incredibly average

Rating: 4/10 (13 February 2013)

First of all, when you hear Kevin James, the lovably clumsy chubby guy, doing an mma movie, you no doubt will have doubts. It sure is a comedy but how will he pull it off? Will it be about him going in the cage and doing slapstick routines or maybe the movie will fit the fight scenes in a montage and focus on the comedic parts. Apparently it's not, James sure pulls it off and although it is kind of unbelievable to see him do roundhouse kicks, the fight scenes are decent to watch. Yet, the rest of the movie..just...isn't. This has been done before, in the perfectly average nacho libre, which in turn was inspired by the true story of Fray Tormenta. People are wrong about complaining how the jokes in this movie aren't funny, because there are hardly any jokes at all. It is rather set up as an inspiring movie, just short of drama, with some scenes of james falling down or getting punched, just to make it more comedic. Other than the "teacher needs money for school so he fights" setting, there is no story to speak of. I think the producers just thought about putting Fonzi, Kevin james and mma fighters in a room and waited for hilarity to ensue, and it just didn't happen. Though henry winkler is a little over the top with his devoted music teacher attitude and including Bas rutten is also a nice touch, the rest of the movie is in shambles. It is not bad, it just isn't a comedy, or simply not good enough.