Blood And Bone

Despite being slightly derivative, this ace martial arts flick has enough memorable characters, fist fights and smack talk to keep you distracted from the thoroughly predictable nature of the plot.

The story concerns itself with the lavishly monickered ex-con Isaiah Bone - played with efficiency by Michael Jai White - and his ascent through the lucrative underground fighting. This is not down to glory, but to a promise that he made to a friend in prison - to look after the man's wife, who is embroiled head-first in the seedy world that surrounds the illegal fights. Thanks to this promise, he refuse to elevate himself to the international fighting circuit, and this angers the local mob boss who's looking to profit on the whole endeavour.

It's predictable, yet functional, and as a jumping board for the action it serves its purpose. It at least makes sense at the end, which is all you can ask for really. Which leads us neatly to the afore-mentioned 'scenes of wanton violence'.

Director Ben Ramsey wisely elects to keep the camera steady, secure and at a safe distance, punctuated by the odd visceral close up. In a world where we're saturated with the intense, personal action of Bourne and all its imitators, this kind of well staged spectacle is very welcome to break up the time. Michael Jai White is quite visibly a gifted martial artist, giving the battles a dynamic fluidity that's highly reminiscent of Wesley Snipes in his better movies.

Performance-wise, there's some bearable comic relief from Dante Basco as the fast-talking Pinball, who stands as Bone's promoter and side-kick, and Eamonn Walker's profanity-hating, Genghis Khan-quoting antagonist is almost a joy to behold, such does he chew through the scenery. I'm told there's also a wealth of faces from the world of mixed martial arts, so if you're into that scene, you'll get a kick out of that.

Ultimately, you can ask for very little more from a movie like this. Well paced, well staged, and well put together, Blood And Bone is entertaining whilst it's there, packed with some excellent action and held firm by decent performances and a competently told story.



Released on DVD on 25th January 2010 by Momentum Pictures.

Written by Ross Sweeney.