DVD Review: Fighting

Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, Luis Guzman, Zulay Henao

Rated PG-13

Grade: C-

What is better than a film about a bunch of thugs beating the tar out of each other for money? A lot of things actually. I was expecting something different than what I saw, which is usually a good thing. This film was rather predictable; add to that the bad writing and bad acting, and you have yourself a bad movie.

Channing Tatum is an interesting person. On one hand, you have him in a film such as “Stop-Loss” where he is actually pretty good and was able to hold his own with the likes of Joseph Gordon Leavitt and Ryan Phillipe. Then you see him in a film like “GI Joe: Rise of Cobra,” which was an embarrassment to everyone involved, in front of and behind the camera. This film was an in between for him. He tried so hard and I know that eventually, he will be there, but it will be a while. Terrence Howard, who I’m not a big fan of anyways, was especially dry and one-dimensional here. All of the characters in general are under developed, so you have no attachment to them at all. The story moves fast and ends rather abruptly as well as predictably. It was rather easy to figure out how this film would end thanks to its re-hashed storyline.

The film is rather self indulgent and wanted to be bigger than it was. With the lack of decent fighting scene (especially for a film titled “Fighting”) and no character development, I can think of many other movies I’d rather watch than sit through this one again.