Bullet Points: Blood and Bone
A sincere Happy Birthday goes out to Michael Jai White. I still have a hard time seeing him in any other role that isn’t Spawn but the dude has got major skills. Speaking of Spawn, I think it’s time to give White another shot with a script that isn’t pure dog shit. I mean, there are glimpses of the comic in that movie but it was pretty disappointing. White was awesome in it though and has been a great action star since then. There is a bit of a resurgence in the action game as of late because of The Expendables franchise so it would be cool to see Michael Jai White get some more love.
The Gist: Isaiah Bone (Michael Jai White) just got out after serving several years in prison. He rents a room in a house full of kids and starts earning money fighting in underground fights. That is where he runs into James (Eamonn Walker), a man born from the streets but who seeks the power of the elite of the criminal underworld. James sees Bone as his ticket to getting into the high stakes of the international fight game. Bone, however, has other plans.
The Cast: Michael Jai White is straight up jacked! I don’t know what the man does but he’s pushing 50 and looks to be in incredible shape. MJW kicks so much ass in Blood and Bone that he barely breaks a sweat. Dante Basco, better known as Rufio from Hook, does his best Chris Tucker impression as the fight promoter who get in with MJW. We got a few notable cameos: Gina Carano, Gene LeBell, and Robert Wall playing the O’Hara character just like in Enter The Dragon. I really dig MJW as the leading man cause he plays it with such a quiet, cocky coolness. There aren’t many actors out there that can match the sheep physicality and martial arts prowess of White. He is a martial artist first and an actor second. God love him.
White staring down Kimbo Slice.
The Villain: Eamonn Walker plays James and does a fine enough job. His character isn’t very fleshed out and other than being a street wise guy who is obsessed with Asian culture and seeks power, he doesn’t really have anything interesting about him. He did so much to get the white girl but then he just gives her up, doesn’t make sense. Bob Sapp plays Hammerman and he is one big sum bitch. I’ve seen a lot of his fights in Japan but he looks even bigger standing next to Rufio. The Euro white guy gets about 4 minutes screen time and leaves pretty much no impression. The biggest flaw to the movie for me is the lack of a good villain.
A name like ‘James’ sure doesn’t instill fear in people.
The Action: All of the fight scenes feature MJW so you know they are badass. They do a good job of not cutting the scenes up too much and just letting White do his thing. The fight with Matt Mulling as Price was probably the best but even then Bone never seems to be in any trouble of losing. Bone kicks Bob Sapp’s ass too. I would have liked to see that fight be a little more competitive. We don’t ever get much back-story for Bone; why he’s in jail, why all of a sudden he can handle a gun, or how he became such an unbeatable badass. He just is, I guess. Also, what the hell is with the Consortium? All we get is it’s a bunch of rich guys who also like underground fighting. I was hoping that the showdown between Bones and James would be an awesome spectacle of swordsmanship but like before, MJW was just too much, and waxed his ass in no time.
Let’s just say these guys aren’t sleeping.
Take it Home:
- Cameo-rich: Like I said earlier, we got a lot of short cameos from the likes of Gina Carano and Gene LeBell, but we also got to see Kimbo Slice playing a prisoner who attacks Bone in the crapper. Let’s just say that Slice gets one more chance to “throw his weight around” at the end.
- Favorite quote: “You need to sit right there and have a long introspective conversation with your dick bro.”
- Mommy Dearest: For all my wrestling fans out there you may have noticed that Mommy Dearest was played by none other than Ernest “The Cat” Miller!
- Sequel: The ending definitely sets up the possiblity of a sequel. Maybe Bone just walks the Earth like Caine from Kung Fu.
Rating: 3.75/5
