Released: April 26th, 2011
Starring: Steve Austin, Daniel Magder, Janet Kidder, Emily Grabinsky
Writer/Director: Evan Jacobs, Jack Nasser and Joseph Nasser/Anne Wheeler
Description: A retired boxer tries to help a new student, Matthew Miller (Daniel Magder), who is being targeted by bullies. While learning to box and stand up to his tormentors the young boxer must learn to overcome his tumultuous past.
[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]
***
Fairly or unfairly, all boxing movies will always be compared to "Rocky" or "Raging Bull". And ultimately they fall short. The sweet science already has a built-in drama to it that is only lessen by a lazy or convoluted story. The audience needs to have followed a boxer or trainer through a real conflict in order to root for them during the big fight.
"Knockout" tries to tackle bullying and special treatment in high school by using boxing as it's main source of drama. Ex-boxer turned janitor, Dan Barnes (Austin), tries to help a new student who has become the punching bag for the school's star boxer. After Dan save him a few times, Matthew (Magder), asks him to train him, and the reluctant custodian agrees. Almost immediately, Dan sees heart and natural talent in his pupil, who apparent has inherited his grandfather's feel for the ring.
The very dumb Matt is tricked into a beat down by Hector, and the rest of the sadistic boxing club. Dan saves him again and eventually convinces the club coach to allow Matt to fight in the box-off against...wait for it...go ahead, take a guess...yep, his tormentor, Hector. Holy foreshadowing the act three climax, Batman!
Thankfully, Matt loses the match, but not after he knocks down Hector and gains his respect. Unlike "Legendary", this loss has no build up or emotion behind it like brother bonding moment in the former. There also a terribly written section where everything falls apart, but really doesn't for Matt at the end of act two. Despite, forging his step-father's signature, his parents still allow him to fight, but Dan loses his job. Matt's reaction to this is way too over the top. Mostly because the script gives us no reason to care if Dan has a job or not; now if he was supporting a family...
The writers are either terrible, or the producers got too involved in the creative process. I tend to lean toward the former because it's rare that a script handled by three people is interesting. There are just too many different ideas going into it that help it become a convoluted mess. The scripts tries for inspiration but quickly becomes very boring.
"Knockout" is a forgettable movie that was the perfect comparison for a film like "Legendary". Both movies try to accomplish the same thing but one gives it an earnest effort, while the other feels like a paint-by-numbers story. Once again, inspiration comes from well-written characters, not a well-conceived plot. If the audience can't care about the protagonist, then they will care less about the film's plot points.
Rating: 4/10 -- The boxing feels like a gimmick more than an actual part of the film's plot. Austin is good when he has to be menacing or mentor-y, but he lacks any real talent to deliver lines in a normal conversation. He should stick to action films; if Vin Diesel can do it...
"Knockout" tries to tackle bullying and special treatment in high school by using boxing as it's main source of drama. Ex-boxer turned janitor, Dan Barnes (Austin), tries to help a new student who has become the punching bag for the school's star boxer. After Dan save him a few times, Matthew (Magder), asks him to train him, and the reluctant custodian agrees. Almost immediately, Dan sees heart and natural talent in his pupil, who apparent has inherited his grandfather's feel for the ring.
The very dumb Matt is tricked into a beat down by Hector, and the rest of the sadistic boxing club. Dan saves him again and eventually convinces the club coach to allow Matt to fight in the box-off against...wait for it...go ahead, take a guess...yep, his tormentor, Hector. Holy foreshadowing the act three climax, Batman!
Thankfully, Matt loses the match, but not after he knocks down Hector and gains his respect. Unlike "Legendary", this loss has no build up or emotion behind it like brother bonding moment in the former. There also a terribly written section where everything falls apart, but really doesn't for Matt at the end of act two. Despite, forging his step-father's signature, his parents still allow him to fight, but Dan loses his job. Matt's reaction to this is way too over the top. Mostly because the script gives us no reason to care if Dan has a job or not; now if he was supporting a family...
The writers are either terrible, or the producers got too involved in the creative process. I tend to lean toward the former because it's rare that a script handled by three people is interesting. There are just too many different ideas going into it that help it become a convoluted mess. The scripts tries for inspiration but quickly becomes very boring.
"Knockout" is a forgettable movie that was the perfect comparison for a film like "Legendary". Both movies try to accomplish the same thing but one gives it an earnest effort, while the other feels like a paint-by-numbers story. Once again, inspiration comes from well-written characters, not a well-conceived plot. If the audience can't care about the protagonist, then they will care less about the film's plot points.
Rating: 4/10 -- The boxing feels like a gimmick more than an actual part of the film's plot. Austin is good when he has to be menacing or mentor-y, but he lacks any real talent to deliver lines in a normal conversation. He should stick to action films; if Vin Diesel can do it...
No comments:
Post a Comment