A fun throwback to classic martial arts movies
Summary
The Last Kumite delivered everything I wanted from it and seeing legends like Cynthia Rothrock, Billy Blanks, Kurt McKinney and Matthias Hues on screen together again was like reuniting with old pals. I’d love a sequel where we get to see Jalal Merhi (probably in more of a mentor role), Daniel Bernhardt, Don “The Dragon” Wilson and Jeff Wincott. The low budget is apparent and there is the odd ropey performance, but this is still a fun time and a movie I will happily rewatch in the future.
Plot: A martial arts master has to compete in a final, brutal fight known as ‘kumite’. His opponent is not just another fighter, and the stakes involve the life of his daughter.
Review: I’ve been looking forward to The Last Kumite since it was first announced, and I’m frankly annoyed with myself that it took me this long to sit down and finally watch it. I picked up the DVD in Scotland a few weeks ago and saw it last night.
Financed mostly through crowdfunding, The Last Kumite is a passion project for all involved as it is a genuine love letter the classic martial arts films of the 80s and 90s. It boasts a cast that includes Matthias Hues, Billy Blanks, Cynthia Rothrock, Kurt McKinney, Mohammed Qissi and Abdel Qissi. If you grew up in the 80’s and 90s then you’ll know who all these people are, and this movie is made just for fans like us.
It’s nice to also see the Viking Samurai himself David Kurzhal show off his impressive martial arts skills. He has screen presence too, so I look forward to seeing what he does next.
Our lead Michael Rivers is played by Mathis Landwehr and he is suitably sympathetic; he has us rooting for him from the start as he is a man of honour who has no interest in competing in the Kumite, but is forced to after his daughter is kidnapped.
Mike Möller was the fight choreographer, and he also shows up in a small role as Lightning. The fight scenes are clear, where we can see everything that’s happening and it’s great to witness genuine martial arts talent again.
Mike Derudder is hilarious as the main opponent Dracko who basically just screams and mocks his opponents and it works perfectly; all we need to do is hate the character and we do as soon as he swaggers on screen.
The final showdown between Billy Blanks and Matthias Hues was one of the highlights for me, but it’s a shame Cynthia didn’t get more of a chance to shine. I’m hoping we get a sequel with Don Wilson, Loren Avedon, Daniel Bernhardt and Jeff Wincott showing up, however Wincott doesn’t practice martial arts anymore, so it’s doubtful he would be interested.
There are all kinds of nods to the old-school martial arts movies like Matthias Hues’ character is called Ron Hall which was awesome. David Kurzhal also gets to recreate JCVD’s iconic kick from Bloodsport at one point too.
This is the kind of movie that I thought we wouldn’t see again as I grew up with movies like Bloodsport and it’s nice to know filmmakers like Ross Clarkson have as much love for the genre as I do.
I like how it isn’t played for laughs; it could have so easily been a parody poking fun at these kinds of movies but thankfully The Last Kumite takes itself seriously and delivered everything I wanted from it.
We got new songs from Stan Bush and the score is provided by the great Paul Hertzog who also scored Bloodsport and Kickboxer.
Admittedly the low budget is clear throughout, so it lacks glossier visual sheen and some of the acting isn’t exactly Oscar worthy, but The Last Kumite still feels like a warm blanket or reuniting with old friends.
Overall, The Last Kumite may not be perfect, but if like me you were lucky enough to grow up in the era of movies like Bloodsport and Kickboxer then there’s a lot to enjoy here. There are plenty of bloody fight scenes and it left me wanting more. I hope we get a follow up with a bigger budget and they can just call it The Last Kumite: Round 2. If anything I hope this movie reinvigorates the fighting tournament genre as it’s one that’s been lacking for a while and deserves a comeback.