Blood and Bone

I have a great gift in the ability to enjoy exploitation cinema and genre films. When a movie like "Blood and Bones" comes along, I am able to watch and hopefully enjoy it for what it is.

"Bone and Blood" stars Michael Jai White. White, one may remember, played the titular character in self proclaimed bad boy Todd McFarland's kid friendly send-up of the demonic "Spawn." White branched out to TV and voice acting after the nearly career killing clownish "Spawn" movie failed to generate much positive buzz. White, however, is an accomplished martial artist primarily in the Kyokushin style – a brutal full contact form of karate (though he also dabbles in Wushu which is much more screen friendly) – and film loves high impact martial artists. So White has been given another chance as a leading man with this movie, the upcoming fantastically buzzed about blaxploitation tribute "Black Dynamite," and a rumored involvement in Robert Rodriguez's developing mess, "Predators."

White plays Bone, an ex-con with a heart of gold. After his release, Bone finds himself immediately drawn to the illegal street fighting scene where he hooks up with mouthy small time promoter Pinball (Dante Brasco). Bone's motivation is indistinct at first and that gives the first part of the movie a rushed feel. However there is a Reveal about half way through that explains Bone's motivations and helps tighten up the not-too-surprising storyline. Otherwise Bone is a bit of a mystery in that his crime, his time, and his history is left completely unexplained for the duration of the film.

Once Pinball realizes Bone's talent, he quickly concocts a scheme that will get Bone a shot at the local street fighting champ Hammerman (played with corny endearment by former MMA champ Bob Sapp) arranged through Hammerman's bigger-time promoter James (Eammon Walker – "Oz" jailhouse Muslim leader Kareem Said).

This comes at around the halfway point where the film shifts gears from a tournament style martial arts flick to more of a revenge flick. Bone's personal motivation is brought to the forefront and momentum leads to one final fight with, inexplicably, David Aldridge, of whom I know nothing about. I say inexplicably because the film is draped in cameos and roles by past and current MMA stars from various leagues. Aldridge has, literally, less than five minutes screen time and that role, it seems, could have been handled by one of the MMA guests.

The martial arts throughout the film look powerful and brutal but the choreography is not inspired. White is a gifted martial artist and it would be interesting to see him in the hands of a stellar fight choreography team. The fights were entertaining enough, though, due to what many a child of the 90s martial action films would called the Seagal Factor. The Seagal Factor is, simply, when the protagonist is such an incredible bad ass that he is never – not once – threatened in the film which leads to a kind of maniacal hand-rubbing glee. None of White's fights are competitive in "Bone and Blood," but they're still quite interesting due to the Seagal Factor.

From a tech standpoint the film has numerous flaws. There are many cues that are missed and mis-fired gestures that are stopped and started by the actors awaiting their cue in dialog scenes. The music is horrible. The score somehow alternates between syrupy sweet Bill Bixby Incredible Hulk piano music and NIN-like industrial riffs. The effect is jarring.

But this is not a movie to watch for its technical merits. It's a movie to watch for martial arts bad assery and in that way it works. It does not score high in finesse or creativity, but there is a certain primal element that White taps into that makes the movie a worthwhile popcorn flick.

It seems that "Black Dynamite" is a can't miss and working with Hollywood darling Rodriguez can't be bad for White's career, so White may finally be on his way to stardom. If not, Bone ended in a way that could easily lead to sequels of "The Equalizer" type story lines. Or maybe White will take off while Bone makes his way to the small screen. When's the last time we had a prime time martial arts series? I think Bone could work there.

I saw this movie last night and I thought it was a pretty good movie. Michael jai White plays his role pretty good. The fight scenes to me were good compared to some of the other fighting movies that are in theaters. Overall, I enjoyed the movie. This is one of those movies that I would love to have seen in the theaters. If you enjoy enjoy martial arts pictures or just plain ole fighting movies, then you won't want to miss this one. The story line made sense unlike some others that are sometimes hard to follow. The only thing that I would loved to have seen be different is the lines from Pinball. I think his lines were a little overkill. The writers could have toned it down a little because he wasn't really funny if that's what they were trying to portrait.

This was easily one of my favorite martial-arts movies in the last 5 years or so. Michael Jai White plays the part perfectly, and his tough yet concerned persona is great. I honestly couldn't think of a better person to fill this role, and his beautiful martial arts style makes it all the better.

