Sometimes there is an upside to scrolling the internet and viewing random video clips. Yes, there are the movie snippets that are appropriated by people who try to present them as some real incident with an underlying moral message. Yes, TikTok is full of fake laugh tracks and people filming themselves reacting to other popular videos. But sometimes you see something good, whether it is a clip of sloths being washed and dried, a very gnarly bit of skateboarding, or a moment showing how hard Michael Jai White can kick various people in the face. When I saw that last clip, a highlight from Blood And Bone, I knew that I had to see the movie. I was already a fan of White, and this film looked awesome.
Directed by Ben Ramsey and written by Michael Andrews, two men who seem to have peaked with this violent action flick (and that isn’t a backhanded compliment, this is a hell of a peak), Blood And Bone tells the tale of an ex-con named Isaiah Bone (White). Bone ends up getting involved in a dangerous underground fighting scene, guided from fight to fight by a friendly hype man, Pinball (Dante Basco). Bone’s strength and skill soon get him noticed by James (Eamonn Walker), a middle-man crime figure who would rather be positioned higher. James thinks he can make good use of Bone, which may be exactly what Bone wants.
I could namecheck a lot of action movies from the ‘80s and ‘90s, anything throwing a tough, but noble (sort of), hero in to a fighting tournament, but any action movie fan will already know the main reference points. One or two of them involve Jean-Claude Van Damme. All you need to know is that Blood And Bone easily ranks alongside any of those other movies. It’s well-paced, the storyline does enough to give a purpose to the fighting without feeling as if it is keeping viewers away from the violence for too long, and White easily looks capable of every move he delivers.
There are a number of highlights dotted throughout White’s filmography, but this is definitely one of his best. The film uses him in the best way, showcasing his martial arts prowess and allowing him to effortlessly fill every scene he’s in with his watchability and forceful presence. Walker is a great kingpin, and you know that he will be ready to change the rules any time a fight looks to be going the way he doesn’t want it to go. Basco adds some humour, there’s an entertaining small role for Julian Sands, and Nona Gaye and Michelle Belegrin play women who both end up admiring our muscular hero as they realise that he is up to more than just trying to beat people up. Bob Sapp is the other performer worth mentioning, playing a huge fighting opponent named Hammerman. These movies always need huge fighters who feel like a viable threat, and both Sapp and Walker do that in different ways.
There’s nothing here that is special, not in cinematic terms, and those not after action movie thrills might not want to rush to this one, but, and this is a big but, the fights are frequent, and the choreography and shot choice maximizes the visceral entertainment of each encounter. So if you want a film full of superb fights then this is one for you. And if you’re a big fan of Michael Jai White then you should already have this one marked off your list. It isn’t a great film, in many ways, but in other ways . . . it’s a GREAT film.
8/10
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