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.
