As a child of the '70s and a teenager of the '80s, more of my youth than entirely necessary was spent watching action and martial arts movies of wildly variable quality and production values. Which probably goes some way to explaining why I still spend too much time watching straight to DVD releases, and why I enjoyed Blood and Bone so much.
Make no mistake, this tale of a taciturn ex-con entering the world of illegal street fighting in LA is no work of art, or even a particularly great movie. It does, however, have three things going for it.
The first is star Michael Jai White. It's not unusual for the lead in a low budget fighting movie to be an accomplished martial artist (White has no fewer than 7 black belts and 26 Karate titles to his name, including the US Open and North American Open). What is unusual is for him to bring so much acting experience and ability. His character, 'Bone', is a man of few words, but White imbues him with the iceberg-like sense that there's a whole lot going on beneath the implacable surface. In addition to which, he can really move.
Which leads to the second thing that Blood and Bone has going for it - the fights are great. From the opening scene in a prison bathroom through to the inevitable confrontation with the film's principal antagonist, 'James' (also very ably played by British actor Eamonn Walker), the action is varied, well paced, cleanly shot and very well choreographed. White has impressive speed and agility for a man of his equally impressive physique. The fight scenes make the most of it, and aren't afraid to let him kick loose (literally) with some flashy airborne moves.
Unarmed combat purists might point out that such techniques aren't particularly practical or 'realistic', but then that leads to the third and, for me, biggest thing that Blood and Bone has going for it - and why I found so much guilty pleasure in what, on the surface, would appear to be just another B-grade action movie. Strip away the modern trappings - the neon and bling, the questionable music choices and the already cliched 'illegal street fighting' setup - and what you have is an old-school martial arts movie in which a lone hero kicks serious ass in the pursuit of retribution, justice and honour. Those are exactly the kind of movies I most enjoyed on grainy VHS back in the '80s, and it would seem that I'm still a sucker for them today.
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