Reviewing Movies

Let's be honest here, this movie is an excuse for Channing Tatum to ceremoniously doff his shirt and show off the goods. At 6'1" Tatum is a hulking charismatic presence clothed or unclothed; whatever it is, he has it. The fighting referred to here is bare knuckle back street no holds barred full contact brawling 'performed' for betting audiences in informal settings. As his third-rate promoter sensed when he saw him defend his turf on the streets of New York Shawn is an instinctual kind of fighter whose primeval urges take over when he gets backed into a corner; he has the kind of gut instincts that can't be taught. In the back story we learn that Shawn was a college fighter whose coach father stepped between he and another fighter when he was seized by one of those fighting frenzies. Hence we find him attempting to run away from his demons on the predatory streets of New York.

For a movie called fighting there really isn't much fighting on display here. Shawn does very little training either. The fights we do see are bloodless but brutal and quickly over; the action is hard to follow and there is no stop action slow motion to accentuate it. We see and hear too much from his promoter and the leering predatory gangsters with whom he deals. Of course there is a girl and various other attempts to pad a rather weak plot. The dialogue reads like a newspaper cartoon and the ending couldn't be weaker. The idea that they could just drive away with one million dollars of the mob's money is laughable. Shawn comes off as a tough back-woods hick with a heart of gold.

Tatum is ruggedly handsome. He has a model's high cheekbones, dazzling eyes and a hulking physique. I'd like to see what he could do with it if he seriously applied himself to the gym with a physical trainer.