I am rarely tempted to review a movie, but in this case I am willing to stick my neck out.
Although this movie had me watching until the end, it was with a good deal of frustration. I am a one-time martial artist and a keen fight spectator, and in my opinion, the fight scenes in this movie were not (for the most part) up to snuff. I'm not saying that the fighters were amateurs, it was the choreography that annoyed me. Many of the moves and techniques seemed to be used simply for the looks, and not for authenticity. Without going into specifics (I don't want to give away spoilers) the were a lot of very poor choices of hold/grapple/blow that you simply would not see in real competition. The very experienced Ernie Reyes Sr. dropped the ball on this one.
Another bug-bear was the music being that it was way too loud in some places, actually drowning out the dialogue, and inappropriate in other places.
Having said all that, I thought the acting was good for the most part, and in particular one scene featuring John Savage and Ki Reyes (Oscar), which had my partner tearing up.
In summary, I would not recommend this for anyone who just wants to see an MMA movie, and also not for the hard of hearing:) I'd rather rent 'Redbelt' or 'Never back down'.
Although this movie had me watching until the end, it was with a good deal of frustration. I am a one-time martial artist and a keen fight spectator, and in my opinion, the fight scenes in this movie were not (for the most part) up to snuff. I'm not saying that the fighters were amateurs, it was the choreography that annoyed me. Many of the moves and techniques seemed to be used simply for the looks, and not for authenticity. Without going into specifics (I don't want to give away spoilers) the were a lot of very poor choices of hold/grapple/blow that you simply would not see in real competition. The very experienced Ernie Reyes Sr. dropped the ball on this one.
Another bug-bear was the music being that it was way too loud in some places, actually drowning out the dialogue, and inappropriate in other places.
Having said all that, I thought the acting was good for the most part, and in particular one scene featuring John Savage and Ki Reyes (Oscar), which had my partner tearing up.
In summary, I would not recommend this for anyone who just wants to see an MMA movie, and also not for the hard of hearing:) I'd rather rent 'Redbelt' or 'Never back down'.