Directed by:
Walter HillCinematography:
Lloyd Ahern IIComposer:
Stanley ClarkeCast:
Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames, Peter Falk, Michael Rooker, Jon Seda, Wes Studi, Fisher Stevens, Amy Aquino, Master P, Rose Rollins, Elaine Kagan, Denis Arndt (more)Plots(1)
When the world's heavyweight champion (Rhames) is sent to prison, everything points to an inevitable showdown with the penitentiary's undefeated champ (Snipes). But to make sure the meeting will happen, a former mob boss (Falk) must call in favors from the outside world. Then the battle is on ... and the action, adrenaline, and intensity switch into high gear! (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (4)
The environment is good because there can be very moving stories in prison. This is a story that primarily tries to be action-packed, but ends up being better on a more civil level. There are some good actors here, but the likes of Peter Falk are basically unused at all, which is a great shame. In the end, it doesn't impress with its plot either.
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What feeling prevailed in me after the film was over, you ask? Anger! It was infuriating that director Walter Hill wasted very promising material. Surely the screenwriters must have concocted the story out of thin air, as its originality was nowhere to be found. For such a disappointingly short film (an hour and a half) to have only two boxing matches (not counting the awkward attempts at originality with retro flashbacks of famous boxers) is quite telling. The film is actually about nothing. The director tells it in a disinterested way, without emotion, without feeling, and above all in a terribly boring way. And yet the theme promised so much... Ving Rhames extremely overacts, his tough guy act is way over the top, while Wesley Snipes, on the other hand, is his perfect opposite, and Peter Falk comes across as slightly comical but likable. Undisputed is a boring mishmash that won't please anyone. Boxing fans will be disappointed with the small number of fights and movie fans will cry over the shoddy filmmaking.
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The story is told in a boring way, without any idea, without any dynamics. The only one who keeps it afloat is Wesley Snipes, who's really good in these roles.
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Walter Hill can try to do his best with his characteristic visual style, which is updated here with some news-reports and sports-events touches, but unfortunately the script and characters do not give him much to work with. The first Undisputed gets credit only for being the start of a franchise, which had to be placed in the hands of direct-to-video craftsmen in order to mine from it that which the fallen stars of the genre were unable to muster, namely a proper trashy fighting movie that discards well-drawn characters and instead offers viewers solid physical action.
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