Invicto

When heavyweight champion of the world James "Iceman" Chambers is found guilty of rape of a showgirl he is sent to a new prison in the Californian desert where they send all the more unsavoury prisoners to avoid contaminating those "only" convinced of lesser crimes. However there already is an internal boxing contest within the prison and it already has a champ of over 10 years – Monroe Hutchens. Keen to establish who's is bigger, Iceman shows him up in front of the other inmates. To avoid a riot the warden puts Monroe in solitary while Iceman continues to tough it out in prison. As his expensive legal team prepare an appeal and defend all sorts of other actions, elderly mobster Mendy Ripstein starts pulling the strings to put on the only fight anyone wants to see – Monroe v Iceman.

Starting with a solid 15 minutes of style and energy I wondering if the film would be able to keep the pace up but, despite turning it down a little bit, the film does essentially keep moving with energy and style right till the very end. And it is just as well because there isn't really any substance to talk of in this rather noisy affair. The main character is essentially the writer's take on Tyson but the film doesn't really do anything more interesting with it that just hang the suggested similarities out there – Rhames may occasionally try to express something deeper than this but the material isn't there to help him. As it is though, Hill's direction and manner of keeping the screen busy and the camera moving helps inject life into what is really just a cross of clichés from sports movies and prison movies. It had enough to it to engage and entertain me without ever threatening to stick in my mind for much longer than the time it took to watch it.

The cast do a lot to help the impression of substance by providing lots of faces who put in effort. Rhames is a solid lead who does his Tyson impression well without ever lifting the material. Snipes matches him on this level by producing a simple performance but adding an impressive physical presence to the proceedings. The support cast are not all used that well but are essentially an impressive collection of well known faces who do add a sense of quality even if it doesn't deserve it. Falk was a strange but enjoyable find, while Rooker, Seda, Studi, Stevens, Lover and others all fill in around the edges.

Overall this is a fairly vacuous affair that gets by on huff, puff, energy and style and just about does it well enough to provide a distracting film without doing anything great. Two sets of genre clichés are pushed together and delivered with energy by Hill and his impressive cast and, while it isn't anything special it should at least provide brainless filler for 90 minutes.

UNDISPUTED (2002) **1/2 Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames, Peter Falk, Michael Rooker, Fisher Stevens, Jon Seda, Wes Studi, Denis Arndt, Ed Lover. Hard-hitting yet formulaic boxing-in-prison flick with professional pugilist and heavyweight world champ Rhames facing off with the maximum security's current in-stir (and undefeated) competitor Snipes (both in amazing physical shape and displaying enough testosterone for two flicks). Falk, at his crustiest, is a scene-stealing hoot as the aged Mafioso con that sets up the grudge match and gets the grease to the wheel. Filmmaker Walter Hill (who co-wrote the lean, mean screenplay with frequent collaborator David Giler ) proves to be a formidable genre helmsman but offers the viewer wanting more.

Seems like an eternity since director Walter Hill ("48 HRS.", "Streets of Fire", "Southern Comfort") made a really good movie and his latest offering "Undisputed" shows that Hill still has the skill to create a clever movie.

"Undisputed" is the second movie about boxing that Hill has done, the first being his feature debut "Hard Times" that starred Charles Bronson and the late James Coburn in the mid-seventies.

The tale takes place at an isolated Arizona maximum security prison where a former heavyweight boxing champ (Rhames) is sent to serve a sentence for rape meets a counterpart (Snipes) who is an undefeated champ in the prison ranks and the opportunity to have the two fighters face each other in a bout arranged by a former mobster (Peter Falk) who still has mob connections outside the prison and a devoted fan of the sport.

And the result is a sharp and hard-hitting boxing drama with the fight being the center piece. Snipes and Rhames are terrific here and the supporting performances are just as good especially Michael Rooker, Wes Studi, and Falk, too.

"Undisputed" may not top "Rocky" or "Raging Bull" in being the best movie about the sport, but it deserves some mention.

Undisputed (2002)

*** (out of 4)

Heavyweight champion George 'Iceman' Chambers (Ving Rhames) is convicted of a rape he says never happened and is sent to prison in the prime of his life. Inside the prison is a boxing ring where Monroe Hutchen (Wesley Snipes) is the champ. It doesn't take long until mob boss Mendy (Peter Falk) talks the men into a battle between the undisputed champs.

For some reason, UNDISPUTED turned out to be yet another box office disappointment for director Walter Hill, which is really too bad because this here is a rather fun movie for what it is. Perhaps what it is is why it didn't catch on with the public but, again, that's too bad because the film is actually a lot of fun as long as you don't take it too serious.

The film really plays out like one of those Warner prison dramas from the 1930s. Not the "A" list ones but a low-budget "B" movie where you got a nice cast, threw them behind bars and then let everything play out. If you're looking for messages or heart-warming drama of character being built then this isn't the movie for you. Everything happens rather quickly and without too much reason but both Rhames and Snipes are so fun that you can overlook any flaws.

Hill does a great job at slowly building up the anticipation to the fight. There are some really fun mini-battles between the two men and all of this really gets you pumped up for the eventual fight. Once the fight happens the entertainment continues as it certainly lives up to everything the director has built up. Not only do Rhames and Snipes do a nice job in their roles but we also get good support from Faulk, Michael Rooker and Wes Studi.

Again, if you're expecting some sort of hard hitting drama then you're going to be disappointed. This is the type of movie where you just turn your brain off, kick back and have a good time with it.

Monroe Hutchens (Wesley Snipes) is the heavyweight champion of Sweetwater, a maximum security prison. He was convicted to a life sentence due to a passionate crime. Iceman Chambers (Ving Rhames) is the heavyweight champion, who lost his title due to a rape conviction to ten years in Sweetwater. Of course they will fight against each other, in a very predictable and full of clichés screenplay.

The story of Iceman Chambers is basically what happened with Mike Tyson. Movies about prison are attractive most of the time and this one is no exception to the rule. The choreography of the fights are perfect, therefore fans of this sport will like it. Wesley Snipes looks indeed like a real boxing fighter. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Invencível" ("The Invincible")