Films that deal with any type of fighting aren’t always those that top my must watch list, but I’m willing to give them a shot. All of those in the Rocky franchise are films that I could watch over and over again without much of a problem. Fight Club is a phenomenal choice to watch, but there is so much more to it than the fighting actually. Never Back Down is an absolute piece of crap. Gladiator (the one with Cuba Gooding, Jr., not Russell Crowe) is one of my favorite films of all time and always will be. So it really varies when it comes to fighting being the reason I actually enjoy a film that has it included in it. Ironically enough, fighting is exactly the reason I couldn’t enjoy er…Fighting.
Shawn MacArthur (Channing Tatum) is a kid trying to make a living on the mean streets of Manhattan, but not in the way that most people go about earning their keep. Shawn is selling bootleg DVDs, CDs, IPODs, and trying to find whatever he can in order to make a quick buck. A more seasoned con man named Harvey (Terrence Howard) happens to rip him off one day making Shawn almost lose all hope, but it is the same man that conned him that will actually help him. Harvey witnesses Shawn hold his own against a trio of thugs one day and realizes that he has a golden opportunity before him and one that could bring about a lot of cash. Shawn is introduced to the world of underground fighting where he will make a considerable amount of money more and at a much quicker pace, but at a possible risk to his health and well-being. It may seem like a hard choice, but money does rule all.
Fighting has a few subplots thrown in here and there, but not much more then what you expect to get. A little love story gets into the mix as Shawn falls for a beautiful woman named Zulay (really?) who is extremely out of place at these fights but just so happens to be there. She stands by his side, the con man mentors his new fighter, and Shawn makes his way to the top to try and defeat his old rival in a standoff of man-to-man. There isn’t much to enjoy about Fighting whatsoever because the fighting is rather lame and the rest of the acting just doesn’t come off as believable enough to make me give so much as a damn.
My biggest problem with the film is that it’s almost a perfect remake of the 1992 film Gladiator starring Cuba Gooding Jr., James Marshall, and Brian Dennehy. You will notice slight changes, but compare and compare the two plots. A kid who doesn’t have any friends and needs some money finds about the world of underground boxing where he can make an awful lot of money real fast. One girl happens to fall in love with him and support him even though she worries about his well-being. A con man runs the whole underground boxing circuit and eventually fends off against the strong-willed poor kid. Sounds pretty friggin’ similar to me. Replace boxing with MMA and change another thing or two around and you’ve got the exact same flick. I understand you not being able to avoid the same ideas popping up from time to time, but at least put a little more effort forth if you’re going to try and copy something.
The film is shown in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and there are no real problems anywhere to be found. Colors are bright where they need to be but you don’t see that much because it is a bit of a darker film and comes across nicely.
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and here is where the DVD quality fails. The fight scenes are by far the best moments of Fighting as you are thrown right into the circle with the combatants, but you sure don’t feel like you’re part of the action. All noise filters through the front speaker making it rather unbalanced as the surrounding speakers only kick in for the music.
Deleted Scenes – Eight minutes worth of scenes left on the cutting room floor that could have been left in and not really hurt the flick. Things aren’t hampered by them being taken out either so it was a win-win, lose-lose situation.
Two Versions Of The Film – There is an “Unrated” cut and the PG-13 theatrical version of the film which I guess could be considered a special feature but not really. The unrated cut has all of an extra two to three minutes of added footage. Oooooo exciting.
Fighting is just one of those films that does absolutely nothing for me whatsoever so it’s very hard for me to get excited about it at all. I’ve seen it done many times before and most significantly in Gladiator where it was accomplished in a much better and more enjoyable fashion. The special features are virtually nil and that pleased me because it meant that this DVD could jump out of my player much quicker and onto a shelf. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the worst film in the world and sometimes it isn’t incredibly bad, but most of the time it makes me just want to punch it right in the face. Right in its DVD face.
Universal Pictures presents Fighting. Directed by: Dito Montiel. Starring: Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, Luis Guzman, Zulay Henao, Brian White. Written by: Robert Munic & Dito Montiel. Running time: 105 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Released on DVD: August 25, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
