There are few of us, but we are all wearing vests! The mice cried and cursed, but continued to eat the cactus! Or briefly about how we are trying to find time to sum up the annual results of the FFI combat films. Oh... where are our 25 years... But to hell with reflection! Today we will look at the nominations "Best Sports Drama" и "Comeback of the Year".
Sports drama 2020
Just like the “historical” and “sports” nominations are traditionally not very popular among people who voted on the site, which, however, does not change the fact that 2020 turned out to be a good year for this genre. Perhaps, each of the films presented in the voting is capable of generating interest in something. But it is the winning trio that can boast of real human stories.
Knockout (dir. Roy Chow) (19%, 11 votes)
Oh, if you knew how much FFI editors love to draw parallels between the winners in our voting from different years! Sometimes they are very funny. Here, too, there was a place for a curious intersection. In last year's voting, a Chinese film took second place in the Sports Drama category. "A heart", in which the main role was played by a veteran of the Chinese stage - singer and musician Yang Kun. In "Knockout" the main role is given to a younger, but no less popular singer and dancer Hanyu Genyu.
The first line of our pedestal "Knockout" I took it for a reason. The sport here (we're talking about professional boxing) is woven into the tragic story of a daring champion who accidentally kills his opponent in the ring and is punished by being in prison for six years. Upon leaving places not so remote, the main character is faced with a cruel reality: his young wife is dead, and his young daughter does not know her father at all. But even this to the director and screenwriter of the film Roy Chow it seemed little for the conflict. In the plot, the main character’s mother-in-law appears, wanting to take away custody of the girl, and then her daughter’s leukemia, which serves as a scenario lever for Gen’s character to return to professional sports. In some centuries, the reason for this is not money, but the father’s desire to show his dying daughter that life is worth fighting for.
And damn it, it works! Despite the overt prolongation of the film (typical of the Chinese genre film industry), the story is humanly touching. The viewer begins to root for both father and daughter, thus preparing for the title fight.
Boxing in "Knockout" delivered sharply and bitingly. Because the main character, unlike the hero from the same "Hearts", is a representative of the light heavyweight division, in the ring fighters fly like butterflies and sting like wasps. The film delights with long shots that allow you to see striking and defensive techniques, and the intense musical accompaniment only emphasizes the uncompromising nature of the matches.
You can’t ignore the very “chemical” duet Hanya Genya, who is in excellent physical shape, and small Elena Tsai, which mysteriously plays with very unchildish emotions. Probably it was precisely this set of qualities of the film that allowed "Knockout" become the winner of gold in the top three.
On alert (dir. Nikolay Sarkisov) (18%, 10 votes)
American MMA drama "On alert" received mixed reviews from viewers and critics, but in our voting it was only one vote behind the leader. No, the film is by no means bad, but we understand how the local conflict could scare off a gentle viewer.
The main character of the film is a once popular actor Stephen Dorff - appears before us as a complete bastard, a narcissistic and unshakable champion of mixed martial arts, who treats everyone around him exclusively as a consumer. No, the screenwriters explain a little why he is such an eccentric with a different letter, but from the beginning to the credits the authors will never be able to “fashion” Dorff into a tragic image.
Instead of him, these “pajamas” are put on by his plot son, 18 years old, played by Darren Man. He doesn't like his father, but he respects and learns from him, dreaming of becoming a bright figure in the MMA field. But one day it dawns on him that in deep childhood his own father tried to kill the brother of the character Man, a child with special needs. Cunning producers are putting together a very real confrontation from this, from which only one can emerge.
And again we have human history before us. A well-written drama between two participants in the conflict. On the one hand, an aging fighter who does not recognize weakness, putting everything on the scale for the sake of money and fame. On the other hand, he is a schoolboy, on whose shoulders are his mother, brother, studies and other teenage problems. The support the young man needs from his father transforms into crystallized hatred and the desire to prove that he is right. And again... It works. Not least thanks to the excellent acting work, of which, of course, the image Stephen Dorff, on whose face you can read much more truth than he shows with his behavior or voices with his mouth.
