Kumite, le ring de la mort

I enjoyed Mimi Lesseos's 'Streets of Rage' in a so bad it's fun kind of way, but can't say the same thing for 'Pushed to the Limit'. It still has a hokey story and shades of a vanity project, but the quality of camera work and audio in spots is pretty bad. Detracting from what lite cheesy goodness is to be found here in b-movie formula.

Successful female wrestler Mimi (Lesseos) wins the championship in her latest match and goes home to visit family. A reunion quickly points out her brother Johnny (Greg Ostrin) is in trouble with drugs. Turns out he's been doing work for Harry Lee (Henry Hayashi) and trying to rip him off gets Johnny killed & her bf wounded. So when Mimi learns Lee runs an illegal underground Kumite among other shady business, she enters to get a measure of revenge.

An idiot brother. A devoted boyfriend. A mobster worth millions who likes to dirty his hands in day to day stuff personally. Numerous pieces of dialog to heap praise on the main character / star. She does Vegas stage show dancing on the side to boot. Then there's some poor acting, an obvious low budget and horrible fight choreography.

The cheese oozes from every pore within 'Pushed to the Limit', but the final product doesn't add up to be fun. Story builds to a cliche ending that is a letdown. Very few laughs, decent fights or memorable spots. I spent most of my time hoping it would be get better and it didn't.

Mimi Lesseos plays a wrestler (now that's an acting stretch!) who enters an illegal kickboxing tournament to get revenge on the man who organizes it - the man who is also responsible for the killing of her brother and the wounding of her boyfriend. Conceived perhaps as a female version of Van Damme's "Kickboxer", "Pushed to the Limit" fails to deliver. The dramatic parts are insufferably slow and stilted, and although Mimi is a talented fighter, particularly when she applies wrestling / grappling moves, her talents are often obscured by the editing or by the simple fact that the camera focuses on other things instead of the fighting. For a movie centered around a fighting tournament, there is a surprising lack of long, continuous fight scenes here. If you feel like you need to see every Mimi Lesseos film then go ahead, but if you just want to see one, try "Beyond Fear" instead. (*1/2)