It does suffer from some lackluster acting jobs outside of White. I thought Dante Basco (Pinball) over acted quite a bit, and i don't think he was the best actor for the role.

Other than that the movie was terrific, and i would recommend it to any martial arts fan.

Violent film plenty of killings and brutal bare-knuckled fighting in the slums . Exciting picture full of brawls by means of fierce bare-knuckled struggles staged in nauseam . In Los Angeles , in a world where street gangs collide with the law , an ex-con named Isahia Bone (Michael Jai White of Spawn and Universal soldier 2) takes the underground fighting world by storm in his quest to fulfill a promise to a dead convict . There will have place the ultimate fight - the one for power , pledge , vengeance , and honor. This thrilling movie deals with a tight-lipped fighter who introduces to the world of underground street fierce brawling . He's an expert on martial arts to survive and take different sides to fight and hooks up with small time promoter Pinball (Dante Brasco) . Bone attempts to come up with a way to get enough money to live , but there emerges a dangerous contender versus kingpin James (Eamonn Walker) who arranges the bare-knuckled bouts . Bone attracts the attention of local crime boss who is overtly impressed and wishes Bone to fight for Mr. McVeigh (Julian Sands) . Bone is soon fighting various contenders -ranging from bouncing wrestlers to Oriental fighters . Bone decides that he has something worth brawling for and sets everything on the line to vanquish in these no-holds-barred , bare-knuckle fights . Although Bone only wants to defeat opponents long enough to gain enough money , he is reluctant to let tricks in combats on the fighting . Every knock-out brings him closer to the existence he's always wished , but also carries him in a deadly cobweb he can't getaway . At the ending , the protagonist is forced to fight in a deadly confrontation .

This thrilling picture well written/produced by Michael Andrews contains violence , thought-provoking drama , thrills , and lots of brutal brawls plenty of punches , kicks, and knockouts . Acceptable performance from Michael Jai White as impulsive ex-con becoming a professional street-fighter and battling a variety of contenders . Jai is the complete show as one army man fighting a group of heinous nasties and as always he makes his own stunts like is well proved . Michael White holds Black belts in 7 styles of martial arts as Shotokan Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Okinawan Kobudo, Goju Ryu, Tang Soo Do and Wushu . He has 26 titles including U.S. Open, North American Open, and New England Grand Champion . Two females , the singer Nora Gaye , daughter of soul legend Marvin Gaye, and Michelle Belegrin give surprisingly good acting as landlady and mistreated woman respectively . Special mention to Eamonn Walker as cruel villain and brief appearance of Julian Sands as racist big-time promoter . Appropriate musical score fitting to action by Nicolas Pike and adequate cinematography by Roy Wagner . The picture belongs to sub-genre about street combats as ¨Lionheart¨ with Jean Claude Van Damme and whose maxim representation turns out to be the classic ¨Hard times¨ by Walter Hill with Charles Bronson and James Coburn ; furthermore , recent adaptation titled ¨Fighting ¨ by Dito Montiel with Channing Tatum and Luis Guzman . It's a colorful but strong entertainment that results to be well directed by Ben Ramsey . Ben is an expert screenwriter as ¨Big Hit¨ , ¨Dragonball¨ and occasionally director as ¨Love and bullet¨ and ¨Blood and Bone¨ his best film . Rating : 6,5 , good but very violent .

What can you say? 'Blood and Bone' is a pleasant martial arts/drama surprise that handles us a pretty enjoyable ride during it's 90 minutes and a Michael Jai White in top form.

Directed by the one who wrote the infamous failure that was 'Dragon Ball Evolution', Ben Ramsey, the movie tells us the story of Isaiah Bone, an ex-con that takes the world of underground fighting by storm, in order to keep a promise to his late friend in prison.

With an interesting plot that explores the martial arts world combined with the underground fighting game and a 'surprise effect' sustained until the last twenty minutes of the film, Ramsey achieves to maintain the spectator on his chair until the end of the movie, mixing action and drama.

The fighting scenes are awesome, and not only Michael Jai White knows how to act, knows how to fight: he kicks ass (and also Van Damme's and Segal's ass too).

This is one of the best low budget action movies you can possibly watch in your life and if you're a martial arts fan then this will serve you well. It has excellent underground fighting matches that will blow you away. Michael Jai White rocks, and he IS the movie.

7/10.