REVIEW: The Red Canvas (2008)

Former child star and martial artist Ernie Reyes Jr. joins the crops of the Mixed Martial Arts fad with this action drama. However, unlike most of the recent MMA films that have churned out, this one nicely blends in straightforward drama with the action, in which Reyes Jr. uses more of his skills in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiujitsu rather than his trademark taekwondo skills.

THE RED CANVAS revolves around Johnny Sanchez, a young man who for the past few years has tried to become a professional fighter but ends up in prison after assaulting a man who refused to pay for service to his car at the family garage. Johnny is released from prison on the condition from probation officer Rask (John Savage) that he trains for the upcoming tournament known as the Red Canvas. However, Johnny instead attempts to go towards a straight path and make amends with his family, who have been raising his son Oscar after his girlfriend leaves him.

Johnny soon encounters a gang at the family garage. A brawl results in Johnny’s dad Diego (Ernie Reyes Sr.) going to a coma after getting shot and putting the family in even more debt than they already have been in. Johnny realizes that entering the Red Canvas tournament may be the only option for him to patch things up with his family and put them out of the debt. He trains not only with Rask but family friend Bang (Ken Takemoto). Along the way, Johnny learns some hard truths in terms of his family as well as a few dark secrets about Rask.

A child star staple of the 1980′s, Ernie Reyes Jr. is perhaps best known for his early roles as a pre-teen to teen in films such as RED SONJA (1984), THE LAST DRAGON (1985), the television series SIDEKICKS (1986) and his work in the first two TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES live action films (1990-1991). As he grew, he was relegated to more supporting roles yet he made an impact in THE RUNDOWN (2003). Here, Reyes Jr. may breakthrough as an adult action star with a showcase of not only his action skills, but his dramatic skills as well.

Reyes Jr. truly brings out his character as a man who is seeking to find himself on a road to redemption. People may see his character of Johnny first as an anti-hero, a very peeved person who feels he has no support at all. However, as the film progresses, one can’t help but feel sorry for him and end up rooting for him as he attempts to fix his life and makes things right.

The film is truly a family affairs as not only Ernie Reyes Jr. appears in the film, but his father Ernie Reyes Sr. and siblings Lee Reyes, Ki Reyes, and Destiny Reyes also appear. While Reyes Sr. plays Johnny’s father, Lee Reyes has a non-fighting role as the fiancee of Johnny’s sister, and Ki Reyes plays Johnny’s young son Oscar. The cast is supported by veterans such as John Savage, Ken Takemoto, and George Takei, who plays the promoter of the Red Canvas tournament, who while always great to watch on screen, has perhaps the most cliched role of any martial arts tournament film.

The subplot involving the villains is perhaps the only downfall to the film. While one can appreciate writer/director Kenneth Chamitoff wisely emphasizing an equality between action and drama, the action setup is somewhat cliched involving a steroid that turns fighters into raging beasts who after the drug wear off, have no idea what has happened. Playing the Red Canvas champion and said “fighter turned beast” is former Ultimate Fighting Champion Gray Maynard. As Torch, he is nothing more than just a pawn for Takei’s promoter Krang with MMA legend Frank Shamrock playing Torch’s mentor/manager.

However, despite the cliched subplots, that doesn’t take away that co-star and fight choreographer Ernie Reyes Sr. utilizes the skills of the fighters well in the film. While Reyes Jr. is perhaps more known for his amazing kicking skills, with the exception of just one flying kick, Reyes Jr. relies more on Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu this time around, which shows that a fighting actor who has made a smooth transition with different styles of martial arts can go against type and showcase what he can really do on screen. Even the elder Reyes Sr. gets to have a small fight himself before his character nearly meets his fate, using some escrima with some of his trademark taekwondo. Maynard and Shamrock in the meantime smoothly transitions their skills to the screens. While mixed martial arts have had their share of falter when it comes to being seen on the screens, THE RED CANVAS comes close to nearly showing how to execute a choreographed MMA fight on the screen.

In the end, while MMA films seem to be the new big thing, THE RED CANVAS can be seen as an above-average MMA fight film thanks to its equality between drama and action, heightened by what could be the adult breakout performance from Ernie Reyes Jr.