03-02-2009, 11:34 AM
...and I'm not 100% sure why I didn't. I'm a great supporter of any martial arts film that breaks the iron-clad stereotypes of martial arts. This just reinforced them.
It felt over-written. The plot was painfully complex and excessive in its duplicity. I hate 'reluctant fighter' films. I've met so many fighters - real fighters - both champions in the ring and bangers in the street - and reluctance is not one of their personality traits. It's more of a weird defensiveness expressed by writers about fighters - writers who dream of being able to fight but lack that talent and determination for it - so they create this absurd device of a reluctant fighter that is somehow more noble than someone who just fights. I'm also tired of the old 'corrupt fight game' plot. Sure, there's corruption in any sport and probably more so in the fight game because of gambling, but come on. Show us something new here if your going to go there. There was such implausibility with some of the plot twists and some fundamental misinterpretations of the 'warrior code' that made the whole experience rather painful. Mamet claims to have studied BJJ but he's a nibbler when it comes to understanding any warrior code. There were some major contradictions there. Ejiofor's fortune cookie wisdom was trite and couldn't hold a candle to Master Po or Yoda.
The acting performances were good. All the actors turned in decent work for what they were given. It's Allen's best performance since Santa Claus. And I'm a huge fan of Ricky Jay. His book Cards as Weapons was brilliant and held a prize position in my martial library until it was borrowed and never returned.
The fight scenes were mediocre, but we weren't expecting much. There was a scene that sort of showed off some BJJ techniques, but the transitions were so forced and staged that it wasn't in the least way exciting. The finale move, a Jackie Chan-esque escape from an RNC was absurd. It was an obvious tip of the cap to the fortune cookie wisdom that had been pounded into us from the very first scene. But to goes Jackie for the end not only belittled the BJJ theme, anyone who knows the slightest thing about an RNC knows that it was a sure way to snap your own neck. If I've got my RNC locked in, there's no way that would work, even if you were Randy Couture. Couture could peel me off like a banana skin in so many other ways. They should have gone with something like that. The highlight of that fight was that the villain was flying the colors of our newsstand competitor.
Ultimately I was very disappointed in Redbelt. On reflection, I think it was because I was really hoping it would transcend of the genre. It's probably a decent film if you don't have that expectation.
It felt over-written. The plot was painfully complex and excessive in its duplicity. I hate 'reluctant fighter' films. I've met so many fighters - real fighters - both champions in the ring and bangers in the street - and reluctance is not one of their personality traits. It's more of a weird defensiveness expressed by writers about fighters - writers who dream of being able to fight but lack that talent and determination for it - so they create this absurd device of a reluctant fighter that is somehow more noble than someone who just fights. I'm also tired of the old 'corrupt fight game' plot. Sure, there's corruption in any sport and probably more so in the fight game because of gambling, but come on. Show us something new here if your going to go there. There was such implausibility with some of the plot twists and some fundamental misinterpretations of the 'warrior code' that made the whole experience rather painful. Mamet claims to have studied BJJ but he's a nibbler when it comes to understanding any warrior code. There were some major contradictions there. Ejiofor's fortune cookie wisdom was trite and couldn't hold a candle to Master Po or Yoda.
The acting performances were good. All the actors turned in decent work for what they were given. It's Allen's best performance since Santa Claus. And I'm a huge fan of Ricky Jay. His book Cards as Weapons was brilliant and held a prize position in my martial library until it was borrowed and never returned.
The fight scenes were mediocre, but we weren't expecting much. There was a scene that sort of showed off some BJJ techniques, but the transitions were so forced and staged that it wasn't in the least way exciting. The finale move, a Jackie Chan-esque escape from an RNC was absurd. It was an obvious tip of the cap to the fortune cookie wisdom that had been pounded into us from the very first scene. But to goes Jackie for the end not only belittled the BJJ theme, anyone who knows the slightest thing about an RNC knows that it was a sure way to snap your own neck. If I've got my RNC locked in, there's no way that would work, even if you were Randy Couture. Couture could peel me off like a banana skin in so many other ways. They should have gone with something like that. The highlight of that fight was that the villain was flying the colors of our newsstand competitor.
Ultimately I was very disappointed in Redbelt. On reflection, I think it was because I was really hoping it would transcend of the genre. It's probably a decent film if you don't have that expectation.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse