Street Warrior (2008)

STREET WARRIOR is the latest in a seemingly endless flood of B-grade action films to come out of this decade that are centered on underground fight clubs and MMA screen fighting action but there is more to this flick than initially meets the eye. Sure, the routine plot of a fighter having to battle his way through a corrupt fighting circuit is played out and silly. Yeah, actor Nick Chinlund’s villainous turn as a circus-barking fight club operator is so over-the-top he makes Dr. Evil look conservative. Okay, the viewer is spammed with completely unnecessary and gratuitous shots of uncommonly well-equipped topless strippers throughout the film. But you know what? Most of the acting is shockingly decent. All of the lead characters are actually developed or at least interesting. Best of all, director David Jackson and fight choreographer Freddy Bouciegues deliver a lot of smokin’ hot screen fighting action that delivers creative and brutal mixed martial arts fighting that doesn’t disappoint. It may be hard to recognize amid so many similarly themed films that are essentially crap but this is what a modern, B-grade martial arts movie from Hollywood looks like when it’s done right, not perfect, but just right.

As a disclaimer, while I highly recommend STREET WARRIOR for its entertainment value as a martial arts-themed genre film, I won’t guarantee others will share my enthusiasm. Because of the heavy-handed presentation of some of the film’s content, including gratuitous nudity, tight action editing and examples of seriously hammy acting, it will forever be perceived by some as too trashy or patronizing to its audience to bother with. It doesn’t help that Jackson opens his film with a montage of strippers and brawlers set to raging rock music. Yet if solid B-movie action without pretension is what you crave this film has it.

The film’s script is typical genre fare yet with just enough topical relevance to suggest that Jackson could have developed this into a mainstream theatrical release with legs. It also provides the film’s better actors, including leading man Max Martini (REDBELT) and actress Valerie Cruz (DEXTER), with enough material and room to turn in respectable performances that will not hurt their careers at all despite the film’s low-brow tone.

An Iraqi war veteran wrongly imprisoned and dishonorably discharged for forcibly stopping his commanding officer from committing a civilian massacre returns home to discover his brother hospitalized and in a coma after suffering a brutal beat down in an underground fight. While trying to find the people responsible, Jack Campbell draws their attention with his fighting ability and is forced to enter the competition when his pregnant sister-in-law is kidnapped. With the help of a strip club owner and a rekindled love interest, Jack must fight for a bloodthirsty crowd that includes a high-rolling NFL footballer to rescue his sister-in-law and get payback for his brother’s condition.

A look at David Jackson’s filmography reveals that he has worked in TV production for the past 25 years. It’s doubtful that STREET WARRIOR will be to him what DUEL was to Steven Spielberg but it does show that he’s very capable of handling drama and action together with a certain amount of flair.

Much of the film is centered on the underground fight ring itself which looks like an indoor car park with blue florescent light bulbs nailed to the walls and beams and a small number of spectators gathered behind a railing in an upper deck listening to Nick Chinlund shout, “Let’s see some blood,” before each match. Of course, my first thought was, when are fighters going to start shoving each other’s heads into the light bulbs or pick them up and break them over one another’s head? Alas, they’re only decorative and surprisingly easy for fighters to steer clear of when throwing each other around. Perhaps the UFC should install some of these lights inside their rings for a little mood lighting.

Jackson amasses an interesting collection of colorful fighters and actually takes the time to give them some character and distinction in their fighting styles. This doesn’t provide realistic match ups but they’re entertaining. Roland Kickinger, an Austrian bodybuilder being eyed as the next Conan the Barbarian is “The Showman,” a bulky brawler. With his long hair and rugged looks, stunt actor Mark Kubr briefly fills in the role of a professional wrestler. Actor Brandon Molale plays a conscientious boxer named McDonough who befriends Jack. Lucha libre, or Mexican wrestling is represented by Santo, a fast-moving and likable fighter played by Danny Arroyo. TV veteran Gary Kasper plays the stereotypical Swastika-tattooed, Neo-Nazi freak that everybody loves to hate. Aside from his excessive brutality, his fighting style is actually about the closest anyone gets to professional MMA fighting apart from Max Martini.

The fighter who nearly steals the show from our lead is the fight circuit’s reigning champion, played by Hawaiian-born martial artist and actor Sidney Liufau. He’s underused but the film still provides a great showcase for him at the end as he turns on his handlers.

As for Max Martini, he’s more actor than fighter but holds his own in a demanding fighting role. With a brooding, no-nonsense demeanor and a natural physicality that lends itself well to dynamic MMA fighting, I could see him developing into an action star in the mold of Jason Statham, but with perhaps more dramatic substance. In STREET WARRIOR he does a great job of playing a very world-weary war veteran who is emotionally battered and worn down but not defeated. Hopefully, this role will open up opportunities for him in the action genre.

Someone else who should be proud of their work on this film is fight choreographer Freddy Bouciegues. Until now I was beginning to think that J.J. Perry was the only fight arranger in the DTV market capable of making MMA fighting come close to the excitement and creativity generated by Hong Kong’s top action directors. The best fight work actually takes place outside the ring which is where I wish more MMA fighting in film would go instead of trying and generally failing to match the real thing. A surprise for me was the amount of kali stick fighting that occurs in the film. At the end, Martini equips himself with batons for use against Chinlund who pumps himself full of an unidentified drug and wields a Japanese short sword. This weapons sparring looks great and the open-hand fighting is just as good. Although edited very tightly, perhaps to speed up a short shooting schedule and account for limited training the actors had, the fights contain a very balanced set of strikes, holds, throws, and kicks that are nicely filmed with handheld camera work for high-impact intensity. Unless the film had an outstanding screen fighter like Scott Adkins or Tony Jaa, I don’t see how anyone could ask for more than what this film offers in the fighting department. I will definitely be keeping an eye on Freddy Bouciegues from now on. He’s performing stunts in M. Night Shyamalan’s THE LAST AIRBENDER but I look forward to his next fight choreography gig.

It’s uncertain how much longer filmmakers are going to be able to mine the popularity of MMA for underground fight films. This sub-genre of martial arts cinema has been around at least since 1973 when Bruce Lee’s ENTER THE DRAGON came out and hasn’t really improved since Jean-Claude Van Damme’s BLOODSPORT. The current trend has been to follow a very conventional path with generic fighters in generic fighting circuits with lots of Hummers, bling and women on display. While still falling into the same trap, STREET WARRIOR provides a good example of how a little extra attention paid to the characters, acting and fight choreography can provide a sizable boost in entertainment value at least.