Blood and Bone (2009)

Set almost in the style of Asian films and with a direction and editing from the late 70's early 80's this film delivers a martial arts throwback. Michael Jai White, who is trained in 7 different styles of martial arts is at his best. The plot is pretty direct and simple as a man seeks vengeance for a friend who died in prison. He sets out to find out who and why he was killed. Eammon Walker is a great antagonist with his swagger and delivery. I found the film to have a good screenplay for it's budget and good direction. It did however have some editing issues towards the end of the film. I give it a solid 6

First of all I'd like to point out that people who poorly reviewed this film or simple dismissed it as a straight to video B-Movie clearly missed the point. If you think going into this movie you were going to get Oscar worthy acting, high budgeted local and special effects, you simply missed the point. This movie intentionally has a simple plot which I'm not going to get into because that's not the reason to watch this movie. This film also doesn't need a crazy budget for what it is trying to accomplish. This film is all about showcasing Micheal Jai Whites brutal, high flying martial art skills and excellent stunt work. That's really it. I can honestly say that this movie was made to show how great of a martial artist he is and it amazes me that this guy doesn't get more work in mainstream Hollywood movies. After all people would be surprised to know that Jai White is just about 50 years old and he looks and moves like someone who is in their 20's maybe even early 30's. If you are a fan of the action films of the 80's and 90's, this is a movie for you. Micheal Jai White absolutely brings his A-Game in the fighting sequences. Any fan of the action/ martial art genre will enjoy this movie. I will finish by saying, turn off your brain and enjoy the killer fight scenes. I just hope they decide to make a sequel.

Isaiah Bone (White) gets out of prison and ends up renting a room at an L.A.-area house run by Tamara (Gaye). Bone is a quiet and mysterious man, and we don't know much about his past. What we do know is that he's an outrageously talented fighter, and he proceeds to get involved with the illegal, underground Punchfighting circuit. Immediately recognizing that Bone is head-and-shoulders better than the normal street thugs, charismatic fight promoter Pinball (Basco) takes him under his wing and Bone moves up the ranks. This puts him in the sights of James (Walker), a high-class thug with aspirations to join the ranks of the ultra-wealthy, as represented by Franklin McVeigh (Sands). James also recognizes Bone's fighting talents and wants to use him to break into the really big time. But Bone has his own reasons for doing what he's doing, and only his strength and personal honor and integrity guide him through his mission. But will he make it out alive? Blood and Bone is as good a movie you could possibly hope for in the world of the modern-day Punchfighter. There's just enough depth and interesting things going on with the plot and characters to raise it above the muck and mire of the "I-punch-you-you-punch-me-and-that's-it" Punchfighters out there. Seemingly, it's a movie out of time, as we felt this could have come to the movie theater, had it only been released in 1997 or so. The only things that mark it as new are some brief - but still unfortunate and unnecessary - uses of CGI. Otherwise, the plot has a nicely familiar feel, and Michael Jai White makes a powerful hero.As for MJW, we've always been huge fans. His Martial Arts abilities and screen presence have only continued to improve since Ring of Fire III (1995) and Ballistic (1995), which is rare. It's a joy to watch him execute his moves. One of the great injustices in life is that Steven Seagal is more of a household name than White. White deserves to be in the action pantheon with Dolph, Van Damme, (and unfortunately, Seagal). His appearances in two of the Universal Soldier movies make sense towards that aim, but it seems MJW is primarily known in the action community. We feel he deserves wider recognition. As for fellow fan favorite Gina Carano, she has a criminally small part. It would have been awesome to see her team up with MJW to take down the baddies. Maybe someday that will happen.As for Julian Sands, you might ask yourself what he's doing in an urban-themed modern-day Punchfighter. His one scene where he verbally faces off against James should answer all your questions. One of the things that make Blood and Bone a worthwhile movie, besides its pleasantly surprising spurts of intelligence at times, is its sense of humor, which is well-portioned out. We don't know if this was on purpose, but in a throwback to the Blaxploitation movies of the 70's, all the Caucasian characters are just lightweight, silly, stereotypical whiteys. The Punchfighter "Cowboy" is just a "redneck" stereotype, the white family that eats dinner with James wear sweaters around their necks and listen to Wang Chung, and Julian Sands is the whitest person on earth. It's hard to discern whether the tried-and-true plot line and some characteristics of the movie are homages to the past, or just a simple lack of originality. That's the danger of homages, the audience might misunderstand your intentions. The Hitter and Lionheart seem to be primary influences.But just as in all great movies, Blood and Bone gets its own title song during the end credits. Seeing as how it's a competently-made film with just the right amount of depth, and you really have a hero to root for in MJW, we feel that Blood and Bone is one of the better modern-day Punchfighters out there.

I have had "Blood and Bone" laying around for quite a while, just never got around to watching it, as I thought it was a boxing movie. Don't know where I got that notion from. It wasn't before a friend of mine mentioned the martial arts in the movie that I picked it up and actually got around to watching it. The reason for me acquiring this movie was because of Julian Sands, but it turned out that he was not in the movie all that much, much to my disappointment."Blood and Bone" is about Isaiah Bone (played by Michael Jai White) who comes out of prison with a promise to fulfill to his friend from inside the jail. And in order to do this, he becomes a street fighter with his ambition set on one thing only.Story-wise, then "Blood and Bone" is fairly average and generic. There is nothing overly impressive or creatively new to be seen here. But still, it works out well enough, because the storyline (however generic it might be) is spiced up with some really nice fighting scenes.I must admit that I was thoroughly impressed with the fighting skills of Michael Jai White, I never knew he was this good. So that sort of made me want to see more of his movies, as I have only seen "Spawn" and the "Universal Soldier" movie he was in.As for the people on the cast list, then people did good jobs with their roles. Again, Michael Jai White impressed with his performance in "Blood and Bone". But he wasn't carrying the movie alone, Eamonn Walker (playing James) also did a really great job, as did Julian Sands (playing Franklin McVeigh). Dante Basco (playing Pinball) was a bit out of his element here in this movie, but it was fun to see him in a role such as this one."Blood and Bone" is a great action movie, and well worth watching if you enjoy a good fight or two.