Undisputed

Rating:
Summary: Wake up Wesley.
Review: Oh my. A movie about boxing, set in a "maximum security, level five prison" - and still it manages to be about as exciting as another Anna Nicole Smith story.

First, the highlight: Peter Falk's cussing scene. Watch the movie and you'll recognize it as soon as it starts. I get the feeling that, through the interminable years of Columbo, this is what Peter really wanted to be doing and he does it with gusto in Undisputed.

Now notice that I said, "THE highlight". That's it. That's all there is. In this snorer about the world heavyweight boxing champion being sent to prison for rape (Hello Mike.) only to wind up meeting his destiny at the hands of the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of The Prison System, Peter Falk cussing is the undisputed highlight of the movie. Does that tell you enough?

Mostly, I was puzzled. In a Wesley Snipes movie, why did Ving Rhames (who knows as much about acting as Wesley apparently does about boxing - which ain't much) get almost more face time than the star of the movie? And I was puzzled by the use of cuts and flashbacks - color cuts, B&W flashbacks: Were they added because director Walter Hill realized that, without them, this dog wouldn't make it as far as the box office?

Walter certainly didn't spend any time or money speaking with anyone who knows anything about the prison system. In a "maximum security, level five prison" the guards enter prisoner areas armed - begging to be taken hostage. Perhaps it is only the prisoners' complete lack of personality that prevents this from happening. (The Aryan Brotherhood leader was so stupid he was almost convincing but that's as close as it came.) And what's with welding Wesley's door shut when he was placed in solitary? Was the warden afraid that he'd use his superior boxing skills to open the metal, electronically-locked cell door?

To be fair (and this movie needs a lot of fairness to be even watchable on video), with the possible exception of Ali, noone has ever made a convincing film about boxing. If either of these men had performed like this in a ring with Ali, their health insurance companies would have been bankrupted.

As for Wesley himself, he put in a masterful display of boxing while sleepwalking, building toothpick edifices while sleepwalking, and.........well, that's about it really. Wake up Wesley, it's time to make a good movie.

Rating:
Summary: I really like this movie....
Review: Okay, i first saw this movie on cable and since they keep showing it every couple of months, i've probably seen it a total of 4 times. And i have to say...I really like this movie. I'm not a boxing fan, nor am i a fan of prison movies, but there's something about watching Wesley Snipes' understated performance as Huchens that captures my attention. I also enjoyed the side characters (Falk as Mendy is hilarious) and it's their interaction with one another (Snipes and his sidekick Ratbag...lol...Rhames and his cellmate...what's his name?... bad guy from Last Mohicans...oh yeah...Studi) that really make the movie. Needless to say, i don't want to wait for cable to show it again, i'm gonna buy the *^%$! DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Undisputedly mediocre...
Review: This being a very simple film will only buy it a simple review. Ving Rhames is the heavyweight champion of the world accused of rape. He gets sent to a maximum security prison where the heavyweight "champion" on the inside is Wesley Snipes. Rhames wants the title of champion to apply out in the world and inside prison as well. The films spends time developing Rhames character as a bully who is afraid of no one and picks a fight with everyone. Wesley Snipes is a convicted murderer who has found his inner peace building padogas out of toothpicks and is a loner by choice. The prison facility hosts regular inter-penitentiary boxing matches but for this one-time occasion, will set one up between Snipes and Rhames. Since this is a Wesley Snipes movie, I'll let you guess who wins the fight.

Some of the reviewers have commented about the questionable use of pop-ups to introduce the characters of the film. I think it's not such a big deal. Better for them to be introduced this way rather than for us having to hear their case files in front of a parole committee one by one. Kudos to the writers for sparing us from that route.

On an interview with Jay Leno, Wesley Snipes was asked whether this story was based on Mike Tyson's life. Snipes denied it, but you can't help drawing that conclusion from the obvious similarites between the character Ving Rhames plays and Mike Tyson's life story.

