First thing this reviewer has to say is that in my other reviews I have been very clear that Jai White has taken a bum steer from Hollywood, he is a much better action figure than his CV would indicate.
Therefore, when I notice that MJW has made the effort to turn the Beatdown franchise into a personal nestegg (this review written late in 2015, but I see there is a BEATDOWN 3 in the works) I cannot complain. Man's got to do what a man has got to do.
The film itself is entertaining and that is no small compliment. What it lacks oddly is the sheer meanness that was visible in Beatdown 1. The original in the series was less about MMA than it was about the horror of being a kid having to deal with other kids. The MMA was secondary.
Here the MMA takes center stage and if there was a template for this film it was NOT Beatdown 1 (name notwithstanding) but BEST OF THE BEST, which (if you review that film) had a bit of a Disney flavor to it.
At the very end of this film, if you stick it out past the final fight (and many of you will not) there is a feel-good montage of the kind you usually see in afterschool specials.
Again, the martial arts are not the only thing here that is "mixed." So are the themes.
Therefore, when I notice that MJW has made the effort to turn the Beatdown franchise into a personal nestegg (this review written late in 2015, but I see there is a BEATDOWN 3 in the works) I cannot complain. Man's got to do what a man has got to do.
The film itself is entertaining and that is no small compliment. What it lacks oddly is the sheer meanness that was visible in Beatdown 1. The original in the series was less about MMA than it was about the horror of being a kid having to deal with other kids. The MMA was secondary.
Here the MMA takes center stage and if there was a template for this film it was NOT Beatdown 1 (name notwithstanding) but BEST OF THE BEST, which (if you review that film) had a bit of a Disney flavor to it.
At the very end of this film, if you stick it out past the final fight (and many of you will not) there is a feel-good montage of the kind you usually see in afterschool specials.
Again, the martial arts are not the only thing here that is "mixed." So are the themes.