Simply ridiculous

Rating: Null/10 (23 December 2011)

Let me submit another review that is sure to accumulate negative votes from people who enjoy any brainless series of images you throw at them. Why not? The only problem is that it's really difficult to review this movie--to describe its crapitude--without including spoilers.
This could have been quite a good movie. It really could have. But rather than make it even the slightest bit realistic, they take the low road. All the main characters are caricatures.
I am very good at avoiding the temptation to predict what will happen in movies. I don't find it enjoyable to guess what will happen. A good movie will help to this end, by not being painfully predictable. This movie is so painfully predictable... it hurts. The kind of "predictable" that is utterly annoying. And unbelievable.
We have two brothers who look absolutely nothing like brothers. And neither looks at all like their father. Already, this movie is making it difficult to suspend disbelief.
One brother is an absolute monster in the ring. The other was not good at all, even in his prime. Yet we are supposed to believe that the guy who sucked when he was a young adult has become the world's best fighter in his late 30s, after a few weeks of training listening to Beethoven.
The middle-aged brother is so opposed to filing for bankruptcy that he decides it's better to get pummeled to make money, because hey, $500 here and there is so worth it. And he loses his teaching job along the way. Great plot. But oh!--There's a huge tournament coming up with a massive payout! How lucky! Good thing middle-aged brother has a Rocky-like ability to overcome the ravages of time and reality.
It becomes annoyingly obvious early on what will happen: The motivated middle-aged guy will defeat his talented brother (who magically ripped the door off a tank), and a mysterious, monstrous Russian who has wiped out everyone in his path thus far. Yeah, OK. The movie tries to stem predictability by adding a contrived bit about the talented brother giving the (huge) fight winnings to a fallen comrade's wife, but it doesn't help much toward that end. The movie is still painfully predictable.
The crap relationship the brothers each have with their father goes nowhere. The best and most realistic part of the movie is when Nick Nolte's character falls off the wagon and gets drunk after being berated for the billionth time by talented son.
Please, please rate this review as not helpful. I need to feel like I'm not a mindless sheep and helpful votes will not achieve that end.