The Last Kumite

80's / 90's martial arts flicks might have been low budget affairs with simple stories, but they also held a certain level of polish, grit whilst entertaining if that makes any sense. You don't get that mix with 'The Last Kumite' which leaves it to get by on nostalgia. As is it typical of dtv movies trying to stretch their dollar - the whole thing is shot in Europe - and the overall quality is lacking. The vibe is off. Not much real fun, one note villains and though some honest effort is put into it's hand to hand sequences little is memorable.

Michael Rivers (Mathis Landwehr) wins a karate tournament in NYC with his teen daughter cheering him on under the eye of Ron Hall (Matthias Hues) and his right hand Wolf (Michel Qissi). He wants him in a Kumite tourney he hosts and when Rivers says no they kidnap his daughter to force his hand. The odds on favorite to win is Hall's champ Dracko (Mike Derudder) who's never been beaten. To muster the skills needed he gains allies in fellow fighters (Kurt McKinney, Mounia Moula) and former opponents, trainers (Billy Blanks, Cynthia Rothrock) of Drago. With the local law bought off, the only option is to win.

Blanks & Rothrock's roles aren't fancy, but they get quick moments of their own. Hues relishes being the baddie, but the name 'Ron Hall' is far from menacing and he isn't given much to do for most of the pic other than spout dialog. Ditto Qissi. Skilled stuntwoman Moula stands out as the sole female fighter for both good & bad. McKinney is game, but also too old to be here. By now you might be starting to get the idea the flick is banking on all these vintage names and you're right. It's all the cliches, obvious budget limitations not doing anyone favors.

Dracko grunts while he menacingly flexes. A bare bones hero, training montages and some Stan Bush music tracks teleport you back to the 80's. 'The Last Kumite' was partially a crowdfunded project and you can tell there's a lot of love, passion for movies of yesterday fueling it. That doesn't make it's short fight scenes, clunky story any better though. Convenient help around every corner and though you're told he owns the police yet go to them anyhow? Okay.

I understand this was a kickstarter funded film wanting to go back to the 80's style of martial arts movies but this was just poor.

Ok you can't get the best actors, martial arts stars but the script/storytelling is so basic it just feels like no effort was put in whatsoever. There is nothing in this that even remotely seems like effort was involved. It is the paint by numbers version of a martial arts movie which would be fine if it was made on tight budget by a studio but this was crowd funded yet so little effort was put in. It's not unwatchable but it is also just poor even for 'this' type of movie.

No enthusiasm from the actors. Incoherent storyline. No uniquness just copying jcvd's inital movie and even the villain in this movie sounds like drago from rocky 4. The last kumite will certainly be 'the last' of those old school actors, they could have been used much better. Even david yeung should have more airtime. You put egotistical people like viking samurai in this film makes it even more rubbish. Avoid . Good thing jcvd or scott adkins didn't sign up for this bs movie. I don't think the directors or producers have any idea how to film or be creative. The set looked like a very cheap theatre stage. Possibly the worst 'fighting' movie I've ever seen. Even some of the training scenes are a replica from kickboxer , one of viking samurai's lines is a straight up plagiarism from bloodsport 2 as well, when he says 'if we get matched up I ain't holding back'. Viking samurai aka david kurzhal also does a flop when he attempt's jcvd's helicoper kick, viking bends his knees, like seriously dude have you got no creativity make your own unique moves instead of just being a ripoff and a poor one at that. The only female in the kumite again parallel to bloodsport 2. The flashback kurt mckiney has of dracko in the mirror again copying bloodsport 1 when van damme thinks he saw bolo while he was on the bus. So many plagiarisms. If this was a spoof then it would have a different effect, seriously the acting is so bad at times it does make you laugh. Nothing like bloodsport just a very poor ripoff.

The opening, hats off, images, sound and style look like a truly authentic journey through time. However, the opening tournament brings you back down to earth, not really great martial arts. Eastern Europe as the location for the kumite is the final reality check, I really would have liked an Asian setting. That might have given a real boost to the search for the longed-for old charm, but as it is it's just another cheap Eastern European action production. I don't want to grumble at this point, the budget was limited, more would certainly have been possible with more. The story meanwhile takes wild turns, logic is a foreign concept, one nonsense follows the next. The training sequences with Billy Blanks are more of a bad joke. In general, the film is obviously a reference to Bloodsport, so it has to put up with comparisons. I've already said something about the location, but the choice of fighters doesn't make it any better. The attempt at diversity is certainly the right idea, but it lacks profile. Starting with the main character Lasko, the Fist of God, no Van Damme, to the main opponent Dracko, no Bolo Yeung. Nice to see Kurt McKinney again, by far the best actor. Another highlight for me was Bolo Yeun's son, wow, an absolute spitting image. Unfortunately, barely there and already gone. Cynthia Rothrock, well, never my favourite, her age certainly doesn't make it any better. The latter also applies to Matthias Hues, but thanks to him, one of the driving forces behind the production.

Ultimately, not the review I wanted, and perhaps even too good a rating. I still recommend a viewing, simply to appreciate the idea and the effort. A gift to fans should be honoured accordingly, even if one or two things don't quite fit.

The Opening shot was promising, a tour around a U. S. city, the soundtrack pumping, could this be a fresh new take on the kick-boxer and Blood-Sport movies of the 1980s?

Unfortunately not, I barely got past the opening tournament. It look like it was filmed in my Primary school's PE hall, I just couldn't take it seriously after that. The rows of bright oblong overhead lights, the crowd seated around the edge - I don't know, it just looked wrong!

Lots of over-the-top knowing looks between the actors, it almost comes across as a spoof.

The wimpish looking balding lead actor looks like he's pushing 50, sorry but Van-Damme he's not!

I guess this shows it's not that easy to make martial arts movies, even if the guys who made this are fans.