Life After Fighting

If you enjoy Seagal or Van Damme movies of the 80s and 90s, you'll probably enjoy this movie. It has plenty of fight scenes and just enough plot to keep things interesting. I enjoyed it quite a bit, some of the fight sequences do go on a little long. The acting is good and the plot is decent. Is it high art? No, but if you turn off your brain for 2 hours you will have a good time. The main character is an Australian martial arts champion who now runs a martial arts studio. He must fight off waves of bad guys, who are also apparently really good at martial arts. The plot revolves around child traffickers, but it's really about the fight sequences.

Well, I actually only stumbled upon this little gem because the guy in the poster from a far looked like a beefed up Clive Owen. Alas the guy is Bren Foster, who wrote and directed the film. Probably a passion project. And it shows.

Let me tell you, this was a surprisingly emotional ride.

Up front I was expecting a very B grade martial arts movie with a acting-wise very limited protagonist. This Bren guy pulled it off though.... There are quite some subtle scenes where you feel the inner turmoil in him.

The story is simple but does not shy away from quite ugly themes. And it kind of even crosses a line in between.

Of course, it revolves pretty much how you expect it, with the main guy virtually having super powers. But that does not detract from the movie.

But the absolute standout quality of this film is the direction of the fight scenes. They are very real, visceral und the physicality of them is conveyed very well. I caught myself twitching with some of the hits.....which is very rare. That is some A grade direction that does stand the comparison with the likes of The Raid 2, Ong Bak or Hong Kong movies.

It also gets surprisingly brutal at the end.

So watch out for this Bren Foster guy! Within martial arts movies, I see a bright future.

Before I decided to watch Life After Fighting, I read some of the reviews here on the site. I didn't know anything about Bren Foster, so I didn't know what to expect, but I must say, he is awesome, and I am definitely going to watch some of his other movies.

Some reviewers called it a B-movie with fight scenes like an A-movie, and I can only agree. This film truly has some spectacular fight scenes with lots of cool kicks. I also thought the story and acting were pretty decent. Although the characters made some stupid decisions at times, I wasn't bored at any point or to annoyed with it. All in all, a very successful film.

The story is well known - the bad guys are bad, the good guy is good - and keeps no real surprises, but the fight scenes are intense and extremely well choreographed.

A little bit too long, well acted drama with good fights for fans.

Bren Foster: Director, Screenplay, Producer, Choreographer of Fight Scenes and main character. Multi talented. Keep an eye on him.

If you love martial arts movies then don't miss this one.

Australian martial arts excellence.

Story is well known - the bad guys are bad, the good guy is good - and keeps no real surprises, but the fight scenes are intense and extremely well choreographed.

A little bit to long, well acted drama with good fights for fans.

Bren Foster: Director, Screenplay, Producer, Choreographer of Fight Scenes and main character. Multi talented. Keep an eye on him.

If you love martial arts movies then don't miss this one.

Melodrama. Action. More melodrama. More action. Rinse and repeat. Truth is, this has been the formulaic approach to this genre of film for the last 20 years or so. To make a fight film stand out, to make it POP, there has to be something unusual, something different. And LIFE AFTER FIGHTING 2024 offers that. The melodrama is still ... melodrama. But the action scenes are on fire. In fact, when the action starts, this reviewer gets a vibe not felt since BILLY JACK 1971, the original, and that is high praise. ((Don't forget to check out WARRIOR 2011 and KISS OF THE DRAGON 2001 on my list of all-time greats, if you have not done so already. Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." See my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))