Fun, frothy and sometimes furious fight film, ‘Love Hurts’ sees one-time Goonie Ke Huy Quan play Marvin, a Mr Nice Guy realtor who loves his job and simple life. Yet, Marvin’s life wasn’t always so simple and full of sunshine, as he was once an infamous enforcer for a crime organisation run by his bloodthirsty gangster brother Knuckles (Daniel Wu). But when Marvin’s long thought dead love, Rose (Ariana DeBose), returns (along with a slew of trained killers in tow!) needing his help, Marvin’s perfectly normal life is shattered as he’s forced to confront his dark past.

Seeing Ke Huy Quan back on screens (and front and centre) after his Oscar-winning turn in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ is a delight and ‘Love Hurts’, while a little silly of concept, plays to both his comedic strengths and considerable action skills. Set on Valentine’s Day, the flick sees the well-worn tale of a deadly killer’s criminal life coming back to haunt him but the 87North team (‘Bullet Train’, ‘Nobody’, ‘Violent Night’) inject proceedings with fun and a truckload of well-orchestrated action. 87North action ace Jonathan Eusebio (‘Kate’, ‘Violent Night’) gets to helm and leans into the high-concept, almost comic book vibe, of the film as Quan’s Marvin must fight off various killers, potentially reunite with the love he thought he’d lost, and inevitably have a showdown with his unhinged brother. The action comes thick and fast and plays well to Quan’s skills, himself having worked on action films both in front and behind the camera (‘Breathing Fire’, ‘X-Men’, ‘The One’).

Quans sells the silly setup of Marvin’s quest to not lose the regular life he’s made for himself, but he also shines when he must cut loose in some creatively staged fight scenes. The action is fun, fast, and, come the second half, furious as the lighter tone is jettisoned as the stakes rise and Wu’s OTT bubble tea quaffing (!) bad guy becomes a fearsome threat putting those who Marvin has come to see as friends at risk: including a nice cameo from his ‘The Goonies’ co-star Sean Astin. Ariana DeBose is great (despite what the rest of the internet might say!) as Marvin’s potentially slightly unhinged ex (she appears to be having a ball here!) and the likes of Marshawn Lynch, Andre Eriksen, Cam Gigandet, and Mustafa Shakir (who gets a fun sub-plot of falling in love with Marvin’s co-worker played by Lio Tipton) as a cache of bad guys for Marvin to face-off with.

It may be a little light for some, the see-sawing tone doesn’t always land, and it may breeze by just a little too quickly at 80 minutes (another ten minutes would have been fine!) but with its superb action, a game cast, and a great central performance from Ke Huy Quan, ‘Love Hurts’ is entertaining action if you allow yourself to go with its fun silly vibe.