Rumble (2017)

Rumble (2017)

 

Starring: Gary Daniels, Sissi Fleitas, Eddie J. Fernandez, Luis Gatica, Fabian Lopez, Justin Nesbitt, Pedro Rodman Rodriguez
Director: R. Ellis Frazier
Action Director: Gary Daniels, Marco Morales

 

According to the IMDB, Rumble is entirely a Mexican production, but with British star, an American director, and an American writer—everybody else behind and in front of the camera are Mexican. I would suppose this to be a co-production, but I really do not know. What Rumble is, however, is something of a throwback to the low-budget early 1990s martial arts films you used to see at the video store about people getting involved in underground fights. Given the general inflated costs of making movies, this one looks a lot cheaper than some of those did, but it a bit of charge.

David Goran (Gary Daniels, of City Hunter and Bloodmoon) is an over-the-top cage fighter who is something of a legend, but has been past his prime ever since he busted his knee in Reno some years back (it comes close to becoming a running joke with people he meets). These days, he mainly goes around Mexico, fixing fights with his girlfriend, Eva (Sissi Fleitas), and profiting off the betting. There is a certain reason that they are a) always on the move, b) in Mexico, and c) fixing fights in order to guarantee their income. You see, some years before Goran met Eva, she was working as a street walker. One evening, she murdered a client in self-defense. That angered her pimp, Rico (veteran stuntman Eddie J. Fernandez), who has been on their tails for a few years, trying to collect a large sum as a compensation for a treasured client.

These days, Goran and Eva have been staying at a hotel, where they are doing their usual business of fixing fights and betting from it. After some post-fight coitus, the two get in argument when David notices a larger wad of scratch in her purse than he was expecting from the fight, leading him to think she’s back to her old tricks (pun intended) in order to make more money. She leaves in a huff, and Goran decides to blow off some steam by going to a local fight bar with the bellboy, Ramiro (Fabian Lopez). Goran gets blackout drunk and wakes up the next morning at Ramiro’s pad.

This is where things get weird (for our hero). When he gets back to his hotel, his key card no longer works in his room. Then, the hotel staff goes all Gaslight on him: the receptionist informs him that the room has been empty for a week. The hotel manager (Pedro Rodman Rodriguez) denies even having met the guy. And when Goran reminds them who is, the two men uncomfortably reach for the phone. Although Goran doesn’t notice, we can see a Wanted sign behind the counter for Goran’s arrest. The hotel security guards chase him through the city, although David has very good sense of direction and finds his way back to Ramiro’s place rather easily, despite having arrived their drunk the night before.

Ramiro informs David that his face is plastered all over the local news, something about Goran having killed someone in a fight the previous night. And since David got sloppy drunk on Tequila the night before, he really doesn’t remember what happened at the fight club after he got sufficiently drunk. That’s when someone calls Ramiro on his phone, asking for David. A distorted voice informs Goran that he is not happy knowing that Goran’s fixing fights cost him money on the betting front, and that Eva has been kidnapped. If he wants to see his girlfriend again, he’ll have to participate in a series of fights in order to win back the money. Ramiro tells David that the voice probably belongs to Delgado, the most feared crime lord in the city.

So, now David has to get over his knee problem in order to fight off a string of local talent who are hungry for fame and fortune, using his off time to find anyone associated with Delgado and question them. Meanwhile, a Federal Policeman named Agent Fonseca (Luis Gatica, of Seized and Misfire), is snooping around the hotel looking for David, whom he thinks might be a lead to Delgado. And more he questions the hotel staff, the more he sees through their Gaslight tactics. Oh, and Rico has turned up him in town, too…

Rumble is a simple little martial arts film. The premise of a fighter being forced into clandestine fighting has been done since the early 1990s, if not longer. There is not much in the way of twists, save that of the final scene. I don’t think the film sells the final reveal in terms of how it fits into the story as a whole. It just begs a lot of questions that the film does even try to answer. And if you try reconciling the twist with certain subplots, you'll probably get a headache before declaring that it simply doesn't make sense. And, well, the villain's scheme does seem predicated on a number of assumptions that could have gone awry in numerous ways. 

There are a handful of fights, staged by Gary Daniels himself and Mexican stuntman Marco Morales (who has worked extensively in Hollywood and is a Muay Thai champion). The fights are very much in the 1990s pre-Hong Kong vein of Hollywood fighting. A bit slow in terms of general rhythm, with a lot of “punching bag” choreography moments. It is very much what you would see in a film like Lionheart or Bloodsport, but with a bit of extra grappling, because this is the post-UFC era. Thankfully, all of Daniels’s opponents are trained fighters, so it’s not just him cracking a bunch of dumpy men’s skulls. Daniels was 54 when he made this, and still has a bit of kick left in him. He does a few kung fu fast hands in a fight or two and can still do a nice jump kick when need be. There are also a few foot chases and a handful of gunfights to round out the action.

Rumble doesn’t really stand out as a martial arts movie, but it’s an easy watch and if you miss the days of picking up some random American martial arts film from the video store starring the likes of Don “The Dragon” Wilson or David Bradley, then this film should give you a sense of nostalgia. But it’s not much more than that.