There are few fights in the film, but the final confrontation "On alert" presents it very competently, of course, going through scenes of the main character’s training typical for the genre. The fight choreography itself is staged as mundanely as possible, distracting the rapid sequence with iconic moments. True, it’s a pity that in the MMA fight scenes the actors and their stunt doubles use mostly their hands, turning the segments into boxing. Otherwise, it’s a worthy picture, which deservedly takes second place in our voting.
Octagon: Fighter vs Wrestler (dir. Jesse Quiñoness) (16%, 9 votes)
Third place and again a film about MMA. Although, to be precise, it’s about the clash of the “eternal” opponents of entertaining combat sports: mixed martial arts and professional wrestling. But, traditionally, this seed is just the tip of the iceberg. The deep plot is the path along which Sylvester Stallone and his "Rocky" in 1976 - a struggle with oneself.
The main character of the film, a popular and successful MMA fighter, has everything he could have dreamed of in his poor adolescence: there is money and fame, his faithful wife, coach and agent are nearby, and only disarming success and the green light for all his dreams lie ahead. But everything changes dramatically when a cunning promoter schedules a fight with a champion from a wrestling promotion. A self-confident fighter loses to a wrestler, after which his entire life is ruined.
The film does a good job of showing how just one mistake can lead to an internal catastrophe of a person, how fears and doubts appear, how literally yesterday’s strength melts away before our eyes. Alas, a good plot is completely unsuitable for the main character played by the former UFC champion Alexa Montagnani, who can’t get his “emotion” to the right place. And taking into account the fact that it is on his behalf that the story is told, the viewer will invariably get bored somewhere in the middle.
"Octagon", unlike the two previous winners in this category, has more action scenes, but they are also modestly staged. The fighters mainly box and occasionally go to the ground or use throws. Although striking versus throwing is as interesting a confrontation as a fighter versus a wrestler. And most importantly, it is appropriate.
But for fans of both sports, the film has prepared a huge number of all kinds of cameos, and some of the athletes play "Octagon" prominent roles. Perhaps this is what prompted voters to put a tick in front of the film. If yes, then be sure to write about it in the comments.
Comeback 2020
There were not so many bright returns in the past year. Although... There are always few of them. But the nomination is still relevant, because people who we haven’t seen for a long time come to our favorite genre every now and then, or who haven’t had a really worthwhile project for a long time. And yet, the first place was able to surprise us.
Frank Grillo (Trigger Day) (21%, 19 votes)
Stately and charismatic Frank Grillo has never been a representative of the “hand-to-hand” genre, which did not prevent him from appearing in combat scenes of a variety of action films: from expensive blockbusters like "The First Avenger: Confrontation" (2016) and "War of the Wolves 2" (2017) to frankly passing "Skyline 2" (2016) and "Massacre" (2018). You can also remember him in the MMA series "Kingdom" (2014-2017) to dot all the “e”s: Frank is no stranger to action films and feels comfortable in them.
Despite the fact that 2020 was a very fruitful year for Grillo, as part of the “comeback” Frank was chosen for the leading role in a fantasy action film "Day of the trigger", which reached the Russian audience earlier than the American one.
And although this case cannot be called a full-fledged return, we understand why they voted for him. Frank is finally in a leadership position, having left roles as main villains or supporting characters in other projects. And in the film Joe Carnahan the actor feels like a fish in water. The protagonist comes easily to him, even playfully. His hero drinks, smokes, swears, has fun with a girl, and... dies every single day at the hands of a variety of hired killers, waking up from time to time to his not very pleasant reality.
It is clear that Grillo is “pulling away”, taking on not only shootouts, but also scenes of hand-to-hand combat, and in the end, combat with weapons. Yes, the choreography could have been more interesting, and Frank himself could have been dubbed less, but the actor’s charisma draws the viewer into the plot, leaving a pleasant aftertaste.
Frank Grillo is a popular actor of the middle cohort, who is tossed around in various projects, but there will always be a demand for his characters. Therefore, we are not worried about his career. I just wish projects like this "Trigger Day", within which the actor can give his best, there were more.
