Movies

As a martial artist and kickboxer, I really wanted to like this movie more. The idea is nice and the cast is great. However, most elements of the plot seem very far fetched and unrealistic for a movie that's trying to give a "real" representation of martial arts. The biggest disappointment of all considering what the movie is about, were the fight scenes, which I found very poorly choreographed and executed.

I believe David Mamet did a great job with this film. He managed to show a true art and soul of a real martial artist. This film is not about training, action and competition. It is more about a life of a man who has to challenge his own ideals and manage the turmoil that he is going through. This film is also refreshing due to its Brazilian touch. :-) Casting is great with only one exception - Rodrigo Santoro: I personally don't think he was the right choice for the role he played. Maybe he wasn't "dangerous" enough, don't know, but just didn't fit in right. Otherwise the script is well written and message delivered.May not be the greatest movie, but definitely deserves to be watched.

Portrayed as an action movie in the trailers, there is very little action in this movie at all. Just a whole lot of highly improbable plot twists. I was so bored I just kept checking the time because I wanted it to be over. This film is awful, it has all the clichés for sport films and all the cinematography is boring, dull and plain. There is nothing remotely interesting about this film. This movie is a complete waste of time. The performances are so-so and the plot is so predictable that I was almost asleep at the last scenes.I won't recommend it to anyone, because there are a lot of films much better than this.