The Tournament

Almost two years of waiting for... total shit! The retarded script was to be expected given the subject matter, but such a shallow result from a well-pitched plot with such a (!!!) cast is an outrage! Mann's routine approach, which piles on more and less successful copies of any action crap that's gathering dust in the rental stores, buries even the hints of anything that could pass for a quality B-movie. Moreover, the decadence of the plot jumps out too much in this concentration of stupidity, where we are actually supposed to cheer for ordinary murderers and one fallen character, a whiny priest who seeks salvation at the bottom of a bottle of booze. There’s no hyperbole, there’s no grit, and there are no catchphrases. Aside from the Adkins vs. Hu fight, the perfect Ian Somerhalder, and the bar shootout, it's one big "unfuckingbeliveable boring piece of shit." (10/16/2009)

A cheesy B-movie made according to a screenplay that a fan must have found in the drawer he hadn’t opened since the 80s. Bum-style Robert Carlyle is nicely complemented by the foxy Kelly Hu (at last she gets a leading role) and mega-killer Harlow played by Ving Rhames. It’s full of perfect moments with sometimes completely original ideas. Scenes like the one in the bar must bring out a smile on the lips of every action B-movie fan. Otherwise, the screenplay stinks, but we all expected that, didn’t we? P.S.: Ian Somerhalder gives the performance of his career here. I haven’t seen such a crazy, twisted and goddamn nice psycho since Brad Pitt in Kalifornia, and that was a long time ago. A very much enjoyed 3*. (10/20/2009)