'Blood and Bone' review by MartialHorror
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BLOOD AND BONE(2009)
(Directed by Ben Ramsey)
"At the absolute least, it delivers what the title promises."- Signed by MartialHorror.
Plot: After getting out of Prison, a man begins to enter the underground fighting world and becomes one of the top warriors. But why is he doing it, as he himself doesn't seem to be a thug? Maybe he's entered for a reason that goes far deeper than making money.
Review:
Michael Jai White is one of those 'what if' actors. He had a strong start, being the protagonist in "Spawn", which I remember thinking was the coolest thing as a kid, but don't remember it at all as an adult. Unfortunately, he followed this up with "Exit Wounds", which was probably the last decent Steven Seagal movie, as well as starring opposite Jean Claude Van Damme in "Universal Soldier 2: The Return", one of Van Damme's lesser movies. Both movies, whether they sucked or not, represented the inevitable downslide of those two action stars. It would be fitting if he managed to push off his own career during their down-falls, but the opposite happened, people just forgot about him. Like Dolph Lundgren, people were now used to seeing him opposite off someone bigger and better, and often as a villain. So why would anyone care to watch him as the lead? Furthermore, unlike Dolph Lundgren, who at least was able to latch onto the genre right before it began to die, Michael Jai White entered pretty much when the martial arts genre was a corpse. I'd call him unlucky, but that's only in that he never became a big action star. I'm sure he's quite successful, and he does manage to get bit roles in big movies. He was an unfortunate victim of the Joker in "The Dark Knight", and he was an even more unfortunate victim of David Carradine in "Kill Bill Volume 2", because not only did he die, but he was also cut out of the movie. Still, I have to admit, while I liked him in all of his supporting roles, I never really felt any desire to watch him as the leading man again. Maybe, just maybe, I made a mistake.
You see, sometimes when a notable "star" fails to hit it as big as his contemporaries, he will put much more effort into his work. Of course, I only say sometimes. As far as I know, Don "the Dragon" Wilson never put THAT much effort in his movies, but Jackie Chan sure did. Yes, yes, I know that Jackie Chan is arguably the most famous martial arts star out there now but remember that before he became a massive hit, he was doing plenty of mediocre films with Lo Wei. Once he had more freedom, he worked super hard and then he became a huge star. From what I can gather, Michael Jai White doesn't just want to make money. He wants to make good movies. "Blood and Bone" is a pretty good way to start things off. He's obviously played the lead in movies before, but this feels like the first true Michael Jai White vehicle. He's followed this up with "Black Dynamite", which looks awesome and has received lots of positive reviews. Will he become a big action star? Probably not, as martial arts movies isn't very popular right now, but if this keeps up, he will secure a very strong cult following.
Michael Jai White stars as Bone, and yes, I think it's lame that they use his name in the title as well. Things kick off well when Bone, in prison, beats the crap out of a bunch of inmates. Sometime later, he is released from prison. From there, he rents a room and begins to scout underground fights. Managing to sneak his way into the competition, Bone dominates just about every fighter he meets. This attracts the attention of James(Eamonn Walker), a vicious, psychotic gangster who works for Franklin(Julian Sands), who trains the supposed 'best fighter in the world'. Soon it becomes apparent that Bone may have entered the competition to get to James, but why?
When it comes to bone breaking and blood curdling fight scenes- and yes, those are puns- "Blood and Bone" delivers like mad crazy. The fight scenes are superb, managing to be both stylish as well as brutal. Imagine the fight scenes in Tony Jaa's "Ong Bak", although not quite that good. Director Ben Ramsey frames the action like a pro and keeps the brutality high. This is one harsh movie and a few scenes really got to me. Perhaps the most unsettling is when the comic relief guy is explaining the origins of James's girlfriend. It's a well written scene, and it's executed wonderfully. It's odd that Ramsey does really good here, yet will always be known for raping the Dragonball franchise by writing the script for "Dragonball Evolution", one mistake that you don't want to make.
The acting isn't always great. Everyone seems to overdo it at least once. Michael Jai White(Bone) over-does the enigmatic 'man of few words' persona, but he does showcase enough charisma, acting ability and martial arts skills to be a great action film star. He's no Brando in terms of acting, but I'd say he's better than Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, Dolph Lundgren and an early Van Damme(who might be better than him now, especially with "JCVD" under his belt). Eamonn Walker(James) is actually pretty damn scary as the villain. I admire the fact that his character is surprisingly complex. Now, complexity usually means sympathy, but here it makes him seem more monstrous. Good job. Dante Basco(Pinball) is pretty amusing and Julian Sands(Franklin) looks like he is having fun in his limited screentime. Bob Sapp(Hammerman), who seems to appear in way too many movies, is very imposing. Hell, his acting is actually pretty decent as well, except when he's yelling "Where is Bone" near the end. Overall, it's a pretty stellar cast, considering many of these guys aren't professional actors.
Unfortunately, "Blood and Bone" doesn't work quite as well as one would hope. For one, the story is way too familiar. Two, screenwriter Michael Andrews' inexperience shows.......a lot. The film just changes it's narrative way too often. At first, the movie focuses mainly on Bone and Pinball, and even develops their relationship a little bit. Then suddenly it seems like James is taking too much screentime, and then the movie wants us to suddenly buy a romantic angle between Bone and a character who doesn't seem to like him. Then there is a relationship with a kid that is covered in a montage. So while there are a few decent twists, "Blood and Bone" suffers mostly in the script department. It doesn't seem to know which characters to flesh out the most, and it becomes uneven. Finally, was it me or was Bone simply too capable. He is pretty much never defeated and always seems to be one step ahead of the villain. The only characters in the whole movie that I felt fear for was some annoying white guy and his asian wife, who had nothing to do with the story other than to be victims of James. Bone was just too invincible, and this meant that there wasn't really any suspense.
Oh yeah, the tone occasionally is off as well. As awesome as the clip we get in the credits is, it's completely out-of-place in the context of the movie. This also usually is the sin of an unexperienced screenwriter. But to be honest, it's a sin I can forgive.
So while "Blood and Bone" isn't really a good movie, it still delivers in what it should: Ass kicking. There is a lot of fighting, and the fighting is actually very well done. Hell, it might be some of the best choreography I've ever seen among the western stars. It's not on par with "Fearless", "Black Belt" and "Ong Bak 2"(all of which have the best fight scenes that I've seen), but I don't expect it to be. All I know is that I liked it and considering it's a 'Direct-to-DVD' film, I am very much impressed. This is God compared to most of Seagal's crap, yet everyone knows who Steven Seagal is while not knowing who Michael Jai White is......Sad indeed, but I will be sure to check out all of his films from now on.
Violence: Veeery brutal. Easy R rating.
Nudity: None, although rape is mentioned/implied.
Overall: Watch "Blood and Bone" if you're into hardcore martial arts, and only if your into it. If so, you should like it.
2.5/4 STARS
my reviews of martial arts and horror films
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