American Fighter

I was unfortunate enough to see this a couple months ago and wow, this is just a rehash of every fighter type movie. Avoid watching this if you can. Bad acting, bad directing, bad music. Who funds these movies? Please stop.

I stumble a bit randomly on this movie. As a fighting movie fan i rarely find something made years ago that i have not seen yet so it was a big surprise for me. I just learn while coming here to make the review that this is actually a sequel to another movie call American Wrestler The Wizard.

Honestly if i didn't learn it, i wouldn't had know. The movie pretty much work completely on its own and never made me feel like i had miss a "first part". It seem the cast is almost entirely new outside the main character as well.

Now i have to be honest, this movie does nothing new in the genre in term of story. You seen this type of movie a bunch of time. That said, if like me you enjoy these type of stories, you will certainly do with this movie as well. There are a few parts wich are "expedited" a bit, and the movie could had benefit from an extra 15 to 20 minutes in my opinion, but its not a huge issue either.

The fight scenes are plenty and they are well done. Its more of a gritty realistic kinda style with hard hitting punches and kicks and not a lot of "camera effects" or flashy stuff, but it work very well in the context.

Movie is set in the 80s and beside technology being accurate and a few glimpse of the 80s feel, most of the time you wouldn't even notice too much. Majority of the characters look like current day teens/young adults without the traditional hairstyles of the 80s and once you are in the fight club area, you wouldn't know if not for the fact that nobody hold a cellphone. So the time period didn't played a huge factor for me, but since its a sequel to a movie inspired by a real person, they had to keep with the continuity.

Overall i had a great time with this movie. Its a great surprise to find something from 2019 i had not seen in a genre that i really enjoy.

There were some unnecessary token parts in the film that try to tie it to the first movie, but with so many new characters introduced onto the canvas, they just needed to focus on them. American Wrestler needed almost 2 hours to do that with theirs. There are some great moments here if its an easy series of fight potn you are after. You must watch the first film to appreciate this one more.

Supporting actor Bryan Craig is well established in drama, hitting the notes required when he becomes collateral damage in his friend's twelvth hour gamble. He works well with George Thomas / Korsuros in the setup of the forced-to-fight underdog story. Plenty of tightly choreographed sequences that are natural and fluid and great to watch, definitely the way to go as this story was less character driven unlike its predecessor which was a nice change.

Bland drama lacking any substantial tension. Meandearing subplot involving a romantic interest is not needed. Nice turn from Tommy Flanagan as the charasmatic fight promoter. Overall, thumbs down.

It's basically a rehash of all those down on your luck, fighting 'literally' your way to the top movies. It's no 'Rocky' and there's nothing new or exciting to set it apart but if you like that sort of movie on a much lower budget it's entertaining enough.