On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 55/169 |
Max Braden |
This has two good fights between Tatum and Brian J. White and Cung Le, the rest is pretty generic. |
Next to Sam Worthington (the upcoming Terminator Salvation, Avatar, and nothing else), Channing Tatum is an actor on the cusp of movie stardom. Unlike Worthington, we have actually seen Tatum’s acting chops and movie star potential (in 2008’s criminally underrated Stop-Loss) Hollywood is hoping he delivers on. In summer 2009, Tatum looks to become a household name in the hotly anticipated G.I. Joe and Public Enemies. On the slightly smaller scale, Tatum will look to hone his action star smoldering in Fighting.
Tatum stars as a young man getting through life hustling counterfeit merchandise in New York. After an encounter with veteran street-fighting coach Tyler Durden, Tatum begins a whole new career in fighting himself (quite literally), befriending the ghost of Meat Loaf, and blowing up the headquarters of several credit card companies. No, not really. Unfortunately, Tatum instead meets a different veteran street-fighting coach, this one played by Terrence Howard. Howard introduces Tatum to the underground world of street fighting, where one literally has to fight for their life, let alone the spoils.
As a career launcher for Tatum, the film looks more like 1992's Gladiator (James Marshall’s career ending flop) than 2000's Gladiator (Russell Crowe’s career-making blockbuster). In 2006’s polarizing A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, director Dito Montiel delivered a fairly unconventional tale; however, Fighting sounds very rudimentary. Imagine Fight Club without its social commentary and there really isn’t much besides Ed Norton breaking Jared Leto’s face. However, if Montiel can pull off something more than a gritty Karate Kid rip-off, cult status and action cred for Tatum could emerge. If not, Tatum can always shrug it off and use his other potential blockbusters to do that for him.
On the other hand, Howard no longer has that blockbuster in his back pocket (buh-bye Iron Man 2). Just a few years ago, Howard was the most refreshing thing on screen. In fact, 2005’s Hustle and Flow is arguably this generation’s Karate Kid! Now, just a few years later, he has been regulated to life teacher and sidekick (Pride, Iron Man). Fingers and toes are crossed that Howard sees more than meets the eye in this rather formulaic-looking film and gets his most promising career back to where it belongs – at the Oscar podium. (Joel West/BOP)
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