Review of Fighting (2009) by Timothy S — 10 Oct 2011

I never expected anything close to greatness from "Fighting", but I at least thought it would have enough energy to rival last year's similarly themed "Never Back Down". However, this newest film can't even elevate itself to meet those meager goals, and it pales to the earlier picture in almost every way imaginable.

The only life this shows are during the well choreographed and gritty fight scenes, and even then you have nothing emotionally invested in the outcome of the brawls. Terrence Howard is much better than this tepid material, but the majority of the blame for the film's failure lies with star Channing Tatum. He was likable in "Step Up" and showed great strides in becoming an actual actor in "Stop Loss", but all that potential comes to a grinding halt with his monotone, too-cool-for-the-room performance here. The charisma he's displayed in the past is a low-watt bulb just when he needed it the most. Newcomer Zulay Henao is certainly attractive in her first major film role, but she isn't given a lot to do other than smile and look pretty.

The entire film is built on the ridiculous premise that Tatum has what it takes to succeed in this kind of underground fighting circuit despite the fact that he gets manhandled in his first match and only wins when his opponent knocks himself unconscious. It's ludicrous, as is most everything else in this picture that involves dialogue or storytelling. I mean, how ambitious or original can a movie be when the best they could do for a title was "Fighting"? The movie was made from a blueprint, and it follows the formula every step of the way.