I scored tickets last night to the Toronto premiere and I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much. It looked like another crappy MMA movie, but it was anything but that. After watching the trailer I expected there to be a lot more action, but I wasn't disappointed by it. I'd also consider the film more of a drama, as most of the fighting is left for the final act. When there is action, though, it's extremely violent and realistic. People seemed to be on the edge of their seats and I felt every punch.
The film had a lot of funny moments, and the acting was pretty solid throughout. The biggest surprise was UFC Fighter Krzysztof Soszynsy as the villain, Dominic. He stole every scene he was in, and he played the part well. He really came off as a menacing bad guy that you just wanted to see die. It was great to see Michael Biehn playing a Mr. Miyagi and I really bought into the fact that he knew how to kick serious ass as a Karate Instructor. There's also a few references to the original Karate Kid, and it definitely helps that Martin Kove made an appearance.
MMA Fans may be a bit disappointed that Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida don't have a lot of screen time, but I'll tell you their scenes were hands down the best part of the film. I don't want to give it away, but the entire audience loved it and it was actually quiet comedic.
I will say there were weak elements with some of the editing and some of the acting was shoddy at times, but it didn't take you out of it too much. The movie starts off a bit slow, but it really ramps up in the third act when the main character starts training for the tournament.
Overall, I think people will be pretty surprised that there's a lot more depth to this film than your typical fight movie. Also considering this was done on a small budget, they really made it look sharp. It's definitely worth seeing when it comes out.
