The Challenger

Why would you cast the champion to look like a bigger version of the skinny young boxer? They looked so much alike I didn't know who was who unless they were together and you saw the 2 foot difference in height

Ok, let's face it, there is only so much you can do with a championship boxing movie. To be honest the story is very unlikely. However, this one has something special. The 90 minutes flew past very quickly for me which is my proof that I enjoyed it. The acting was superb, the fight scenes were reasonable and the story, although far from reality drew me in and had me routing for the main character. Although Kent Moran doesn't look like he has ever truly fought in a ring he played the title role really well and was very likeable. Michael Clarke Duncan played the supporting role equally well and was very believable as the trainer. It was refreshing to see a boxing movie without any romantic complications blurring the story. Yes, it was the rise of the underdog as most of them are. And yes, there were plenty of touching family moments but no love interests. Another thing I liked was that the opponents were not painted as the bad guys like in so many other movies. Anyway, I watch a lot of boxing movies and this is definitely worth watching. 7/10

With the reluctant acquiescence of his adoptive mother -- S. Epatha Merkerson -- and the compassionate tutelage of his trainer -- Michael Clarke Duncan -- writer-director Kent Moran rises from obscure Bronx mechanic to a title fight.

It's an old and accepted story, probably going back to when Pierce Egan when he was writing his first book on the sweet science in 1813. So why do another? Well, there's always a market for a boxing movie, and here we have a few new things to say: a reality show based on Moran to push him up the rankings; the relationships, some of which are a bit corny; the final fight, which is brutal; and the editing by Anthony Muzzati and director Kent Moran, which is excellent. The acting is pretty good. And if the visuals clearly are, ahem, inspired by Rocky, well, they worked before and they work here.

absolutely nothing original about this movie. its a knock off of rocky, or like a bunch of other boxing movies, but very poorly made. The build up is rushed, the boxing training is short, he goes from boxing in a local club to fighting for a title after 7 fights, lol, its almost embarrassing to watch. anyone who has watched real boxing, will find this ridiculous. The main character, the boxer, is sort of lame, he show no real hunger to either train or fight. it feels weird. the main fight of the movie, is poorly made, you don't see, not even half a round; you only get some silly glimpse of the rounds

And both take damage way beyond what they would ever be able to handle in reality, which makes it look even more ridiculous.

I urge you not to waste your time or money.

I noticed Justin Hartley's name in the credits, so the first 5 minutes of the film I thought I was seeing Hartley on the screen. Then when there was more light in the next scene, I thought this actor "can't be" Justin Hartley, and I wondered why does he look so similar?! The film's protagonist is actually Kent Moran, who's several years younger than Hartley and has a similar hair color, hairline, hair style, eye color, face shape, chin cleft, and body type as Justin Hartley. It was like watching Sylvester Stallone fight Frank Stallone in a Rocky movie. Other than the film's main characters looking so similar, the movie was decent. It depicts a black woman who adopted a white son, and that's something you don't see every day.