This movie is a solid martial arts drama mainly for Chiwetel Ejiofor's performance in the role of Mike Terry, the owner and head instructor of a failing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and martial arts school. His wife, Sondra (played by City of God's Alice Braga), has a small fashion designing business that allows them to stay afloat financially. Sondra, however, comes across as greedy and indeed a little shrewish. It seems every possible new person Mike meets and even his in-laws are trying to take advantage of him and screw him over personally and financially. It's frustrating how easy it was for people to do this to Mike. His past as a bouncer, martial arts teacher, and veteran would allow him to spot a con but no. Mike enters into a rigged mixed martial arts tournament after a personal tragedy sees his wife leave, leaving him in desperate need of money. It's a slightly silly homage to the samurai films of Kurosawa and maybe a cynical twist on the idea of the white knight trying to solve everyone's problems for them. No fighter would compete with the kind of disadvantage like the the one shown in this movie, a fighter has his arm strapped behind his back. It wouldn't be allowed by any reputable state athletic commission that licenses and sanctions MMA events.
Review of Redbelt
