Undisputed
Taking its cue from the real-life trumped up rape charges against Mike Tyson that effectively ended his career as a titan in the sport of boxing, director Walter Hill does it again with an ultra-masculine epic that hypothetically asks, what if the incarcerated World Heavyweight Champ entered into a rivalry with the undefeated prison champion, leading to a showdown of major proportions that nonetheless was completely underground and under the sports radar? As the World Champ Iceman Chambers, Ving Rhames exudes the badass intensity needed for the part, but unlike his real-life counterpart, also turns out to be an articulate, well-spoken thug as well. Indeed, it is Rhames whom the viewer gets behind, walking into the maximum security facility and not being afraid to throw his weight around, indiscriminately punching out Black Muslims as well as lilly-white weasels that cross his path. As the prison champion he challenges, Wesley Snipes also comes off very well, making his character a decent human being who accepts that his mistakes will keep him locked up for the rest of his life, even if his fellow prisoners who back him come off as less sympathetic. Then thereās Peter Falk in a highly sentimentalized but still effective turn as the convicted mob boss (and rabid boxing fan) who uses his connections to set up the big fight and live his dream of being a true-to-life boxing promoter in his own right. The supporting cast includes such stalwarts as Michael Rooker, Jon Seda, Fisher Stevens, and Wes Studi as Icemanās only ally in the prison. The one major flaw comes with some really badly written dialogue bits (usually during the prisoner visiting hours scenes) where pieces of exposition that both characters should obviously know about are stated out loud for the sole purpose of keeping the audience up to speed despite the unrealistic nature of the scenes. However, once the fight is set and Hill employs a ācountdownā as he shows both fighters training, the film builds incredible momentum to almost a fever pitch as the viewer manages to get just as pumped to see the fight as the characters themselves. In the end, an immensely entertaining b-movie with Rhames in one of his best (and underrated) rolesā¦
9/10