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A
FIGHTER'S BLUES
AKA:
N/A
Year:
2000 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
In
1987 Fu Mong (Lau) is a champion Muay Thai kickboxer madly in
love with Pim, a reporter who is writing a book on his rise to
glory. Thirteen years later Mong is released from prison
for an as yet undisclosed sentence and goes in search of Pim
to rekindle their relationship. Sadly she is no longer
alive but has left him a daughter, Ploy, who was born shortly
after they separated. Ploy is currently being looked
after by Sister Mioko in St. Mary's orphanage so Mong decides
to contact her in the hope of bringing some stability to both
their lives. No sooner have things begun to settle down
than current boxing champion Tawon appears on the scene to
challenge Mong to a duel. It's time for Mong to stop
running from his past and win this final fight for the sake of
his family and his own self respect.
On
first impression you may be forgiven for expecting a boxing
film from 'A Fighter's Blues' but in fact the intended outcome
is supposed to be a drama. Sadly, the major flaw here
lies in the underdeveloped characters and lack of any real
emotion within the script. All of the main
heroes/heroines are introduced quickly with no real chance for
the audience to connect with them and then thrown together
and expected to forge a chemistry. Unfortunately, the
only result this has on the production is to create a film that you
always feel distanced from and fail to empathise with any of
the scenarios involved.
For
it's star, Andy Lau, it's becoming increasingly frequent for
him to appear in this 'guy with a chequered past' story and
this format is quickly becoming tiresome. As I have
stated in previous reviews, this is an actor at the top of his
game who should be producing his defining moments but he
continually persists in appearing in any old film that comes
along. As for the other talent in the film, the few
other major players have such shallow roles that it's
difficult to judge but they all seem to perform their parts
adequately.
The
action, when it comes, is fairly muted which is mainly due to the way it
is shot. Blows are presented in fast takes and then
accompanied by quick close up shots of each of the combatants
faces with grimacing expressions. This fails to get the
adrenaline pumping and you feel as they are only there to move
the story along and not excite the viewer. This is
particularly noticeable in the finale as it builds up to
something of a 'Rocky' style face-off but you are left feeling
cheated after a predictable bout with a foregone conclusion,
mostly due to how the plot has unfolded.
Perhaps
I am being over critical as the film is not completely bad; I
was more than able to sit through the entire movie but you
can't help thinking it is a little nondescript. If the
action had been handled better and the characters built up to
a higher degree then it could have passed the three star mark
but you are always left feeling a little empty and unfulfilled
by the whole affair. Lau fans will most likely get a
quick fix from 'A Fighter's Blues' but it doesn't break any
new ground for all concerned.
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