Perfect Addiction

I actually liked this. It was a suggested movie on Amazon Prime and I figured it was going to be insanely cheesy but put it on to have as sort of background noise while I worked but low and behold- I got zero work done because I was totally caught up in this movie! To be fair- I have never read, nor heard of this book or series before which may have done me a service since most books are 9/10 better than their movie counterparts and seems to be the case here based on the reviews I've seen. From the non-reader's perspective, it was a very fun movie and worth the time if you like movie's with equal parts romance and fight scenes.

Watched the movie, and Enjoyed it. It is a good movie from various aspects... ... such as directing, acting, cinema-photographing, atmosphere, the ambiance of the gym-s and the fights, the training, the movements, and the devotion of the young actors for conveying the characters.

When reading the actors background, you don't notice any martial arts experience there, but... they obviously trained much, and well, for their roles in that movie making. Precise, direct, economic movement fighting.

And kudos for the director for her courage in that MMA direction. She deserves it. The director did not prolong the fights for the sake of attracting "fight oriented" audience. But retained the focus on the story.

The movie as story telling, is not perfect, but it is believable and flowing. As the phrase goes... "kurz und scharf" (= "brief and sharp" = ~ "straight and to the point").

That movie's name, and subsequently its "description" here and elsewhere... are misleading and not fit with its contents. Pity. It might draw 'wrong' viewers to it. I wish the description would be changed...

Usually I refrain from writing reviews here, but prefer to be reading them. But now... as this movie is still fresh in the arena... :-) and I see only one review ...which missed entirely the whole point of that movie making (and pulls to misleading directions...), I thought to do something about it... also, at times, I look at the movie and its fights from a different perspective, as been dealing with various martial arts (mainly Budo Taijutsu) for over 46 years, (as part of "way of life" although dealing with visual arts, design and architecture as my mainstream).

So. In short, watch and enjoy.

Sometimes a film tries a bit too hard - Castille Landon can definitely direct, she has some good moves up her sleeve and the fight scenes are well crafted.

Boxing movies are not the most common idea so this one at least has an interesting angle.

Execution is a bit of a miss.

Voice over in film can be sometimes unpleasant. This is an example of it not helped by Kiana Madeira who simply can't act and lacks personality. Her voice is monotone so the voice over from her is boring. The character is interesting, the performance not so much.

Matthew Noszka isn't that far off with his acting either but he is incredibly, absolutely, amazingly GORGEOUS! Plus he doesn't have to do much, so it's not that noticeable. He does the bad boy well.

That leaves us with Ross Butler who by far is the best performer of the bunch. He rises above the material and gives it his shot. He is HOT too, but has the acting chops to back it up.

The music soundtrack is a bit annoying too.

There's a dream scene though which is hotter than a lot of movies of recent years.

Stronger execution, a more enthusiastic lead and focus would have helped.

This was an ok movie but it would've been better if they would've picked another actress instead of Kiana Madeira as "Sienna". She was a horrible actress. She needs to be in Lifetime movies. You could tell that she was trying a little too hard with her facial expressions. She was definitely over acting. It's hard to explain, just watch the movie and see for yourself. About 30 minutes after it started I almost stopped watching it because her acting was so bad. The plot was all right though. She gets cheated on and trains her new boyfriend to fight in the ring against her cheating ex boyfriend. It was predictable but it was entertaining.

It was really enjoyable to see an Asian male lead play a strong, sexy, masculine and romantic role. Rare and really wonderful. Kiana Madiera and Ross Butler have great chemistry together and really sold both the mixed martial arts (MMA) training and the romance.

Sienna is an MMA trainer working out of the gym if a famous former MMA fighter and surrogate father figure, Julian. While training clients she attends school to get her business degree to eventually partner with Julian in the gym. Things seem to be on track, until she finds out Jax, their best client who is also her boyfriend, is sleeping with her teenage sister Beth. Desperate to find a cheep place to stay, her friend steers her to a room in a basement apartment and Kayden.

Kayden ends up being an MMA fighter in the underground illegal fights and a big winner until Jax shows up on the scene. Sienna eventually becomes both his roommate and trainer. Sienna is also realizing how toxic her and Jax's relationship really was...how he gaslighted her and prevented her from pursuing her own goals. Training Kayden, Sienna is hoping to get some revenge on Jax.

Testosterone heavy MMA story with an equally tough girl and a heavy message about girls being able to do it on their own. There is an equally heavy message about women being valued for more than just their looks...ie they can take a face punch in a fight.

This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it. I am a hardcore romantic and I think this will appeal to other romantics out there. It has the added benefit of really showcasing a physically fit and strong Asian male (something that is rare in the Western film industry).