a review of 搏击之王

2021 Cult Movie Challenge Week 14: Cannon Group Week (CW: Sexual assault mention) Pretty much an archetypal underdog story the whole way through, there's nothing in particular that this movie does that either Rocky or The Karate Kid doesn't do better. But JCVD as the wimp-turned-warrior protagonist radiates such wholesome, good-natured himbo energy (at least in contrast to his horrible douchebag brother, who I think we can all agree deserved to get paralyzed) that the movie stays pretty light and enjoyable for the whole running time, even when it tries to raise the stakes with a pretty gross/unnecessary (though thankfully offscreen) rape scene. There's also a pretty eye-rolly amount of white-savior bullshit surrounding JCVD learning how to Muay Thai better than actual Thai people, but compared to how much of that stuff is in other '80s martial arts movies, it feels fairly minor. All in all, a movie I kinda liked.