Un seul deviendra invincible : Dernier Round

Bizarrely a sequel to a film no one saw, about boxing, only this time it's about kickboxing. Now surely there must be more to the plot? Well no, it is essentially an excuse to have some downright superb fight scenes. Michael Jai White stars as George "the Ice Man" Chambers, played in the original by Ving Rhames. He's not playing the Wesley Snipes character as we might have assumed, considering White has been rumoured to be replacement Blade for Snipes, and after all Snipes and White are both martial arts demon's.

Anyway director Isaac Florentine has always shown a knack for filming fight scenes, without ever really getting the rest particularly right. Similarly his films never really look too polished, unable to look beyond their clearly meagre budgets. Similarly Florentine's previous films tended have bizarre mixes of time periods, costumes etc, to create non descript worlds, which just came out as strange on film. Bridge Of Dragon's for example was a pretty bog standard kind of fairy tale action movie. Also his use of cartoony sound effects for every movement, no matter how small, become tiresome in previous flicks. For example someone would raise an eyebrow and it would be accompanied by a "whoosh!" Having said all that I enjoyed his previous films for the action and the cheesiness of them. But Florentine has reigned himself in here, and in what is probably his most high profile and lavish production, he has produced a kick ass action film. Previously too he never really got any particularly good performances form his cast, be manages to here. White doe okay, and has the build and a certain amount of charisma that makes you wonder why he's not competing in the DTV wars with the top dogs like Seagal, Snipes and Van Damme. Strangely he's not much of an action star despite the huge muscular frame and martial arts prowess. Ben Cross also appears and as he did in the Lundgren flick, the Mechanik, he adds class to proceedings, because he can act. He does well in making his supporting part memorable in a fairly tragic kind of role, and he gives it some humanity and some humour. Ken Lerner too makes a welcome appearance playing a role we've seen many times before from him, and he of course he'll always be remembered as the agent, Arnold stabs in the back with a pen, in Running Man. Eli Danker is also superb.

However the real star of this piece is Scott Adkins, the British born, Kickboxer/Gymnast, here playing a Russian prison tournament champ. Adkin's not only has a good screen presence but like White is built like a brick outhouse, and to add to that he's an amazing athlete for a guy so huge. If marketed right Adkins could be the next big action star, he's got the ability to be one of the best. Adkin's performs some amazing gymnastic feats here. He's not a bad actor either and I think people will actually assume he's Russian, so he does a good job here, despite playing a comically two dimensional villains worthy of Ivan Drago himself. The fights are really well done. They feel unique too, much down to Adkin's himself but also the great photography, dolly and steadi-cam work.

This may have a plot that could have been written on the back of a match box, probably reading something along the lines of "Michael Jai White is forced to fight Scott Adkin's, twice!" However the film looks polished thanks to Ross Clarkson's photography, while Florentine is allowed to show some auterism that many DTV directors for hire aren't allowed to. It's simply a few situations that are thrown in to lead into fights, but the fights come thick and fast, and as well as that they are original, and pretty awesome. Thankfully the cast are good enough to rise above the trite situations which is why it's important in these films to include guys like Ben Cross, who can act.

Overall this is a film that will no doubt gain cult status amongst martial arts fan's. It's the most Drive-ish film since Drive, something simple yet for what it is, brilliantly delivered. There's rumours of another sequel, which I'd hope to see, but truthfully if it didn't have Adkin's it would be sorely lacking a one man special effect. Adkin's is even better than Kong! ***

When is saw Undisputed I thought it was OK , and the cast made it be interesting , although the plot was simple and boring until the fight. I didn't think a sequel would be made but here it is .

From the beginning to the end this film is exciting and intriguing. The plot is solid and interesting and the cast is very well chosen. White does a very good acting as well as fighting scenes , while the other character (Boyka) assures the spectacular.

Not your average fighting movie at all ! The scenes are remarkable and very close framed , the details are extraordinary and that is what makes the whole fighting look so good and realistic . Even the training for the fight looks technical and realistic.

The other stories ... Stevie's and Crot's (Nikolai) add the drama that makes this more than just a kick , punch , block movie . They're also good actors doing a splendid job and making this movie rate high.

What else is there ... Oh ! Great soundtrack and ... almost forgot an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING ending ! Watch this movie !

As a martial art practitioner I want to assure the audience that the movie will like to those of you who expect to see a really tough fight! Even this time the creators made the fight scenes even more interesting, mainly because this time you will see not only clear boxing (as the previous "Undisputed"), but also you'll see very exciting moves by kicks, knees and even grappling. This time Chambers, unlike, the previous part, will have to face much more devastating opponent in the person of the Russian prisoner Yurii Boika, whose character will take your attention from the beginning of the movie with his splendid moves on the ring. In my opinion the character is created perfectly for the atmosphere of the movie.

Those of you who'll watch the movie, expecting something as good as the first part, wont be disappointed at all just because the director presents one well known of the audience Jorge Chambers. In that movie he is the same tough and proud guy, who, becomes clearly, that if you try to tell him what to do, he would crush at least your nose. Namely that side in the Iceman's character, to be proud, fighting for his honor, made him one of my favorite characters I've ever seen.

This is way better than the original film. It's explosive and heart-pounding from start to finish. The best American made martial arts action film in years. An action classic. An adrenaline-charged action-packed edge of your seat thrill-ride that packs some of the most intense, mind-blowing and bone-crushing martial arts sequences I've seen in some time. It's stylish, hard-core, gripping and wickedly entertaining. One cool as hell action flick that delivers. A stunning, thrilling and well-crafted piece of action movie. Michael Jai White and Scott Adkins are just pure dynamite, they deliver with their great performances and power packed fight sequences. These two set the screen on fire with their extraordinary energy. A tremendously exhilarating movie. This film in every sense of the word is a knockout.

I attended the premiere at Paramount Studios and have to say I was impressed by the breathtaking fight scenes. They were filmed at a very high speed, so there was a hyper-real crispness to them and interesting time changes throughout. Things were slowed down and sped up to catch Michael Jai White's amazing choreography.

Michael Jai had a hand in much of the production and his attention to detail in these scenes in particular shows. Scott Adkins is also an incredibly adept martial arts performer and comes off as an appropriately menacing villain. Michael Jai plays George Chambers with all the hubris and latent anger you could want, but also with an undertone of humor not present in Ving Rhames' portrayal of the character.

The last reviewer made a good point about this film having an 80's action feel to it. There's a no-nonsense brutality to the fighting that you don't often see these days. This is no Jackie Chan hit-em-with-a-broomstick fest. Think Rocky meets UFC. A definite adrenaline-pumper!