|
| Undisputed |
|
  (6/10)
|
Runtime: 91 m |
| Public Rating: 8.78 (9 votes) |
Director: Walter Hill |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Sports drana |
Year: 2002 |
| Writer(s): David Giler & Walter Hill |
| Reviewed by: Le Apprenti |
| |
Imagine being able to participate in the gladiatorial sport of boxing – behind bars. Now imagine doing that within the confines of a steel cage. Where official championship titles are insignificant and the champion is crowned by win-loss record, the Sweetwater Penitentiary is about to host the most spectacular match the Population has ever seen: the Heavyweight Champion vs. … the Champion, heavyweight or any other kind. Only one will be the Undisputed.
Several convicts are briefly profiled throughout the course of the movie (including an attractive-looking transvestite), but they merely FYIs – for your information. Undisputed focuses only on the two main combatants. One is Monroe Hutchens (Wesley Snipes), a former boxer turned convicted murderer and the uncrowned champion within the prison walls, with over 60 straight wins and no losses. The other is George “Iceman” Chambers (Ving Rhames), the officially ranked heavyweight championship convicted and sentence for rape. Like a fish out of water, Iceman makes a name for himself by antagonizing the Population, especially Monroe whose athletic distinction he scoffed at, and giving his lawyers plenty of headaches. But all of the heated drama is soon forgotten as the Iceman-Monroe main event rings off.
Undisputed is a high-testosterone boxing match drama, filled with intense heat and tensed excitement but no soul. The characters are more human props than personalities, filling in as ring announcers, prison officers, wardens, rap artists, lawyers, journalists, Iceman’s alleged rape victim, and other convicts, whose identities are of no real concern. A little insight is given into Iceman’s prison roommate Mingo Sixkiller (Wes Studi) [hijacking and manslaughter, FYI], Monroe’s trainer James Kroycek (Fisher Stevens) [arson], and prison fight promoter 'Mendy' Ripstein (Peter Falk) [tax evasion]. But overall, there is nothing of the characters that anyone can relate to. None of the inner emotions of Monroe and Iceman have really been explored. Monroe sees the main event as just another match and cares for little else other than beating his opponent and claiming his share of the purse. While Iceman sees the main event as a ticket out of prison – a place that he does not want to be in, in which he reacts towards everyone in over-the-top aggression. The main event itself does not disappoint. Snipes and Rhames play their characters well, and provide excellent boxing choreography.
By the end of Undisputed, the only thing that can be learnt – and remembered – from it is the outcome of the main event. After which, everything that has happened is disavowed. The fate of this champ movie will be no different. This TKO is strictly for boxing enthusiasts.
|
 Printable Version
|
Do you agree/disagree with this review of Undisputed? Let your opinions be heard in our forum.
|
Buy the Poster of Undisputed (Click Here)
|
|
|
|
