The Tournament
Monday, October 26, 2009 at 02:44PM ;)
The Snake put the trailer up awhile ago for this and then it just kind of disappeared. It's now been released on DVD in the USA and I settled down to watch it this morning and I have to say it's a fucking blast. Its by no means the greatest film ever made but it is fucking fun, fun, fun. It reminded me of those 80's action films like Cobra and Wanted:Dead Or Alive and it also has two of my favourite underrated actors in it Ving Rhames and Robert Carlyle. So how does the tournament play out? Well let me fucking tell you and if in the near future you're looking for the perfect film to watch when you get in from the pub on Friday then fucking get your hands on this and enjoy it for what it is.
The story kicks off with TV footage and a voice over saying that every seven years in an ordinary town an extraordinary event takes place. We see Joshua Harlow (Ving Rhames) kill a guy with a bolt gun as he wins the Tournament. Fast forward seven years and the next Tournamnet is due to take place in Middlesborough. That's right people fucking Middlesborough. Now I spent some time in Middlesborough a few years back and believe me you don't need to hold an ultra violent assassins tournament there to find blood and guts. Anyway I digress some what back to the review. We see our assassins arriving in the town and being drugged so a tracking device can be inserted in them for the Tournament. It consists of thirty of the Worlds greatest assassins who are competing for a ten million pound prize and it's last fucker standing.
One of the favourites a French guy called Bogart removes his tracker and it ends up in a cup of coffee which Robert Carlyles alcholic priest Macavoy drinks. Incidentally the French guy is played by joint Parkour inventor Sebastian Foucan who you may remember as the bloke who is chased by Bond in that great fucking opening scene of Casino Royale (see Classic Film Moments 31). One of the assassins Lei Lei Zhen (Kelly Hu) ends up defending Macavoy as he is targeted by the others. Of course there is a shit load of rich people betting on the outcome all overseen by the rather unpleasant Powers (Liam Cunningham). Throw in a back story of one of the assassins being responsible for the murder of Harlows wife and we have a bit of story for what is really an excuse to blow shit up and kill people in increasingly grisly ways.
The Tournament is not going to win any fucking awards but after the last few years of films like Smokin Aces and Shoot Em Up which tried to revisit the much loved 80's action film but failed this film is almost a trip down memory lane and I can't lie I fucking loved it. It's loud, violent and downright fucking crass but it's most fucking enjoyable. If you want to watch an action film that will wet your appetite before next years big event (The Expendables) then you could do alot fucking worse. The violence is extreme and although it ends in the way you think it will it takes nothing from the overall enjoyment, so leave your brain in your boots, drink a few ales and watch it for what it is.
I Love Shit Being Blown Up out of 5
Reader Comments (2)
So where can I get my hands on a copy?
Depends on wether you have R1 my friend. PlayUS is where I normally go.