Plot: A martial arts master has to participate in a final trauma warfare called as ‘kumite’. His opponent is more than an ordinary fighter, and his daughter’s life is on the line.
Review: The Last Kumite is a movie I was really anticipating long before it became a reality, and I am almost angry with myself for the fact that it has taken me this time to actually follow this up with a viewing. I managed to buy the DVD in Scotland some weeks back and watched it yesterday.
Majorly crowdfunded, The Last Kumite is very much a labor of love for everyone involved in its creation as it is a true tribute to the golden era of martial arts films of the late 80s and early 90s. The film features a number of actors including Matthias Hues, Billy Blanks, Cynthia Rothrock, Kurt McKinney, Mohammed Qissi, and Abdel Qissi. For those who may have been growing up in the thick of the 80s and 90s, these are familiar household names, and this film is produced for nostalgic fans.
It is also very good to see David Kurzhal the Samurai Viking himself display his great martial art skills. He has screen presence as well, so it would be interesting to see how he proceeds from here.
Mathis Landwehr portrays Michael Rivers and his performance is convincing. Michael Rivers is honorable, and although he doesn’t want to join the Kumite, he is forced to when his daughter is kidnapped. From this perspective, we sympathize with him right from the beginning.
Möller’s adroit choreography of fight scenes deserves special mention. He acts in minor role as Lightning. Later, he became a member of fighting team and filmed several fighting scenes without fail.
As a character actor, Mike Derudder did not disappoint us; his jokes are amusing, and the tall guy doesn’t beat all of his rivals. We know he can do it; it’s just the way he does it that annoys us. One can hate Dracko even from the moment he appears such is the impact he puts off onto with his presence.
Billy Blanks and Matthias Hues had one of the best fight sequences in this movie. For me, it was very engaging, but on the other hand, I personally hoped that Cynthia would be able to demonstrate more of her skills. I would love a sequel and to see Don Wilson, Loren Avedon, Daniel Bernhardt, and Jeff Wincott, but I doubt he makes martial arts a priority anymore.
There is also Matthias Hues’ character named Ron Hall which is a pleasant experience. There’s a sense of connectedness that transcends space and time, and David Kurzhal recreates JCVD bloodsport’s famous kick at some point in time.
This is how I imagined this type of movie would look and feel like before I ever saw bloodsport. And it is equally pleasing to know that there are directors such as Ross Clarkson who share the same passion for the genre.
It is not used as a humor device which I appreciate; it could quite easily have become a parody making fun of this type of film, but bless the last kumite does not and gives me everything I wanted it to always be like.
Stan Bush created for us new songs and the music was performed by Paul Hertzog who also worked on Bloodsport and Kickboxer.
It’s true that the budget is rather low and one can see this throughout, which means that there is no glossier visual sheen but old school fans will not be disappointed as the Last Kumite is still like putting on that favorite sweater and meeting so many familiar faces.
In general, the film The Last Kumite has its flaws, but for viewers like me who have fond memories watching Bloodsport and Kickboxer, it still has some charm in it. The movie has countless action sequences which are violent and gory which was really fun to watch. I think that there needs to be a sequel that has better production values and simplicity within the title, The Last Kumite: Round 2. For all that, I think this film should reignite interest in the fighting tournament sub-genre which has seen better days and needs a revival.
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