Review of Redbelt (2008) by Nils T — 30 Sep 2010

I settled in to watch a normal Karate/Fight movie (ala Jet Li, Jason Statham or Steven Seagal) where the story is paced to take you on a carefully paced testosterone rollercoaster ride. This was it, but in its defense the choreography of the fight scenes is the best I've ever scene.

It is more comparable to 2001 "The Heist" except it has a better pace. I am torn between 3 and 4 stars. (4 stars) for the plain good story telling, credible fight scenes and journeyman acting performances.

(3-stars) for attempting to cross-pollinating a fight movie and drama and not succeeding at either. Back to the fight scenes. The majority of the supporting staff and extras are drawn from different areas of martial arts.

Nobody flies on wires, has a relative killed by a bad guy or knows any special ââ?¬Å?Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique. The fight scenes shoot for balance and control over lighting fast motion and unbelievable power.

Nuf said. Tim Allen role in the movie is so askew in the movie, like a private joke about somebody except the audience is not involved. And Emily Mortimer, normally a interesting supporting actor, seems ill prepared for the roll.

A slightly better choice would have been Tracy Ullman with her fake teeth. I'll over look some of the ideas that may have looked like "a good duality", or "character evolving" or "juxtaposition" when they were shot, but should have been re-shot or left on the cutting room floor.

And give it (4 stars). A more interesting film would have been Mamet pitching a conceptual martial arts movie to Hollywood cronies and having them all think he's lost it behind his back.