Marko Zaror (Unbreakable) (16%, 14 votes)
Chilean martial artist Marko Zaror, to whom the press gave the nickname "Latin Dragon" after his prominent role as the main antagonist in "Undisputed 3" (2010) simply had to, at a minimum, appear frequently in martial arts films. He seemed so cool and charismatic, with good looks and amazing skills. But, as often happens, the actor’s career didn’t really get off the ground.
By and large, Saror has since appeared periodically in second-rate films and TV series, returning, perhaps, for another confrontation with Scott Adkins in "Wild Dog" (2017), but even there he was eclipsed in acting and combat by the “sub-boss” Kung Le.
And so... the so-called comeback, which in fact is the role of another villain forced to fight against Johnny Strong in a typical "bashka" from Daniela Zirilli called "Invulnerable". In this regard, we have a question for those who voted for Marco: where is that “return” in this context? Where is something for which one can show Saror the notorious “respect”?
В "Invulnerable" Marco walks around the entire film with the lost look of a resurrected warrior, he is homeless, eats some kind of nasty stuff, and rushes at the police and military. Unfortunately, the director remembers the motivation of his character only towards the very end, when the viewer no longer cares why and why all this is happening. Saror has three lengthy fight scenes in the film, but the "flying kicks" of the legendary Dolor from "Undeniable" you can forget. With the exception of a few kicks, the Chilean was not even allowed to demonstrate his “base”, which wanders from film to film.
In general, there are many questions and few answers. We can only blame the fact that fans of action films were, in principle, happy to see their favorite Marco Zarora at least in some project. Maybe so. In any case, Saror receives a bronze “medal” from us.
Dominic Vanderberg (Mercenary) (13%, 12 votes)
First name Dominic Vanderberg Little known among fans of combat films, yet this is a man who has devoted his entire life to studying all kinds of martial arts. In addition, he served in the French Legion, and is still a hand-to-hand combat instructor for the Belgian military and police.
Main role in the film "Mercenary" Jesse Johnson is not even a comeback, but justice restored. Starting as an ordinary stuntman back in the first "Mortal Kombat" (1995), Dominic only got the lead role once - back in 1999 in the action movie "Doorman". Otherwise, he performed various stunts in European, American and even Chinese cinema, from time to time shining in supporting roles of all kinds of scoundrels.
Vanderberg could bring an interesting character to, sorry hosspadi, "Triple Threat" (2019), where the cream of the crop of action cinema was collected, but at the behest of the screenwriter, his hero not only did not become expressive, but also died in the most ridiculous way, without showing absolutely nothing of his rich skills.
"Mercenary" makes up for this blatant mistake by making Dominic the main character - a former cleaner, killer and expert in hand-to-hand combat who wants a quiet life in a Christian parish. But, of course, the past cannot leave him alone, and after half an hour of screen time, Vanderberg’s hero “takes up arms” against his former comrades.
Despite the fact that as an actor, the Belgian is far from even his colleagues in B-Movie, and in on-screen confrontation he has a whole unit Louis Mandylor, Dominic has something to show in terms of mastery of bladed weapons and firearms, as well as skills in martial arts. We can only hope that Vanderberg's advanced age (51 years old) will not become an obstacle to Vanderberg's more frequent appearances in films. It's nice to look at him.
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Tags: Boss level, Cagefighter: Worlds Collide, Embattled, Invincible, Knockout, The Mercenary, Alex Montagnani, Jesse Quinones, Dominic Vanderberg, results of action cinema 2020, Marko Zaror, Nikolay Sarkisov, Roy Chow, sports drama, Stephen Dorff, Frank Grillo, Han Geng
Tags: Boss level, Cagefighter: Worlds Collide, Embattled, Invincible, Knockout, The Mercenary, Alex Montagnani, Jesse Quinones, Dominic Vanderberg, results of action cinema 2020, Marko Zaror, Nikolay Sarkisov, Roy Chow, sports drama, Stephen Dorff, Frank Grillo, Han Geng
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