SYNOPSIS:
Small-town boy Shawn MacArthur (Channing Tatum - G.I. Joe:
The Rise of Cobra, Public Enemies) knows firsthand that
every day in New York City is a struggle to survive. So when
scam artist Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard - Iron Man,
Hustle and Flow) gives him a chance to be something more
in the brutal underground world of bare-knuckle street-fighting,
Shawn decides that he has something worth fighting for and puts
everything on the line to win. Every knockout brings him closer
to the life he's always wanted, but also traps him in a dangerous
web he can't escape.
MOVIE REVIEW:
There
are movies that are purely made to entertain and there are
those with well-meaning messages hidden. Unfortunately, in
the case of "Fighting", it falls neither to any
of the category above.
Rising young actor Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe,
Step Up) plays Shawn MacArthur, an illegal street peddler
on the streets of New York City who is being offered a chance
to participate in underground street fights by a scam artist,
Harvey Boarden (Terence Howard). Through Harvey’s arrangement,
Shawn manages to earn his dough by engaging in fights and
even manages to find his love in the form of Zulay (Zulay
Henao), a single mother who works in a club.
"Fighting"
is definitely no "Rocky" not even in the league
of "Never Back Down" where an African-American takes
a young white boy under his training wings. The character
of Harvey Broaden is no trainer or master, he’s just
a smooth, classy conman hoping to get a share of the money.
And the fact that he picks Shawn just because he can tussled
with a few thugs is simply laughable. And did I mention about
the unintentional amusing fact that how Shawn manages to win
the first fight? He wins by just knocking his opponent onto
a sink! Come on, where’s the cliché when you
need it? There’s not a single scene that depicts Shawn
training as a fighter (no eggs, no running on the stairs and
no excruciating chin-ups) except for a lone scene showing
the man flexing his punches of all places in a subway train.
The whole setup has no one to root for and
is populated with dozens plot fillers. Shawn MacArthur is
supposedly a college dropout or something, has some disagreements
with his dad who is a football coach and Harvey actually knows
and works together with Zulay and what else, a nagging grandmother
who speaks Spanish. It’s frustrating to watch a 105
minutes movie with barley any noteworthy aspects other than
a one-note urban drama about social misfits.
The
only good thing coming out of the movie which I can think
of is the raw cinematography which captures the beauty of
New York be it the gritty alleys or streets, not a surprise
director Dito Montiel grows up in the Queens area. With "Fighting",
Terence Howard’s acting career remarkably marks a new
low, the man who charmed the audience in "Crash"
and "Hustle & Flow" puts in a Pat Morita-like
performance that is totally disconnects from his on-screen
character. Like I say he is not a martial-arts master, he
is just a smooth criminal. Tatum continues to zombie-act throughout
without any varying expression to build up his character’s
anguish and hatred.
Lastly
for all filmmakers who are attempting to make some action,
martial arts genre movies, please note that irritable loud
hip-hop music in the background doesn’t enhance the
climax nor shaky camera close-ups contribute anything to limpy
brawling between the fighters. Some dreams are worth the fight
and "Fighting" in conclusion just isn’t one
of them.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains no extra features.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The DVD transfer is sharp and clean, definitely a
plus if you are fan of shirtless Tatum and the obvious hip-hop,
R&B soundtrack fairs much louder than the ambient sound
effects and the fight scenes.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
Posted on 25 November 2009
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