SYNOPSIS:
Every seven years in an unsuspecting town, "The Tournament" takes place- a secret hitman competition between 30 of the world's deadliest assassins; with the last man standing receiving a $10m cash prize. The Tournament is set up by a syndicate of high stake billionaire gamblers, watching the mayhem unfold via CCTV cameras, betting on its outcome.
The killers are implanted with tracking devices and are given palm pilot monitors so that they can locate their opponents. But one killer has cut the tracker out and local drunken priest MACAVOY has inadvertently swallowed it. Beautiful hitwoman LAI LAI is still haunted by her last hit- an innocent pregnant woman. She seeks redemption by trying to protect the priest until the bug works it way through his system. They manage to kill or evade most of the assassins, but reigning champion JOSHUA tracks them down. The innocent woman was his wife MARY, and he demands to know why she was killed instead of him. Joshua learns from Lai Lai that Mary was always the target, ordered by syndicate organiser POWERS to ensure he took part in the tournament. Joshua goes to wreak bloody revenge on the ringmaster!
MOVIE REVIEW:
There is something about "The Tournament's" straightforward premise that hints of a direct to home video movie- and in that regard, you wouldn't be wrong. Just like the latest reboot of the Universal Soldier franchise that was released in cinemas recently, "The Tournament" is one of those direct to video action flicks that are enjoying the rare luxury of a theatrical cum home video release in Singapore.
Indeed, as you probably would have guessed, the setup of this assassin against assassin battle is no more than an excuse to execute some mayhem on screen, coupled with (as its M18 edited rating would suggest) copious amounts of bloodshed. Yes, it's not really important who the characters are, or for that matter their motivations, since that really isn't the point of the movie. The whole purpose of entering "The Tournament" is to enjoy some good-ol' Hollywood-style implausible action, so the question really should be- does it deliver?
The answer, in this case, is a measured yes. Not all the action sequences (though they are plentiful) are as thrilling as the next, but the ones that do are genuinely entertaining. One of them involves martial arts star Scott Adkins, whom some may recognise from bit roles in movies such as "The Medallion", "Unleashed" and "The Bourne Ultimatum". Though his screen time here remains limited, his fight scene with Kelly Hu's Oriental assassin Lai Lai Zhen in an abandoned church is undoubtedly one of the film's best.
Another equally memorable sequence involves Frenchman Sebastien Foucan, whom audiences will surely remember for the exhilarating foot-chase sequence with Daniel Craig's James Bond in "Casino Royale". An ardent promoter of the art of parkour, Foucan demonstrates his physical agility by leaping across buildings and basically over and under any obstacle that stands in his way. Like Adkins, his screen time may be brief, but he steals every scene that he is in- especially one with Hu's Lai Lai Zhen and Robert Carlyle's Father MacAvoy in a stolen police car.
Those little bits of true delight come interspersed with some standard action fare- shootouts, explosions and other assorted means of destruction. They are in fact mere filler for a movie that has as its greatest weakness its lack of an engaging storyline outside its basic premise. All Gary Young, Johnathan Frank and Nick Rowntree's script is concerned with is eliminating the contestants one by one until the grand finale, so even the lead characters aren't that interesting at all.
Luckily, despite the slack, director Scott Mann delivers an electrifying highway chase finale involving a public bus and an oil truck that is as fast as it is furious to wrap up the movie on a high note. Of course, there's also that twee bit of comeuppance when Ving Rhames' former reigning champion Joshua Harlow confronts mastermind Powers (Liam Cunningham) for killing his wife in order to ensure his participation in this present round.
Of the lead actors Carlyle, Hu and Rhames who receive top billing, it is Kelly Hu who turns in the most satisfying performance. Whereas Carlyle and Rhames look as if they could have sleepwalked through the film, Hu genuinely puts in her best getting beaten, punched, kicked, slammed and thrown around in the movie. Certainly, a lot of the action is over-the-top, but hey, what do you expect of a movie whose premise about sums it all up?
SPECIAL FEATURES :
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Visual transfer is clear and sharp while the Dolby Digital 2.0 audio boasts strong bass and good sound effects.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
Posted on 17 March 2010
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