know in the comments.

The Furious releases in North American cinemas on June 12, 2026.