Firstly, just, like, hats frickin’ off to a film that has Tim Allen, Randy Couture and Jennifer Grey in the cast. Take your base for that alone.
Redbelt, the first “serious” film about Jiu-Jistu and mixed-martial arts will certainly delight any fan of that sport, in that it treats it very seriously. Prior to this film, I knew that there was a lot of skill and intelligence involved in this enterprise solely because people had told me so. But turn on Spike TV when the UFC is on and it looks like two maniacs are rolling around on the floor performing random acts of violence on one another.
Many of the scenes are quite sharp and the whole “warrior’s code” thing comes off a lot nicer here in Redbelt than it does in Mamet’s least successful film Spartan. The thesis of the film, that no obstacle can’t be turned on itself, is played with well in story terms. The ending, though, feels almost like a porno. Once the money shot of the “big knockout” credits roll as if the VHS is popped from the machine before anyone can find it. A pity, as there are some cool characters that are “briefly” sketched out that deserve more screentime.
