The only thing I can really say about this one is “hrrrum.” I mean, here we have the American Martial Arts film, only this isn’t truly a martial arts film- its more like a Rocky-esque urban antihero story, Fighting is about…
A young con-artist named Sean MaCarthur runs into a bit of trouble when making a sale one day, only to be noticed by a professional scam artist (played by Terrence Howard). He is invited into the world of “Underground Street Fighting,” which is more like performance fighting for rich people’s entertainment. In the process of this he confronts his own personal morality and his need for validation, all coming to terms when his new manager decides he should throw a fight to make big money.
Its a pretty simple story, and because its American Street Fighting you can expect to see some messy, hopefully under-edited action from Channing Tatum, who while is one of those typical teenage heart throb sorta guys (as seen in the less-than-crappy Step Up ) he’s more genuine in his physicality than, well lets say the guy from the atrociously received Never Back Down . I think his moves in this trailer actually proves he’s tough enough to be in an action film.
Now I doubt I’ll see this one in theaters unless I have extra money laying around and am bored or have spent too much time around the lady folk, but the B-grade caliber of the cast (let’s face it, Howard, since the whole Iron Man debacle, you’ve been booted from Oscar Nominee A-List) seems to give it some heft. Then again, having a should-have-been-awarded-best-supporting-actor-for-blood-diamond actor like Djimon Honsou in NBD didn’t really help that one either.
The film is also directed by Dito Montiel , who recently won some accolades with A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. Who knows then, it might not actually stink. Just wish the could come up with a more credible title.
Surprisingly though, I have looked on threads and people have yet to compare this to the JCVD fighter, Lionheart, which was one of his lower-budget but less craptastic features. I’ll try to put up a youtube clip for comparison.
Ok…maybe it can’t be that bad…but we’ll just have to see.
As a word of admittance, yes, as of right now I’ve wanted to post more often, and in doing so I’ve decided to make STRIKE A POSE FILMS an action-fan blog for the time being. A further announcement on this will be made ASAP.