Tapped Out

Review: Story-wise 'Tapped Out' is 'The Karate Kid' meets 'Rocky'; our protagonist Michael Shaw (Cody Hackman) witnesses the murder of his parents as a young boy and becomes (unsurprisingly) a troubled youth. Unlike the Never Back Down films though, Michael is a likable character and although he is angry at the world, it's entirely understandable as he is well fleshed out.

He starts off the movie hanging around with a bad crowd at school and having crazy parties, but then becomes the underdog and rather than being someone you don't care about, he is at heart a man of honour.

One of the little things I noticed was him bowing before a fight and someone says "young people don't want to see karate anymore, they want to see this" *pointing to the cage fighting*.

Cody comes from a martial arts background so when we see him fight, it doesn't look overly-choreographed but believable.

One thing to be prepared for is that it's not constant action, with the first half of the movie focusing on character development, drama and story. The second half of the movie is tournament time and that's when the action really kicks in.

Michael Biehn plays Reggie, the Mr. Miyagi-type mentor of the tale who has his own back-story which I won't go into here. Biehn is always phenomenal on screen and never seems like he's acting; he just has a truth to every character and when watching this, you're not watching an actor, you're watching Reggie.

Martin Kove plays against type as the inspirational Principal Vanhorne who wants to straighten out Michael and send him to Reggie; he doesn't have a very big role but it's great to see him in this type of movie as a good guy.

UFC Fighter Krzysztof Soszynski is the villain of the movie Dominic and he REALLY looks the part; when he's on screen he's pretty damn scary looking and is threatening as Hell. He brings real authenticity to the role and his fight scenes are vicious… and usually short. He's a very memorable villain and may end up being seen as a classic bad guy.

Speaking of the fight scenes, I'm pleased to say that they are shaky cam free with fluid camera work but also not afraid to get up close to the action. We get to see every punch and kick and it isn't watered down; when we see Dominic fighting, he pounds his opponent's faces in and usually leaves them out cold.

There is one reference to 'The Karate Kid' in the movie but nothing cheesy and that's one of the main things I enjoyed about 'Tapped Out'. It manages to be an inspirational tale without being cheesy or having any clunky dialogue. The characters are believable and although the story isn't anything all that new, I found myself enjoying every moment.

There is plenty of humour too in the form of Lou (Daniel Faraldo) who arranges the fights and has some choice lines; when he sees what Michael can do in the ring he turns from cynical to a fan very quickly.

We also get a few awesome training montages which are essential for films like this but in this movie we get to see UFC legend Anderson Silva teach Michael how to properly cage fight and mix up his fighting style. He's only in a few scenes but he has a great career ahead of him as an action star as he has a very likable face and plenty of fighting skills… obviously.

'Tapped Out' is director Allan Ungar's feature début and from this evidence it looks like he is going to have a great career. With a new action movie called 'Gridlocked' on the way, I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next.

Overall, 'Tapped Out' is 'The Karate Kid' for a new generation with a great cast, nicely choreographed fights and an inspirational and entertaining story.

Tapped Out has said to been to be a new take on the Karate Kid type story but with a MMA twist. And Tapped Out was actually pretty enjoyable. Tapped Out has good acting from Cody Hackman, Michael Biehn, and Krzysztof Soszynski. The film was just a little long even though it was quite fun with its awesome and gripping action but also had good characters. The story follows Michael Shaw from when his parents getting carjacked and murdered until he seeks revenge and wants to fight the man that killed his parents. Tapped Out also had some beautiful action and landscape shots. Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida also have a very cool cameo.The characters where well developed and main character Michael has an interesting love interest. The film also has some hilarious jokes here and there. unlike lots of recent films Tapped Out uses practical effects which are always awesome. The film has a great amount of action, and good dialog. The movie has many different genres romance, drama, action and comedy! I would definitely recommend Tapped out!

This is my 1st review on IMDb and the reason is to save you two hours! Believe me if you do watch it you can only agree with this review.

Seriously this movie is horrible: Acting is miserable, the plot is very poor and you only see Anderson Silva & Lyoto Machida for a minute. On top of that fights are poorly choreographed and the kid which is really an amateur is pain to watch.

Perhaps one positive touch is the soundtrack but all the rest is rubbish.

So if you really have two hours to waste watch any other movie I am sure it could only be better.

Don't get fooled, if you want to watch a good MMA movie pick Warrior!

I was expecting less, however, I'm glad I took the Chance on watching Tapped Out! I thought for sure it was going to be a corny Hector Echavarria movie but this film proved me wrong. Acting was decent, cameos were great and fight scenes were shot very well! I can see how MMA fans might want more fighting in the movie, the major action does not start until half way in. However the lack of action is made up for an intriguing story (Batman meets Karate Kid). I appreciated the references to the original karate kid. Michael Biehn who plays Reggie did a great job portraying the Miyagi element, and he was pretty comical at times. Anderson Silva seemed to be comfortable on screen and was not over the top. I wish we got to see more of him!' Overall I think this movie has what it takes to offer all audiences entertainment.

9/10 Stars

For me of GOAT MMA movies

#1.Warrior #2.Tapped Out #3.Red Belt

Direct-to-video MMA films have always been an easy target. While MMA has long since captured the mainstream, more traditional karate and kickboxing flicks have metaphorically beaten the small screen cage fighter to the ground and kicked him as he lay. TAPPED OUT shows that the subgenre is finally getting to its feet, ready to be taken seriously. Despite the film's occasionally ridiculous narrative decisions and other shortcomings, I am genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. This is a serious coming-of-age story with a martial arts theme, and I definitely recommend it.

The story: A maladjusted teenager (Cody Hackman) working off his community service at a local karate dojo embarks on a quest to confront the murderer of his parents (Krzysztof Soszynski).

There are many reasons that this movie might have failed, not limited to its curious casting and status as a KARATE KID knockoff, but it perseveres. At first glance, Cody Hackman appears to be your average prettyboy but turns out to be a real-life competitor who delivers an strong performance as a steadily-improving martial artist. His sensei is played, of all people, by old Michael Biehn, and Biehn somehow manages to be 100% convincing as an instructor. The screenplay the two of them act out is also to its film's credit: the journey of the main character is refreshingly nuanced, with significant victories and setbacks throughout that are not directly tied to the buildup of the ending. Different forces pull him in different directions in a lifelike manner, and even when the movie resorts to moments of clichéd stupidity, these are at least grounded in logic. Stupid decisions are addressed in an almost self-aware manner by the script, and traditional martial arts are not downplayed.

Like most movies marketed as MMA flicks, there is some disappointment in the false advertising of TAPPED OUT: UFC megastars Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida are prominently featured on the DVD cover, but are in the film for only ten minutes. Additionally, the ground & pound fight scenes are not about to outdo the likes of NINJA II's. With that said, the brawls are still a solid highlight of the film. Admirably foregoing slow motion and featuring decent editing, the dozen fights are at worst bearable and at best downright exciting. The choreography is far from ground-breaking – there's some intricate grappling, but that's it – yet the pace and dramatic components of the fights are admirable. I found myself actually holding my breath during some of the later matches simply because the filmmakers did such a good job of making them such close contests between characters I had invested in.

There is no guarantee that traditional fight fans will enjoy this as much as me, and even I teetered on whether to give this a lower rating simply because it wouldn't matter to me if I never saw Cody Hackman in a martial arts movie again. While it may not have rewatch value, this action-drama is worth at least a single viewing and will probably do the trick for general martial arts devotees and MMA nuts alike. Rent it!