Ever been in the wrong place at the wrong time? This action/drama film tells the story of Dillon, a young kid with world class wrestling skills being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting locked up.
Dillon is having fun with some buddies outside a convenience store. He heads inside and his buddies are mugged, when he comes out one pulls a gun and dillon ducks under it and takes him down – with the gun landing on the concrete somewhere.
The whole mess of the fight ends when one of Dillon’s friends grabs the gun firing it into the air and most of the muggers run off – except for one guy who lays with his head smashed on the concrete, dead. Thenn the police arrive, see a young guy with a gun who refuses to drop it and gets fired upon and killed after shooting one of the officers and killing him.
Dillons and his buddy Jake are left. Jake has been shot for trying to run and Dillon has just hit the deck and stayed there. Needless to say, they get thrown into prison for a number of years.
When Dillon steps out after 10 years, he is looked down upon by most who know him. His buddy Jake is out and doing some dodgy deals, owing a group of guys 20 grand. Before long Jake’s life is threatened and Dillon offers to fight in 3 MMA matches, winning them all (due to his skill as an undefeated All American Wrestler) as payback. The men agree, place their bets and Dillon signs up to fight.
Dillon wins his first fight in a rage with lots of sloppy technique, but catches the attention of a top MMA trainer. He then trains hard at his MMA game and keeps fighting to pay back his debt.
Meanwhile more problems arise as some pissed off and corrupt policemen try to control Dillon and threaten the life of him and his new squeeze (Jake’s sister). So the turn to the betting and fight game to try an outplay them and lock them up for their dealings.
Another top notch MMA drama!
This movie is very entertaining and tells a nice & simply story.
We’ve got a guy who just wanted to stand up for his friends but ends up in prison before trying to function in society, all whilst being caught up with the social and life threatening problems associated with being mixed up with a bad crowd.
Most people simply don’t trust an ex-con, and he must come to terms with it. On a personal level that’s interesting enough to show you what Dillon has to deal with, but the life threatening thugs around him and Jake are what takes things to the next level.
From a Martial Arts point of view, watching Dillon train and learn how to box was pretty cool, but isn’t explored too deeply, as this would interfere a bit with the natural unfolding of the story. It is primarily a drama about a young guy trying to find his feet in life whilst facing considerable resistance from all angles. It’s told very well and does a good job of sucking you into the story.
The Action & Martial Arts
There’s some nice fights in this movie – with the good ones being MMA Cage fights.
Watching Dillon ‘become the animal’ is an aspect of fighting demonstrated quite well in this film. Dillon finds the animal and drive within to go completely ape-shit on his opponents, and this ferosicty alone can be enough to finish a fight sometimes – and this seems to be what Dillon relies on. But we see him being a little less animal and more in control as he progresses.
The choreography of the fights was well done – nothing fancy, just realistic MMA movements.
The abilities of Dillon as a wrestler without striking are well shown in his first fight, but he quickly changes his fighting style after some solid training. I think getting the look of an MMA fighter in a movie would be easier than creating the ‘wild animal’ look displayed in the first fight. Pure instinctive rage is hard to instruct, so I found that pretty entertaining to watch.
The fights showcase a good variety of movements and some cool MMA tactics. We see take downs being stuffed but also well timed counters as Dillon slips under the jab of one of his opponents and slam his straight down on to the mat. These little bits and pieces of the fight game are worked into the fights well and made them look realistic. Backed up with that solid ‘thump’ sounds at the end of each punch, we’re shown some nice Mixed Martial Arts from very powerful fighters.
There’s even a small role there for Martial Arts movie legend Michael Jai White as one of the crime lords!
The Verdict?
A well done film and a good all rounder offering some decent MMA fighting. Check it out for sure! Especially if you like MMA or the UFC.
On Blu Ray –
Region B (UK, Australia, New Zealand, Europe etc)
Philly Kid [Blu-ray]
On DVD –
Region 1 (US & Canada)
Philly Kid
Region 2 (UK, Europe, etc)
Philly Kid [DVD]
Region 4 (Australia, New Zealand, etc)
The Philly Kid
