Review of Unbeatable (2013) by Jacques O — 29 Jan 2014

I know MMA is huge in Asia right now and there has already been a few MMA films in the west, so upon first glance the movie may feel like a bit of a sell out. Undoubtedly the novelty of MMA has been used to sell this movie but Unbeatable could have been about any sport, essentially it was thoughtful, entertaining film.

Cheung's plays a similar role to the one he played in " Beast Stalker"; a guy with a successful boxing background who gets himself involved in crime, leading to a life of hardship. In the events of the movie Cheung's character becomes acquainted with his new grief stricken landlord and her daughter which give him motive to redeem himself. Yuyan's character plays the son of a, bankrupt business man who's hit rock bottom. He gets drunks every night and becomes bitter with his son. Nonetheless Cheung Tries desperately to get his father back on his feet again. Both men enter an MMA tournament to inspire their loved ones to get through their difficulties.

The underdog fighting for a noble cause, I could have predicted the plot but it was just so well executed that it wasn't really and issue. The the progression between the drama and action was great and both aspects had equally developed. I was compelled me through to the very end. I guess you don't always need and original plot to make a good movie. As expected Cheung portrayal of his character was excellent but also a notable mention for Mei Ting's portrayal of the insane bereaving mother. Man I love the over the top, screwed up physiological stuff Hong Kong action movies often have. There were also some really well done comedic and feel-good moments in the film that makes you wanna "ahhhh".

This movie doesn't get into the technical, geeky aspects of MMA and in fact gets some of the rules wrong. I would have liked the fights to be more visceral perhaps more swelling makeup. I just didn't get that sense of intense, physical pain that I remembered in movies like "Best of the best" or "Rocky." but I'm really that's just nit picking. I don't really watch many Asian films but ill definitely be watching out for this creative team in the future.