Perfectly adorable

Overrated

A Disappointing Continuation

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I don't like to write negative reviews, but with a film like this. I feel like i'm being more then modest. So the film was sold to the audience as an original take on an inspired action film, that all boys and men love "Wrong bet" starring Van Damme. The film stars Tatum in one of his first action roles, and it fails. You can't really call it a remake, because its not. You can't call it an adaptation, because its not. You cant call it an Action film, because its not. You cant call it Drama, because its not. You can call it a bad attempt at film making all together. The film has two, maybe 3 fights in total. Tatum character wins one fight by accident, and that makes him the champion. Yes, we don't see a montage or even hear it in passing dialogue that he beat other fighters or that he is a great fighter. We see him go up against one guy, who slips and knocks himself out while beating the living sh out of Tatum and thats it.The acting in the film is pretty terrible, Tatum didn't even try to act he just appeared angry in every shot. Howard was playing the same role he had played in hustle, just a pimp from the hood, you can say.IF you want to watch this film, Don't! instead look up and stream/ download or watch the Van Damme version Wrong Bet or Lion-heart, much more enjoyable with the same level of acting, but better and actual fight scenes, better story and a really cool soundtrack and theme music.

I don't know what the deal is, but the dialogue in the movie is hard to listen! They sound terrible. I understand slang and street talk, but I don't think I've hard a proper sentence being said in the movie. It's tiring and off-putting. As for the story-line - a complete 'been there, done that', but let's not kid ourselves... No matter how many times people make this movie, if the production is right and you have a name on the movie poster, people are going to watch it. Same goes for many other stories that are being recycled over and over again. All in all, that's not something I'm holding against this flick. On the other hand, screenplay had to be better. It lacks flow. It has a lot of smudge and blur and in my opinion, this is not a movie for that kind of artistic expression or message. That alone dulls the feeling. If it was made a bit sharper, it would've been a solid thing. I feel like the whole focus was shifted on Howard and that's OK, but I don't think that the whole movie had to be made like this just to reflect the shadiness of his character. Giving it a 6 and even that is a good will gesture.

I'm not complaining that the movie din't have much of a fighting as the title suggest. I can understand what the makers are trying to show, but it is just plain boring. This tries to be like "The Wrestler" but it just came off as being silly instead of being realistic and intriguing, although it tries to be realistic. There is nothing really entertaining about this movie, plus the main protagonist wins most of the fights by pure luck for most of the time. Alas, the climactic rooftop showdown is rather dull, much better is the marble hallway brawl against a kinetic Asian opponent .The best thing about the film is Tatum's interaction with Howard, who offers a full-on, layered performance that actually makes the whole film worth seeing. The heart of the film is the relationship between these two men, but the script seems afraid to explore it in any real depth. Instead, it tilts toward the unconvincing romance between Shawn and Zulay.The fights, thankfully, don't noticeably include the over-the-top sound effects often included in Hollywood fight films (like the "woosh" of fists and the "thuds" of landed punches), but instead keeps the more realistic, skin-to-skin slapping sound, which, in my view, made the film much more gritty and, to an extent, more believable.There's nothing much to say about the movie. You can give it a watch if you see this when your flipping the channels at your home and nothing else better is on TV. I give it 4.5 out of 10.

The premise of this movie was creative and could have succeeded. That is where the kudos end. First the Directing was just atrocious. It seems to me a film that had little rhyme or reason with many unbelievable circumstances. To start, you had a known professional boxer delegating himself to a street fight with an old college nemesis. The lead character who supposedly had a good upbringing , seemed illiterate, with one double negative sentence after another. I could buy it a little that fate and bad decisions can bring him down to a street hustler. All in all , many things just did not mesh. The love interest of the film was an adult, with a child and an exertive personality but somehow her mother figure, grandmother was able to manipulate her about relationships and sex. The casting and dialogue of this film was perhaps worse than the directing. Terrence Howard and Luis Guzman the anointed tough guys of this film were, to put it bluntly , wimps. Terrence Howard sounded and behaved like he were a rabbi as opposed to the underground bookie and ring leader of fixed fights. Luis Guzman and his entourage were the same. Other than the street fights and a lame , funny attempt of Howard being murdered by Guzman; There was nothing to suggest that this organized crime ring would as much as swat a fly. Throw in some stupid lines and you have a film that just did not make it to the last bell.