This is a simplistic film that carries a lesson (believe it or not) that "the better man always wins" which translates to "don't cheat and play fair."

LEAP rating (each out of 5):
============================
L (Language) - 2 (maximum security prison inmates aren't usually known for their stimulating conversations)
E (Erotica) - 0 (n/a)
A (Action) - 4 (boxing was more like a slugfest, never really see any slow-motion contact, fight scenes blurred and jittery)
P (Plot) - 2 (prison boxing champ is pitted against the real world boxing champ; may the best man win)

Rating:
Summary: Simple and straightforward. And not too deep.
Review: This film is very straightforward. The scene is a prison, which has regular boxing matches between the inmates. Wesley Snipes, who is serving a life sentence, is the undisputed champion. And then Ving Rhames, the real world champion, is accused of rape in a very similar scenario to that of Mike Tyson. He's sentenced to the prison too. Naturally there is conflict as the two men lock horns.

There are no surprises in this film as it builds to its inevitable climax, with Peter Falk cast as a Mafioso inmate who arranges a boxing match inside the prison walls. The acting is uniformly good. And the script well written. That's about the most to be expected from this kind of film.

Frankly, I rather liked it. Maybe because it didn't try to be anything but what it was. Therefore I give it a mild recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Fast paced action drama, no it's best presentation
Review: This has got to be the most obvious movie you will ever watch as the fights and outcomes, court hearing, prison moves from Rhames and Snipes, not their best movie though, they've did some great ones like Ving in 'Pulp Fiction' and Snipes in 'The Fan'.
Although the realistic fight at the end between reigning prision champ, Snipes and Challenger and former Heavyweight Champion of the world accused of rape, was worth the 1 1/2 hour watch. Some of the storylines in this movie is a bit zany and unauthorised charecters that make apearences in this movie enter then suddenly vanish from the script. If this movie took long enough to make with the fluential budget ammount and great cast of charecters, it would've made a name.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond Stupid - Very predictable
Review: This is got to be the lamest movie I have seen in a while. During the entire viewing, you already know the two main characters are going to fight. But the movie tries to place some diversions to make you think "oh no, the warden is mad, now the fight isn't going to take place." Give me a break. Not to mention during the character definitions, you already know who is going to win the fight before the movie is even into the first 20 minutes. If you still feel to so compelled to watch it, I would recommend skipping the whole story (because there really is no story) and go straight to the fight. At least you can recover an hour of wasted life.

Rating:
Summary: .
Review: This movie was tight. I liked it very much. The verbal fights were almost as interesting as the big match. Wesley Snipes plays the prison system champion who is set up to fight Ving Rhames, the heavyweight champion on the outside world who has recenlty been seen to jail. With nice dialogue and good characters to go along with some of the most realistic hits ever in a Hollywood movie, "Undisputed" won't disappoint any movie watcher who doesn't have a stick up their...nether regions.

(BTW: 48 HRS. is ridiculous?? What are you smoking on?)

Rating:
Summary: Middle-of-the-road Hill
Review: Undisputed (Walter Hill, 2002)

Walter Hill, perhaps more than any other person working in Hollywood today, defines the term "inconsistent." His films range from the sublime (The Warriors, Southern Comfort, Trespass) to the ridiculous (48 Hrs., Johnny Handsome, Supernova), and you will find many in each camp claiming each of his movies. This is usually a good thing. And it is in Hill's case, most of the time.

It's likely that the same fate will befall Undisputed, Hill's newest film. It is. however, the first of Hill's films to which I would ascribe the term "mediocre." There is neither the sublime nor the ridiculous about this film, though it approaches both in spots. The story revolves around two boxers, Monroe Hutchens (Wesley Snipes), sent to prison for life ten years before the action takes place for murder, and George "Iceman" Chambers (Ving Rhames), sent down for five to eight on a rape charge to which he claims innocence throughout the film. (Clips of the alleged victim surface throughout the film; to his credit, Hill never offers his own opinion one way or the other on Chambers' guilt. The real-life parallel to this particular piece of the plot should be obvious.) Hutchens was a rising star before getting sent to prison, and while in the joint has fought sixty-eight times, losing none. Chambers is the reigning heavyweight champion. Needless to say, someone gets the bright idea that these two need to get into the ring, and fast.

