Blood and Bone (2009)

Blood and Bone (2009)

Starring: Michael Jai White, Eamonn Walker, Dante Basco, Nona Gaye, Michelle Belegrin, Bob Sapp, Julian Sands, Dick Anthony Williams
Director: Bem Ramsey
Action Director: J. J. Perry, Sam Hargrave, Fernando Chien

 

I had high hopes going into this film, considering the positive response I had to Undisputed II. While this film didn’t boast Isaac Florentine as its director, it still had the bad-to-the-bone (pun intended) Michael Jai White as its main player and J.J. Perry back as the fight choreographer. Moreover, the film also centered on an illegal fighting circuit of sorts, which, while nothing new, at least would give us the opportunity for lots of awesome fighting. In the end I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed with the final result, which was something of an inner city Lionheart, but without the heart (if you catch my drift).

Bone (Jai White) is an ex-con whose path has taken him to some rough neighborhoods. After renting a room from a widow who lives there with an old man, her children and her nephew, Bone starts looking for work. Now in his case, looking for work means searching out the backstreets for some illegal fighting matches. He find them alright and hooks up with a small-time Filipino promoter played by Dante Basco (best known for his voice work on Jake Long and Avatar: The Last Airbender). Bone’s main target is a hulking fellow named Hammerman (Bob Sapp, who played a villain in that crappy Elektra movie), who happens to work for a crime boss named James (Tears from the Sun’s Eamonn Walker). After winning enough fights to get the money needed to fight against Hammerman (the stakes with him are high enough that he can’t just waltz up into a brawl with him), Bone takes on his intended opponent.

The fight goes well for Bone, although James isn’t very happy that he lost his money. He wants it back, which means Bone will have to fight again. And for Bone to fight again, James just may have to take his resentment a little closer to home. Unfortunately for James, that may just be what Bone wants him to do.

If I could find three reasons that I didn’t like this movie as much as I wanted to, I’d give the following:

Not enough time is spent between Bone and the people he’s renting the house from. Our hearts should be racing when James shows up at Bone’s temporary abode or when one of the tenants gets it, but ultimately that doesn’t happen. On the flip side, a lot of time is spent with the villain, so when he does get his just desserts, you’re really glad he does. I’m not sure how many films end with the villain getting sodomized, but this movie can be put on such a list.

Pacing: The first 45 minutes or so move at a pretty fast pace. After Bone defeats Hammerman, however, the film slows to almost a crawl until the final 8 minutes, when Bone has to take on his last opponent. I can see how it works in the context of the story, but it makes the 88-minute movie feel longer than it is.

Too many of Michael Jai White’s opponents are just undeserving of his awesomeness. That includes his fight against Bob Sapp. In fact, nearly all of the one-on-one fights are pretty static and forgettable, save the climatic showdown between Michael Jai White and Matt Mullins, which is great. The one-on-many fights fare a little better, but it’s still White beating on a bunch of unskilled stooges. There are several fights that end with a single kick or punch and sometimes the Jean-Claude Van Damme style of punching bag choreography rears its head.

That said, Michael Jai White owns the picture and gets a far better showcase for his abilities than he got in Undisputed II, where he was restrained because his character was a boxer, not a martial artist. His double kicks are fantastic and his aerial kicks are phenomenal. His flying front hook kick, a signature move which I’ve seen in Universal Soldier: The Return and Silver Hawk, gets in an appearance, as does the Donnie Yen-trademarked jumping-splits-kick-that-ends-in-a-front kick. Moreover, J.J. Perry’s choreography in big finale is extremely Hong Kong in its presentation and makes me wonder why the other fights weren’t as good. As a showcase for its lead actor, Blood and Bone delivers. I just wish it had been well-rounded in other departments.