Fighting (2009) - Movie Review

Channing Tatum stars as a young counterfeiter who finds his calling as a bare-fisted street fighter, and he sets out to change his life when he meets a gorgeous young woman. Originality, drama and terrific acting ensue! Or that's what I believe was intended at some point during pre-production.

In reality, Fighting is a poorly acted, horribly written and shockingly dull drama that offers little in the way of excitement or interesting moments. Tatum, who has shown he's capable of strong performances in such films as A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, mumbles his way through the role and was clearly selected purely for his tough guy demeanor and pretty face. Terrence Howard fairs better, but his mild-mattered sleaze ball character is so uninteresting you won't really care. At least Zulay Henao (who plays Zulay Valez in the movie) looks nice.

There's not much more to say, other than that those expecting a bunch of fight sequences will be massively disappointed. There are a few fight scenes, but the realistic approach director and co-writer Dito Montiel takes results in rather uninspiring battles, as Tatum and his opponent throw a few punches, roll around on the floor and try to put each other in choke holds a la MMA-style fighting. None of the scenes are very climactic, including the final fight scene, and so what we're left with is yet another story where some poor sap finally finds his calling with some illegal criminal hobby. We've all seen this story done a dozen times before and to better results.

Fighting is truly boring and poorly done. A lack of plot or strong performances ensure that this one will skip right over the bargain bin and into the trash.

No HTML. Be kind - your mom might read what you say.

You must be logged in to comment. Log in now.
Not a member? Join for free.