Most of the film is about the hype, the politics, etc., leading up to the fight. It's shot in documentary fashion (the whole thing put me in mind of ESPN's series The Season), which gives it an air of seriousness it would otherwise lack. I'm sure, putting all this together, you can see the great potential therein. Add in the conflicting personalities of the two fighters and various politics on both sides of the bars, and you've got the makings for a powerful movie.

It never comes together. There are so many deep waters into which the film could have plunged, and yet it skims the surface consistently. This is a movie about boxing, and nothing but boxing. I found myself comparing it to Girlfight at least once every two or three minutes, and at every time, Undisputed was the loser. (Especially in the cinematography during the actual match.) The main difference, and it seems so small when stated like this, is that Girlfight was about Michelle Rodriguez' character; Undisputed is about the boxing match itself, and the characters are there only to propel it.

Walter Hill's movies, be they great or terrible, are almost always satisfying on some level. This one, while not the worst movie of the year, does not. **

Rating:
Summary: Unengaging
Review: UNDISPUTED had many things going for it.

Wesley Snipes plays 'The Champ,' a felon behind bars for life who finds primary solace in remaining undefeated in prison league bouts. Ving Rhames plays 'The Champ,' the world heavyweight boxing champion sent to jail -- ala Mike Tyson -- for allegedly raping a young woman in his company. Director Walter Hill has more than his fair share of memorable action flicks under his belt. Peter Falk (in a supporting performance) brings an aging Soprano-esque performance as a mafia don behind bars manipulating the two champs, Vegas odds, and the entire prison system to see that this fight goes on.

However, in the end, the viewer is awarded a message that was delivered in the film's first ten minutes: just because the world recognizes you as the finest athlete around doesn't mean you're destined to remain "undisputed."

Sadly, the film goes nowhere except when it spends time in the squared circle. Snipes and Rhames trade punches but, sadly, the script only gives them a handful of chances to trade barbs outside the ring. Had the two been given the opporunity to use their charisma outside of left jabs and right hooks, this film might've been elevated above standard prison action fare; as it is, it's just "unengaging."

Rating:
Summary: I Enjoyed the Actors Weak Film
Review: Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames are both actors that I believe will eventually gain the correct roles and get the chance to demonstrate the talent they have. Wesley Snipes has been around longer, and Ving Rhames has already collected a Golden Globe for his performance as Don King in a made for HBO film. The sleeper performance in this film is by Peter Falk known by so many as the unbeatable detective Colombo (sp) on television. But no amount of talent can bring this film above the B movie cliché it is.

Ving Rhames was training for a bio-film called; "Nightrain", when it was postponed and he then took on this boxing film, as he had been preparing to play another fighter for the film I mentioned. Wesley Snipes is in amazing physical condition, and both actors were credible in the contrived steel ring they eventually fought in. The actual fight is something you will gain plenty of interrupted glimpses of, for not only is it edited in a music video rapid fire staccato style, the director also kept obscuring the fight by filming with the bars between the camera and the fighters. The fight did not appear to need such camouflage, but perhaps this method was necessary.

The DVD includes extended interviews with both Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames, and these added some interest to a very average film. A moment worth noting for the ludicrousness of it was when they decided to isolate Snipe's character from Rhames who was pretty clearly based upon Mike Tyson. It was not enough to separate them within the prison; Wesley Snipe's character had to be welded in to his cell. Moments like this made any effort to be entertained difficult; as they require the viewer to accept the absurd not just suspend disbelief.