Never Surrender (2009)

Never Surrender (2009)- * *1\2

Directed by: Hector Echavarria

Starring: Hector Echavarria, Patrick Kilpatrick, Silvia Koys, BJ Penn, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Georges St. Pierre, Heath Herring, and James Russo




"I found something worth fighting for."








Diego Carter (Echavarria) is a world-famous MMA fighter who is enticed by a mannish woman named Sandra (Koys) to join an underground Punchfighting circuit. It is run by the ruthless Seifer (Kilpatrick) - ruthless in the sense that what he's really running is a prostitution ring. He calls them "consorts", and if you win a match, you get a consort, or your opponent's consort, or something like that. It's all just a tawdry excuse to have Skinemax-style softcore porn scenes with plenty of unwanted, un-asked for Hector Echavarria nudity. Ew. All this nonsense leads up to "The Tournament", presumably the ultimate battle for the ultimate consort. Also, Carter falls in love with Sandra. What's REALLY going on?

This movie is like a 90-minute training video for Hector Echavarria. Somehow he was allowed to direct this thing, and it has all the inept editing and strange cuts you might expect. You never see blows connect because there's an unnecessary cut right before the blow lands.Undue emphasis is put on the fact that he uses the late night-advertised product the Perfect Pushup in his training rituals. Echavarria invited all his fighter buddies to be in the movie, whether they belong there or not, and they even go by some of their real names.

In the beginning of the film, two burly men in shorts are grappling, grunting and sweating while a song with the lyrics "45 minutes of Loooove" plays. Then they grab each other's legs for the takedown. Wags who would decry these movies as homoerotic...may have a point here.

Also it should be noted that Diego's "...punches carry the dream of a small child who grew up off the coast of La Plata."

Naturally, The Tournament has "no rules and no referees", and Seifer notes, "is tax free". Is this a comment on today's political landscape? I know I go to modern-day Punchfighters for top-shelf punditry.

Patrick Kilpatrick looks like Howie Mandel now, and screams and yells just like Nick Mancuso in Death Warrior. However, this movie makes Death Warrior look like a masterpiece. James Russo is barely in it, which was a disappointment.On the bright side, Crusher's involved.

Overall, this movie is beyond dumb. Its structure resembles a brainless video game, but with more grunting.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty

Beatdown (2010)

Beatdown (2010)-* *

Directed by: Mike Gunther

Starring: Rudy Youngblood, Susie Abromeit, Michael Bisping, Mike Swick, Bobby Lashley, Heath Herring, Eric Balfour, and Danny Trejo











Brandon (Youngblood) is a tough street brawler whose brother Frankie is killed by gangsters. Now the gangsters are after Brandon for the 40,000 dollars his brother owed. Brandon then flees to a small Southern town where he develops a romance and also lives with his paraplegic father (Trejo). It's not long before Brandon enters the underground Punchfighting circuit where the reigning champion is Victor Dean (Balfour). It turns out the burgeoning romance is with Dean's sister Erin (Abromeit), and Victor's not happy. Brandon moves up the ranks and eventually faces off against Victor. Who will win?

The biggest problem with this movie is the editing. There are weird, unnecessary cuts, as well as puzzling camera zooms and spins. The fights are pretty brutal when you can see them, as there are plenty of blood-soaked fences (yes, fences!) to show the extreme nature of the fighting. Also quite extreme is the now-prerequisite playing of the song "Wildfire in the Streets" by Tommy Fields. Surely the makers of all these modern-day Punchfighters must have known that fans don't watch just one of these things. If you like one, you probably will like them all, and fans would notice the constant reappearance of Tommy Fields.

The plot is also haphazard, as there is a quick setup with the gangster Gino Ganz which kind of falls by the wayside until much later. All the cliches you know and love are present and accounted for - the training sequence and the silly love story, with its insipid dialogue. There's plenty of "Barnfighting", as Southern "redneck" stereotypes are beaten by Youngblood. There's, inexplicably, a TapouT octagon in the middle of a state fair in the deep south. Their tentacles reach from there to prisons everywhere, as Locked Down (2010) proves.

Youngblood is relatively likable, but as you might expect, Danny Trejo is the best actor in the movie. He seems like he doesn't care, but it could be his character.

If only the directing and editing were competent, this would be a not-bad modern-day Punchfighter. As it stands, Beatdown is not really a success.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty

Circle of Pain (2010)

Circle of Pain (2010)-* * *

Directed by: Daniel Zirilli

Starring: Kimbo Slice, Tony Schiena, Dean Cain, Bai Ling, Heath Herring, and Frank Mir














Dalton Hunt (Schiena of the awful The Number One Girl fame) retires from the Revolution Fight Club (RFC) after a sparring match gone wrong put his friend Wyatt (Cain) in a wheelchair for life. Five years after this tragic event, he is forced to fight for the RFC to fulfill his contract, which requires "one last fight". His opponent just happens to be the scary, mohawked badass Colin "The Brick" Wahle (Herring). Dalton must train harder than ever before or his family will be put out on the street by RFC boss Victoria (Ling).

Did you expect something BESIDES a beat-em-up fight fest starring a cast of mainly meatheads? In these movies, either someone is being beat up, or doing the beating. There are many slow-motion fight scenes so the experience is extra-meatheady. The film is a 90-minute training sequence. It is also a 90-minute advertisement for TapOut enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.



Kimbo Slice, despite his top billing and prominent appearance on the box art, has merely a cameo. He gets beaten up by the main star, as per usual in his punchfighting movie cameos (i.e., Locked Down (2010), etc.)

"The Brick" speaks in short soundbites only. For example "This fight is already over", and before he kicks Frank Mir (in another cameo) in the face in a random parking lot brawl, states "It's kickoff time".



The movie is enjoyable because it delivers what you want. There is a great punch to one of the baddies. Beware the trailer, as it gives away all the cool parts. If you are looking for a decent straight-to-video beat-em-up, and don't mind the crass commercialism, watch Circle of Pain today.

Comeuppance review by: Ty